Today we toast Aaron Copland (1900-1990) on his birthday. Born in Brooklyn of Lithuanian Jewish parents, he wrote some of the most deeply “American” music of the 20th century. I have loved his music since being introduced to it in childhood. Recently daughter #2 read the play “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder so here is Copland’s “Our Town Suite” which was used in the 1940 movie.
Here’s a reminder that Christians are to use their gifts to serve one another, but also that the testimony of Scripture demonstrates that “throughout redemptive history, God’s people have used their gifts not just for those within the covenant community but for others as well.”
And here’s a little reminder about the difference between Pilgrims and Puritans.
And here’s a prayer that I’ve included before, but it bears repeating:
“Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere. Give us courage and gaiety, and the quiet mind. Spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies. Bless us, if it may be, in all our innocent endeavours. If it may not, give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath, and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death, loyal and loving to one another.”
Thanksgiving is just around the corner! We should rejoice and be thankful, despite our manifold sins and general wickedness, all year round, but I especially do at this time of year. As always, it is the little things that stand out for me, such as the chip fest we enjoyed on Saturday night when the boy dropped off Lottie while the wee bud went to a birthday party. (Their Mom was in Dallas this weekend.)
Daughter #1 and Mr. Smith joined the OM and Lottie and me to watch The Gnome-Mobile (1967)–a vintage Disney film in which a multi-millionaire lumberman (Walter Brennan) and his two young grandchildren (played by the kids from Mary Poppins) encounter two gnomes in the Redwood forest of California who are supposedly the last of their kind. Hilarity ensues. Although there is no princess in this film, I think Lottie enjoyed it. At least now she knows what a gnome is.
On Sunday we all went to Sunday School, but then the boy took Lottie to a birthday party and the bud stayed with us through church. He came over to our house after church to hang out with daughter #1 and Mr. Smith who joined us for total depravity casserole. Of course, Lottie had told her brother all about The Gnome-Mobile (including the car chase) and he wanted to watch it, but I was like, um no, not right now.
The boy and Lottie came over after her party. We hung out on the driveway for awhile, probably for the last time til next year.
It was another beautiful weekend.
And Mizzou beat the pants off Tennessee! Hometowner Cody Schrader, a graduate of Lutheran South, was the star of the game. According to the AP, “Cody Schrader put together one of the most impressive performances in Missouri history Saturday night, running for 205 yards and a touchdown, catching five passes for 116 yards, and leading the No. 16 Tigers to a 36-7 rout of No. 14 Tennessee.” Normally I could care less about Mizzou football, much less watch a game, but Matt Mitchell gives them so much grief for being in the SEC, I have become an interested partisan. Anyway, I was pleased that they won.
In honor of Veterans Day we watched Gettysburg (1993) which is based on Michael Shaara’s fine book The Killer Angels. It is a good movie, except for the miscast Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee. But I much prefer old Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain anyway. As you know, he is a hero of mine.
This is a different kind of army. If you look back through history you will see men fighting for pay, for women, for some other kind of loot. They fight for land, power, because a king leads them, or just because they like killing. But we are here for something new, this has not happened much, in the history of the world. We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, all of it, not divided by a line between slave states and free – all the way from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow. No man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here is the place to build a home. But it’s not the land, there’s always more land. It’s the idea that we all have value – you and me. What we are fighting for, in the end, we’re fighting for each other. Sorry, I didn’t mean to preach. …Gentlemen, I think if we lose this fight we lose the war, so if you choose to join us I will be personally very grateful.
(Jeff Daniels as Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain)
Well, continue to cultivate gratitude, appreciate your freedom and enjoy your Monday.
Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet. He will choose our inheritance for us, The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
In major news from my universe, Mr. Smith has learned to ride in the car sans me loading and unloading his crate each time. I am very happy. Plus, he looks so cute.
Today, I let him have free rein of the living room while I worked from home in my upstairs office. He was slightly confused but also entertained himself well by keeping watch out the window. He only interrupted one Zoom call when he melted down over a squirrel on the porch. I mean, it’s good to have security.
I don’t really have much else so I gathered some amusing instagrams from the “saved for the blog file.” The Eric Stonestreet one has me lol-ing. I don’t know why.
And don’t forget! It’s Chris Stapleton’s new album day!
We are experiencing Indian Summer this week in flyover country–absolutely beautiful days in the 70s and even 80s with the sun hitting the orange leaves in a really spectacular way. And the leaf blowers are out in full force. I do get tired of all the noise, like a bajillion bees coming in waves to attack us. 🙄
My friend Don sent this photo of his birdbath with “the neighborhood bluebirds”.
I live a mile or so away and I have never seen a bluebird!
As we all know, the streaming platforms are a wasteland and I haven’t watched network tv for years. So I am forced to watch episodes of old shows like the old lady that I am. Lately, however, I have added Harry Wild to my watch list (on Acorn). It stars the lovely Jane Seymour as a recently retired English professor who discovers a knack for investigation and cannot help but interfere with the cases assigned to her police detective son.
Although she doesn’t quite look her age–she’s five years older than I am–she doesn’t hide the fact that she is an old retired lady. She dresses like I do. She drives an old (red) car and drinks (too much) red wine. She knows a lot about English literature. She speaks with grammatical precision and corrects those who don’t. I can actually relate to her. Also the show is filmed in Dublin and I have actually been there, so that is interesting and familiar. The show is not American, so the Irish are not stereotypes.
So I recommend it if you are looking for something to watch. And who isn’t?
Today we must not forget to remember that unsung hero Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) who was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist. He was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press and abolitionist materials. As I’ve said before, Lovejoy’s life (and murder) is another reminder to us today of how rough and dangerous life was in my part of the country back in the mid-nineteenth century. And people think emotions run high these days!
We also remember Edna May Oliver who died on this day, her birthday, in 1942. She was an American stage and screen actress who specialized in formidable older women, such as Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice (1940) and Miss Pross in A Tale of Two Cities (1935). She was only nominated once for a supporting actress Oscar, but it was for a doozy–Mrs. McKlennar in Drums Along the Mohawk (1939).
I re-watched this movie recently and was really impressed by it. And Edna May Oliver is great; she never crosses the line into farce which a lesser actress might do. She is always 100% believable.
So enjoy these last beautiful days of fall, watch an old lady in a tv show or movie, remember some history, and praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Help me to see that although I am in the wilderness it is not all briars and barrenness. I have bread from heaven, streams from the rock, light by day, fire by night, thy dwelling place and thy mercy seat.
Today we remember John Milton, English poet and Puritan, who died on this day in 1674. I wonder if he is still read in college. Probably not. Therefore, in protest, take down your Milton tome (I know you have one) and read some poetry.
You might start with “Lycidas”, which he wrote in 1637 following the death of his friend Henry King when his ship sank in the Irish Sea off the coast of Wales. Milton was 29 years old. Numerous novels have taken their titles from this poem, including Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel.
This week I am busy getting ready with joy and anticipation for our out-of-town guests–daughter #2 and her family–who will be visiting at Thanksgiving. I am rearranging things in our four bedrooms to accommodate them more easily. The boy brought our little antique brass bed upstairs from the furnace room where it has been stored for 27 years and assembled it so Miss Katie can use it. I cleaned and polished it and it looks pretty good.
Baby Ida will be sleeping in my office in a borrowed pack-n-play. I hope she will not be overstimulated.
We will be playing musical beds for a few days, but I think that’s fun and it’s great to be filling up our empty house with family.
Some readers may recall that I worked for (almost) twenty years in the field of lifelong learning at my flyover institute, so I found this to be very interesting. “God created his world and inspired his word to display his glory. A well-educated person sees the glory of God in the word that God inspired and in the world that God made. An educated person understands God’s glory and evaluates it and feels it and applies it and expresses it for others to see and enjoy. That outward bent is called love. Therefore, the aim of lifelong learning is to grow in our ability to glorify God and love people. We think the six habits of mind and heart are a description of that process of growth.”
This is a long one from Carl Trueman, but wow, so worth reading. “We are idolaters because we want to be. We are not hapless tools of a system that dominates our individual agency and thus absolves us of any responsibility. Isaiah notes the zeal with which Israel embraces idolatry. Paul links the lust of sexual sin to panting after idols. We want to reject God and create our own gods. Thus, the biblical critique is not only cultural but also spiritual. It convicts idolaters of their personal responsibility for the system within which they operate, a system within which they happily live, even as it contradicts the moral structure of the world God created.”
I will also remind you that today is the anniversary of the day Steve McQueen died back in 1980. It is also the birthday of Billy Graham, whom McQueen met on November 3, four days before his death. He’d wanted to meet the evangelist for some time, and on that day, Mr. Graham paid him a visit. The pair prayed together and talked about the afterlife, and McQueen told him how his faith in Christ helped him deal with the cancer. At the end of their meeting, Billy Graham left McQueen his personal Bible, the name “Billy Graham” printed on the front. Inside, he wrote the date, along with a message: “To my friend Steve McQueen, may God bless and keep you always.” He signed his name, along with a reference to a Bible verse, Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Another exciting weekend–mostly for Mr. Smith who went to the bud’s last soccer game of the season. Dogs are not allowed on the playing fields, but daughter #1 smuggled him in in a canvas tote bag. (There were three other dogs there as well.)
He was a good boy. And he didn’t distract the bud (too much)–especially when he was playing GOALIE!
His focus was not exactly razor sharp, but he didn’t allow any goals–the other team hardly made it onto his side of the field. Yes, his team had an undefeated season! I will say the bud always seemed to have the biggest cheering section with at least seven family members in attendance (+ Lottie!). Two grandparents, two aunts, a great aunt, a great uncle, his Mom–I don’t think he even really noticed. But really, I ask, what would you rather be doing than sitting on folding chairs on a crisp fall day watching six-year olds run up and down the field?
After the game Lottie and I went over to daughter #1’s house while the bud went to his team party with his Dad. We unpacked all the dolls and filled up the doll case, which you will recall we had moved last weekend.
I’m sure there will be some rearranging going on, but we had super fun.
In other news I went to a DAR meeting and was brought up-to-date with all the patriotic doings of this group. It is that time of year when we promote Wreaths Across America, where wreaths are placed on veterans’ graves. I always sponsor two wreaths, one each for my father and father-in-law, who are both buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. Would you like to help us honor and remember as many fallen heroes as possible by sponsoring remembrance wreaths? You can do so here. More than two million volunteers and supporters will gather on December 16 to Remember, Honor and Teach at more than 4,000 participating locations in all 50 states, at sea and abroad. I think that’s pretty cool.
Everyone came over to our house for bagels after church on Sunday, even Mr. Smith, who ran laps around the house with the wee twins and their Dad.
Afterward the OM and I went to the kick-off of our friend Liz’s mayoral campaign down at the train station.
It was a busy weekend. I am thankful for family, friends and living in America!
And this babydoll tried on her hand-me-down Christmas dress…
Happy Friday, dear readers. As usual, I don’t have much to talk about it. My first Halloween with trick or treaters was a bit of a letdown. There were lots of kids on my street but not all of them came to my house! I can only assume the old lady who lived in my house before me was cranky. Next year, I will have to make it obvious that I bought a lot of candy. Speaking of, I find it alarming the way kids these days just take handfuls of candy unless you specify. “Kids these days.” Maybe I am the cranky old lady.
Anyway, in cuter news, my sister sent this anecdote about Katie yesterday when they went to the library. Katie was playing with the large puppy toys in the children’s area and she brought one over to the back of the couch near the window so he could watch the street like Mr. Smith. She is the sweetest.
And I’ve been reading some old Calvin & Hobbes cartoons. He amuses me.
Well, the actual Halloween, after a full month of build up, was pretty lame and anticlimactic at least from my perspective. Halloween is hardly on my radar anymore and wouldn’t be at all if I didn’t have to drive by the neighbors’ yards full of fake cemeteries, witch covens, giant skeletons, and inflatable dragons. Call me a killjoy, but good grief, Charlie Brown.
I did get cute pictures of all my grandkids, who appeared to enjoy the day as well they should.
As you can see, Lottie (“Mal”) and the bud (fireman) bowed to peer pressure and are wearing store-bought costumes. I hope they didn’t break their mother’s heart too much.
Meanwhile Miss Katie went trick-or-treating with her Daddy for the first time and was nearly beside herself with excitement.
I gather it was a long, semi-frustrating day of waiting. Taking cute photos proved to be almost impossible…
C’est la vie! At least Mr. Smith rose to the occasion and guarded the house from neighborhood hooligans.
Good boy!
Well, now it is November and we are ready to move into a month of Thankfulness! I refuse to put up Christmas decorations until after November 23! It’s pilgrims all the way for me.
Oh blessedness, all bliss above, When thy pure fires prevail! Love only teaches what is love: All other lessons fail: We learn its name, but not its powers, Experience only makes it ours.
In the late afternoon of November 1, 1941, Ansel Adams took this black-and-white photo, “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico”. Pretty cool indeed.
Also pretty cool is Lyle Lovett, and it is his birthday today! Happy Birthday, Lyle! Hats off to you–67 years old and still touring.
Today is also the anniversary of the death of Ezra Pound (1885-1972) who was a major figure in the modernist poetry movement. An indulged son of privilege, he was always somewhat “out of key with his time”–another way to say, he never fit in. I was amused to discover that his first job out of graduate school was teaching at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, which he considered the “sixth circle of hell”. Well, la di da.
Not surprisingly, he was asked to leave Wabash shortly after starting there.
Anyway, his “legacy” is certainly a mixed one, and he is mostly remembered for his advancement of some of the best-known modernist writers of the early 20th century. All the cool kids: Eliot, Joyce, Lewis, Frost, Williams, Hemingway, H.D., Aldington, and Aiken, Cummings, Bunting, Ford, and Marianne Moore, who became one of his staunchest defenders throughout his controversial career. He lived a long life and is buried in the Protestant section of the San Michele cemetery in Venice. Supposedly Pound had wanted to be buried in Idaho (where he was born) with his bust by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska on his grave. Tant pis. He wouldn’t have fit in there either.
I would rather toast Noah Beery, Jr. who also died on this day in 1994. He was, of course, a supporting actor best known for playing James Garner’s father in The Rockford Files. However, he acted in a lot of movies, most notably as a pilot in Only Angels Have Wings (1939) and as a cowboy in Red River (1948)–both directed by Howard Hawks.
So on this first day of November, look up at the sky, listen to some good music, read a poem, watch an old movie, embrace your supporting part.
dual personalities 