dual personalities

Month: May, 2023

May 17, 2023

Mid-week movies

by chuckofish

We have had a lot of rain in the past few days. And, not surprisingly, there has been flooding near here…

(Photo of the Cedar Creek Lodge Apartments parking lot in South County courtesy of Fox2)

Anyway, May is a month for birthdays and today we toast Dennis Hopper (1936-2010), who had quite a career in Hollywood as a supporting actor in many films. He was also known as a notoriously difficult actor and his career nearly ended early on because of his reputation. Had it not been for John Wayne hiring him to appear in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Hopper acknowledged years later, it would have ended.

During the filming of True Grit (1969)–released the same year as Easy Rider–he got to know the Duke quite well. Perhaps this explains in part how he became a Republican in later years, having given up drugs and Rock ‘n Roll.

It is also the birthday of Bob Saget (1956-2022) who died last year under somewhat mysterious circumstances in a hotel. It turns out he fell and hit his head and died in his sleep. He never made any noteworthy movies, but he was the “raddest, baddest dad a kid ever had” on Full House (1987-1995). He was no Ward Cleaver, but he was pretty rad.

Yesterday was the birthday of actors Henry Fonda (1905-1982) and Harry Carey, Jr. (1920-2012) both of whom made quite a few movies with John Ford, any of which would be worth watching tonight. Harry is also the OM’s doppelgänger.

And lest we forget, today is also the 80th anniversary of the Dam Buster raids in WWII in 1943. It might be time to watch The Dam Busters (1955) again.

So we have quite a few toasts to make and lots of good movie options to consider watching. Thanks be to God.

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May 16, 2023

Le dons de Dieu pour le peuple de Dieu

by chuckofish

One of the books I grabbed at the estate sale last Saturday was a Book of Common Prayer en francais.

Although I took French for something like ten years growing up, I am the first to admit that I learned next to nothing. I was able to pass the foreign language requirement (barely) in order to get a master’s degree back in 1979 and I have a pretty good ear and can watch French television shows–but that’s about it.

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

How great is that? I am going to have fun reading and trying to remember some of these prayers in French.

Of course, we Presbyterians have a problem with “written prayers” because they frequently mask the emptiness of the heart. This short article by Derek Thomas explains how outward demonstrations of piety may be no more than mere hypocrisy.

And I loved this. “Can you imagine how proud you’d be if you were this 13-year-old sniper’s parents? Job SERIOUSLY well done, young man.” True story.

Have a good Tuesday!

J’aime le Seigneur: il entend le cri de ma prière…

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May 15, 2023

While we walk the pilgrim way

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was very low-key and nice. I went to a few estate sales on Saturday and picked up a a couple of books and daughter #1 got a very nice vintage wastebasket. This makes us happy.

The OM and I went to church on Sunday and afterwards we went to daughter #1’s new house where she had brunch ready.

Very nice indeed–and, of course, there were mimosas. The Joanna Gaines bacon biscuits were magnifique!

Daughter #2 had even sent a bag of Compton Lady treats ahead for me. All in all, a lovely day.

And the OM was able to reunite with his special friend.

We sat out on her front porch and finished the Prosecco and had a lovely afternoon. I gather that daughter #3 wanted her petite famille to work in the yard with her so they did that, following a trip to Home Depot. I have not seen any “after” pictures.

Meanwhile DN stood in line with all the other dads in town to get donuts…

I have no doubt that Mommy enjoyed them and had a lovely day!

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see:

All I have needed thy hand hath provided—

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord! Unto me!

—Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923

3 Comments
May 12, 2023

Happy Friday!

by chuckofish

Well, it’s Daughter #1 here, reporting for blogging duty for the first time in what feels like ages. It has been a busy few weeks (to put it lightly) but I’ve successfully moved all of my stuff to St. Louis and am getting settled in my lovely little home.

Of course this doesn’t mean there isn’t still some work to do.

I’m planning to spend the next two days clearing out the dining room to get ready for Sunday’s Mother’s Day Brunch!! It’s so nice to have a basement where you can take boxes and leave them and hope that you never have to move again (just kidding). My mother has been a tremendous help. Taking the craft room from this:

to this:

And she did it with what felt like a snap of her fingers a la Mary Poppins. It is a treat to have her come over and help and keep me company. Plus, it’s so much easier to move furniture with two people.

Mr. Smith has been adjusting to life as the man of the house. His guard dog skills are improving, even if he does sometimes get into a tense standoff with the donut pillow. He was actively growling at it when I took this picture.

Also, I won’t bore you with my customer service woes from the past week, but just know this. Of all the customer service reps I’ve dealt with since moving, Spectrum, the cable company, had the best. And that is saying something since cable companies usually rank pretty low on customer satisfaction surveys. I could really do a one-woman show about my interactions with Lowe’s this week, but as I said, I’ll spare you. Also, this is a real sign of home ownership.

Yes, the plumber had to pay a visit to fix a leak in the basement washing machine line. I feel like Pinocchio, “I’m a real homeowner now!”

I feel very thankful to be where I am. And I’m grateful to my family who housed me, helped me move, and listened to my one-woman shows about various experiences over the past few months. xo.

5 Comments
May 11, 2023

“Remember your mothers, especially those who spoke to you the word of God”*

by chuckofish

Well, Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend. There are lots of lists on Instagram and around the blogosphere recommending presents to give your Mom. They are almost always pretty banal–although have you seen this?

Zut alors, what will they think of next?

I know I am difficult to buy a present for. I have everything I need–“the sun and the rain and the apple seed”–and when I see a $10 chair I want, I buy it. Daughter #1 brings me flowers every Sunday, so I do not need more. The boy comes to hang out every Tuesday morning. Sometimes we go out to lunch. He does not need to take me out to lunch. Daughter #2 is in (almost) constant contact with me and we fit in hour-long phone chats as we can.

My cup already runneth over.

So the wee twins will be spending (the entire) day lavishing their own sweet mother with attention and that is as it should be. Grandmothers-in-law need to step aside. The OM and I are going over to daughter #1’s house for brunch after church. I will bring her flowers (if I remember)!

I will be thinking of my own mother who has been gone now 35 years.

I will never stop missing my mother. Sometimes I think of all the stupid things I said in her presence and how she hardly ever argued with me. When occasionally she did contradict me, I knew it was important, and I never forgot those times. It has taken me all these years to sort everything out and I think she would be in agreement with me mostly. And I know she would be proud of me and of my children. She would love them so much.

So by all means, don’t forget your mother this Sunday or any Sunday.

Here is Charles Spurgeon’s tribute to his godly mother.

“My mother said to me, one day, “Ah, Charles! I often prayed the Lord to make you a Christian, but I never asked that you might become a Baptist.” I could not resist the temptation to reply, “Ah, mother! the Lord has answered your prayer with His usual bounty, and given you exceeding abundantly above what you asked or thought.”

Here’s some good motherly advice from Garden & Gun. “Mom taught me how to use the pronouns “I” and “me” correctly. I try not to flaunt it.” —Jere B.

And here’s a good list of films featuring wonderful mothers. Personally, I think it might be time to watch How Green Was My Valley (1941) directed by John Ford, with Sara Allgood as the Welsh mother.

Have a good day!

P.S.

*Charles Spurgeon

3 Comments
May 10, 2023

“Whoever reads, let him understand”

by chuckofish

I am currently reading the book of Matthew in my daily reading. Yesterday I read chapter 24, which is where Jesus tells his disciples about the coming ‘tribulation’. I was interested to see him referencing Daniel in verse 15:

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.“

This is why it is so important to read the Old Testament, and, indeed, the whole Bible. Jesus is referring to Daniel 9:27 and 11:31. The “abomination of desolation” refers to the desecration of the temple.

Jesus goes on to say:

“Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

Heavy stuff.

Well, I hope that isn’t too heavy for you on Wednesday. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

And here are some more amazing Iris.

Peonies coming soon!

2 Comments
May 9, 2023

What are you reading?

by chuckofish

As I mentioned earlier I have been reading books written by D.E. Stevenson and enjoying them immensely. The three I read take place after WWII in rural Scotland. Life is hard what with rationing and no one having much money, but people get along. There is a sophistication in these books which is lacking in contemporary fiction that I appreciate. The characters are educated and actually know things. They have read their Bibles as well. The lower class folk are not put down for their ignorance, but appreciated for what they do know. Everyone has a work ethic.

Anyway, I decided that I should not just go on ordering new books from Amazon, although I wanted to keep reading, so I went to our public library and got a library card! I had torn mine up 25 years ago in disgust over some triviality, but I swallowed my pride and went back. They, of course, have to order the Stevenson books through inter-library loan, so I still don’t have one. 🙄 But I did peruse the fiction section and took out Elizabeth Strout’s Oh, William!, which daughter #2 wrote about a few weeks ago. It won the Pulitzer Prize (!) and I liked some of her early books, so I thought I would give it a whirl.

I read it in two days–there is not much to it beyond a lot of navel-gazing. Oh, poor me, poor him, poor her. I am sympathetic to a point, but then I think, get over it. But they cannot because they are all self-obsessed. They believe in nothing and thus they understand nothing. God (only acknowledged in “Oh God!” hand-wringing moments) is a myth. In fact (spoiler alert) “we are all mythologies. We are all mysteries, is what I mean,” as Lucy, our protagonist, announces at the end of the book. And by the way, I hate that vernacular Lucy uses throughout–“…is what I mean.” But the author is patronizing in that way. It is her way of putting down the character for growing up in the midwest. Yeah, yeah, she cannot escape her past, we get it.

It is all very well to write a book and then announce that nothing is understandable and we are all mysteries, but that seems very facile and empty. But these people are empty vessels. So it’s back to D.E. Stevenson for me.

Interestingly, I watched a movie over the weekend that poses many of the same questions: Why do bad things happen to some people? Why do things work out for some people? I had not seen Tender Mercies (1983) since it first came out forty years ago. Robert Duvall won the Oscar for best actor for playing the washed up country singer and Horton Foote won the Oscar for best original screenplay.

Not much seems to happen in this movie, but really quite a lot happens. Mac (the alcoholic country singer) is near death at the beginning of the movie. His redemption and self-improvement run parallel with his conversion to Christianity and although many of the hard questions mentioned above are not overtly answered, the movie is not unsatisfying. Christians know that bad things will happen and that suffering is inevitable. But we can respond in faith to the tender mercies we have received. God is real, although He is mysterious. We can only understand ourselves in relation to Him. This is a good movie and I recommend it. (Available on Prime.)

Well, it is good to be reading actual books. So put down your phone, read a book, watch a good movie, praise God from whom all blessings flow, and enjoy your Tuesday.

3 Comments
May 7, 2023

None but Zion’s children know

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was very nice although the weather has turned hot and muggy in flyover country and that is never a cause to rejoice (although we try to rejoice in all things).

I helped set up for the Kirkwood Historical Society attic sale. And I bought a stack of books (just what I need, right?)…

I have a small collection of books on the Santa Fe Trail, so the Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin is a great addition. The Seifert novel is about Magoffin. Shirley Seifert was a mid-century writer from Kirkwood who wrote quite a few historical novels, published by J.B. Lippincott. She was really into her research, but her writing is pretty dry, but I have a growing collection of her books. She also wrote the centennial history of my old church, Grace Episcopal, where she was a member for many years.

Daughter #1 and I went to the actual sale on Saturday and she got a nice table for $20 on which to put her Civil War officer’s desk, which I had bought at auction a few years ago.

We also got some more books. Afterwards we went to a couple of estate sales where we were successful again, rescuing a nice Hitchcock chair for $10.

She had many other adventures dealing with Lowe’s delivery men, UPS men, and ADT installers, but I will leave that to her to describe to you.

I watched the Kentucky Derby–whoop-di-do–but my horse did not win. I remember when Secretariat won fifty years ago. My Sunday School teacher went to the race and he assigned everyone in our class a horse. Mine won, but I think all I got was a $5 gift certificate. Typical Episcopalians–betting in Sunday School!

I did not watch any of the coronation, but Anne wrote a long article about it. Read the whole thing.

It was so strange for example, to listen to that glorious Colossians text read in that exquisite church by a practicing Hindu. Dissonance, at the very least, is the word one gropes for, if not blasphemy. How can that person stand there, after reading aloud about how all things are put in subjection under Christ, how he is the Firstborn in whom all things hold together, and then say, “The Word of the Lord” if he doesn’t really believe it? How can Justin Welby face Charles and command him to stand on the authority of the Bible when he himself has been unwilling to do any such thing?

On Sunday the kindergartners received their very own Bibles in front of our whole Presbyterian congregation. The wee bud stood up beaming with his father and I was very proud. (Lottie was home sick, bit she still got her pink Bible!) I may have gotten a little verklempt.

Afterwards we all went home to eat bagels and sit outside. Good times.

Savior, if of Zion’s city,
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy name;
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.

–John Newton

P.S. On Saturday we had three blue eggs in our Robin’s nest, but sadly they have all been destroyed by other birds. Nature. C’est la vie.

4 Comments
May 5, 2023

Follow the yellow brick road

by chuckofish

Happy Cinco de Mayo! My, my, can you believe it is already May 5? The wee twins only have a few weeks left of school. This Sunday they “graduate” from kindergarten and receive their first Bibles at church. A big day.

Meanwhile Katie is reading her own Bible…

In other news, the kitchen-window Robin has laid another egg. Interestingly, I ran across this chapter of a book by Amy Carmichael in which she worries about a sunbird who has built a nest outside her window.

Outside my room in Dohnavur a sunbird has hung her nest from a spray of valaris. The spray is as light as a spray of honeysuckle and grows in much the same careless way. The nest is attached to the spray by a few threads of cobweb, but so delicately that the touch of a child would detach it; a cupful of water thrown at it would sweep it down. It is a mere nothing of a nest. But it took a week of patient mothercraft to make it. It is roofed, it has a porch, and set deep within is a bed of silky down.

Exactly where no rain could hurt it, that nest hung; and the little mother sat calmly through those floods, her dainty head resting on the threshold of the porch which she had made on the south side – the sheltered side. If a drop of water fell on her long, curved beak, she sucked it up as though it had been honey. And always, somehow, she was fed.

I think to more than one of us the Father spoke then. There is something very precious about a little bird and her nest, but “Ye are of more value than many sparrows” – than many sunbirds.

Have you watched Bluey? Me neither–maybe I should check it out.

The OM is celebrating his high school 50th reunion this weekend. Can you imagine? Time flies. I hope he enjoys himself, but count me out. I’ll wait til next year.
Is my heritage to me like a hyena’s lair? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the wild beasts; bring them to devour. (Jeremiah 12:9)

And the wee bud (finally) lost a tooth!

2 Comments
May 4, 2023

“Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou madest Life in man and brute”*

by chuckofish

On Tuesday when the boy came over for our weekly gabfest, a deer ran across our neighbor’s lawn into another neighbor’s back yard. In the middle of the day! What is with the wildlife around here? Deer, coyotes, foxes, BEARS?!

Speaking of wildlife, a Robin built a nest on our kitchen windowsill.

Later we noticed that there is one solitary blue egg.

I hadn’t seen the Robin in awhile and I was afraid the egg has been abandoned. I could have told the Robin that this is not a good place to build a nest, but would she have listened? I doubt it. Nature is red in tooth and claw and of this we are constantly reminded.

O life as futile, then, as frail!
O for thy voice to soothe and bless!
What hope of answer, or redress?
Behind the veil, behind the veil.

I thought, well, c’est la vie. But then the Robin was back on the nest.

The bird also has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.

(Psalm 84:3)

In other news, in a miraculous turn, my English Ivy has come back. It was dead, dead, dead a month ago, as was my neighbor’s ivy. I should have taken a picture if it, but it was too depressing. Don told me to be patient and wait and see, but I really thought some scourge had taken it out. However, in the last two weeks it has greened up and filled in.

Now it needs trimming!

Well, have a good day.

[*You can read all of Tennyson’s very long poem “In Memoriam A.H.H.” here.]

4 Comments