dual personalities

Month: September, 2023

September 15, 2023

A simple walk in the park

by chuckofish

Friday again–where did the week go? I did the usual: reading, grocery shopping, lunch with a friend, preparing for Bible Study, going to Bible Study…and the unusual–having Mr. Smith as a house guest while daughter #1 was in Indiana working in the field.

Mr. Smith was pretty stressed because he was left again with us. I tried my best to reassure him. I read him a poem.

Dogs will also lick your face if you let them.

Their bodies will shiver with happiness.

A simple walk in the park is just about

the height of contentment for them, followed

by a bowl of food, a bowl of water,

a place to curl up and sleep. Someone

to scratch them where they can’t reach

and smooth their foreheads and talk to them.

Dogs also have a natural dislike of mailmen

and other bringers of bad news and will

bite them on your behalf. Dogs can smell

fear and also love with perfect accuracy.

There is no use pretending with them.

Nor do they pretend. If a dog is happy

or sad or nervous or bored or ashamed

or sunk in contemplation, everybody knows it.

They make no secret of themselves.

You can even tell what they’re dreaming about

by the way their legs jerk and try to run

on the slippery ground of sleep.

Nor are they given to pretentious self-importance.

They don’t try to impress you with how serious

or sensitive they are. They just feel everything

full blast. Everything is off the charts

with them. More than once I’ve seen a dog

waiting for its owner outside a café

practically implode with worry. “Oh, God,

what if she doesn’t come back this time?

What will I do? Who will take care of me?

I loved her so much and now she’s gone

and I’m tied to a post surrounded by people

who don’t look or smell or sound like her at all.”

And when she does come, what a flurry

of commotion, what a chorus of yelping

and cooing and leaps straight up into the air!

It’s almost unbearable, this sudden

fullness after such total loss, to see

the world made whole again by a hand

on the shoulder and a voice like no other.

(John Brehm, “If Feeling Isn’t In It”)

Meanwhile the babes in Maryland are redefining precious.

C’est la vie. Have a good weekend.

4 Comments
September 14, 2023

Incorruptible beauty

by chuckofish

Today we remember Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944) on his birthday. An influential American illustrator, he created the “Gibson Girl”–an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th century.

I think it’s safe to say that our grandmother, Mira Sargent, styled herself that way.

Sadly, I did not inherit her bountiful hair gene.

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

(1 Peter 3:3-4)

I’m still working on that gentle and quiet spirit.

2 Comments
September 13, 2023

What are you reading?

by chuckofish

As usual I am reading a lot of different things. I have a new book We Believe, which includes all the reformed creeds, catechisms, and confessions of faith.

Woohoo–it’s all here–even the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church which they now view as a quaint, antique document to ignore.

I am also doing the reading for my Bible Study group. The homework takes up a lot of time!

Also, Craig Johnson’s latest Longmire book was released last week, so I have been reading The Longmire Defense. After last year’s not-so-great entry in the Walt Longmire oeuvre, Johnson has thankfully gone back to his tried-and-true formula and this one is a winner (so far anyway).

Now that I have gotten through my deluge of doctor appointments which comes every six months, it’s time to start working on the next edition of the Kirkwood Historical Review.

And did I mention that we’re dog-sittin’ with Mr. Smith while daughter #1 travels for work? Well, yes we are.

Good dog!

2 Comments
September 12, 2023

Things of minor consequence

by chuckofish

There is a lot going on in the yard these days…sometimes right on your front doorstep. And there are pumpkins at Trader Joe’s.

In other news, baby Ida is on the verge of crawling. She is highly motivated.

Her style is mostly reminiscent of this:

You go, girl!

This is interesting. “”There is no half-mile anywhere on Earth which means more to more people — not to millions, but to billions — than the half-mile that is the City of David.”

And happy birthday to Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972) who, when I was growing up, was considered the quintessential Frenchman. Unfortunately, I don’t think they make Frenchmen like him anymore.

We also remember John Qualen (1899-1987) who died on this day. He was a character actor who made over 100 films, many of them as a member of John Ford’s famous “stock company.” You remember him, playing Scandinavian immigrants and the like in such movies as The Searchers (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), or as the Norwegian resistance fighter in Casablanca (1940). He’s probably best known for playing Muley in The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

He made a lot of good movies. The mark of a really excellent movie, don’t you think, is when the minor characters are allowed to shine and you remember not just John Wayne or Henry Fonda, but John Qualen and Russell Simpson and Ward Bond and Jane Darwell.

So pay attention to the little guy. And look around your yard. C’est magnifique. Have a good Tuesday.

3 Comments
September 11, 2023

“But meantime let me whoop it up”*

by chuckofish

Today is daughter #1’s birthday. She was born during a humdinger of a thunderstorm and a low pressure system that caused the water of every pregnant woman in St. Louis County to break. Seriously, they were lined up in the hallway at St. Luke’s. She was two weeks early, but that wasn’t a big deal since back then Moms stayed at the hospital for a week anyway–at least Dr. Gulick’s patients did. I was never in the hallway either and I had a private room, so no complaints from this peanut gallery.

This year we celebrated her birthday on Sunday in our usual style…

…with tacos and Tippin’s pie.

Because daughter #1, the OM and I went to our favorite winery on Saturday to celebrate her birthday and listen to the musical stylings of Bryan Toben…

…we missed the wee laddie’s first soccer game (there are 9 more), but the boy, who is also one of the coaches, took lots of good pictures.

I looked for, but could not find, any pictures of the boy at the same age playing soccer–but he looked just like this.

Sunrise, sunset.

In other news, the twins started Sunday School with the big kids (1st grade!) so we are all going to Sunday School at 10:00 am before the 11:00 am service. This is quite a departure from the way we were used to doing it in the Episcopal Church where Sunday School was just a short business during the sermon and communion. Besides all the kids’ classes, there are six adult classes to choose from–the boy and I attended the class on “Modern Ethical Topics”. I was impressed.

So onward and upward. This will be a busy week. May the God of love and peace be with you.

*Robert W. Service, “Birthday“

4 Comments
September 8, 2023

“Mel: I’d like to see you have some direction. Cher: I have direction! Josh: Yeah, to the mall!”

by chuckofish

I read today that Chesterfield Mall is being torn down and replaced with a $2 billion mixed-used development with more than 2,500 apartments that “will create an urban city center in Chesterfield, a suburb that has never before had a downtown.” I’m sure it will look like every other American suburb with new-build downtowns. Congrats, Chesterfield.  

Malls used to be such a thing. And now, they are tearing them down or turning them into office space. Or leaving tearing them down and leaving the lot vacant for like 15 years before finally building a subdivision on top. I mean, to be fair, I haven’t been to a mall in ages. But I miss them. I’d like to go to the mall and walk around, popping in and out of stores without having to drive and park and drive and park and get in and out of my car in the heat. And that free air conditioning! Sign me up. Alas, I also enjoy not potentially being murdered outside the Footlocker or in the garage.

And shopping isn’t even that fun these days. Everything is the same or so marked down you assume slave labor produced it half a world away. Pretty unappealing. The Wall Street Journal agrees, kind of, writing, “Shopping has, in many ways, become an uninspiring activity: We see something on Instagram or on your favorite actor or a friend, google it and buy it. It can all feel very preprogrammed and predictable.”

Anyway, I’m not sure what my point is, but I was pretty surprised about the Chesterfield Mall.

*Blog post title is from Clueless.

2 Comments
September 7, 2023

This and that

by chuckofish

“I dare not neglect prayer and thanksgiving if I am to enjoy God’s transcendent peace and overcome my worries.  I must abhor thankless bitterness and eschew sulkiness.  My worries must be enumerated before the Father, along with thoughtful requests framed in accordance with his will.  These requests must be offered to the accompaniment of sincere gratitude for the many undeserved blessings already received, and for the privilege of stretching my faith by exposure to this new and improved hardship.  Thus the follower of Jesus learns really to trust the all-wise and all-gracious sovereignty of God (Rom. 8:28), as he begins to experience the profundity of Peter’s injunction: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6f.),  (D.A. Carson).

Anne reviewed Kevin DeYoung’s new book in Christianity Today. Five stars!

And, wow, this is really something. “[T]hese two people are in a lot of trouble.”

So feel the sun on your back, wear pink pants, pray without ceasing, and remember that God’s mercies are new every morning.

3 Comments
September 6, 2023

Senior moments

by chuckofish

If you recall, I bought an antique glass-front bookcase at auction a couple of weeks ago. The boy brought it home for me and it fit perfectly in the den/tv room where the desk used to be that daughter #1 now has in her house. However, the shelves were stacked at the bottom of the case and it appeared to us that there were none of those clips you put in the holes to support the shelves.

Curses. We measured the holes and I sent away for a set. They were too big, so I sent away for the next smaller size. They were too small. Unbeknownst to me, the OM also sent away for them, so we had four sets that didn’t fit. Then he sent away for three more, which didn’t fit, so we had seven (!) sets and nothing fit.

Frustrated Season 3 GIF by The Simpsons - Find & Share on GIPHY
Seriously. 🤡

Finally we took the shelves out to see if we could hammer the bigger clips in and, lo and behold, underneath them there was a little plastic bag with metal thingamabobs that fit. Huzzah!

There is a lesson here, but I am too irritated to think about it.

And too grateful that I finally have my bookcase, filled now with books.

P.S. Let me know if you need any of those shelf supports–I have seven sets–all sizes!

5 Comments
September 5, 2023

Choice

by chuckofish

“God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on his side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else – something it never entered your head to conceive – comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.”

–C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

(Matthew 24:44)

(The painting is by Albert Bierstadt.)

2 Comments
September 4, 2023

“I blew out my flip-flop, stepped on a pop top”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet. I caught up with reading and watched several good movies. And today is a bonus day–huzzah!

On Friday afternoon daughter #1 and I went to our favorite local restaurant/bar (one we had helped keep open during COVID) for a happy hour bottle of wine. We had not been there in at least six weeks, but our two favorite waiters came up to greet us with a cheery hello as we entered. They pointed us to our favorite window seats and then came over to explain that the menu had changed and the Rosé we always ordered was no longer on the new list. We asked which they recommended and they said the French, so we ordered it. When the wine arrived they asked if we wanted the hummus and we said, of course.

In this day and age it really is nice to be known and recognized and welcomed somewhere. The only other place this happens is in church!

It was good to be back in church after August, which had been rather hit or miss (mostly miss) because of travel and illness. We sang a rousing selection of the good old Anglican hymns and the more folksy American ones. I love them both.

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty Rock
within a weary land;
a home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat
and the burden of the day.

(Elizabeth C. Clepbane, 1890)

The wee twins and the boy, along with daughter #1 and Mr. Smith, came over for a barbecue on Sunday night. (Daughter #3 was sick at home.) We had not seen the twins in several weeks–it is a busy time of year! We heard all about first grade and all the things.

In other news, baby Ida got a tooth!

And Mr. Smith got a haircut!

If you have the day off from work, enjoy it! Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice.

*RIP Jimmy Buffet. We ate cheeseburgers (a little short of paradise) in your honor on Saturday night!

4 Comments