dual personalities

Month: September, 2026

September 17, 2026

A circle at the fireside

by chuckofish

It came to my attention while perusing old blog posts that it was ten years ago this week that the boy went to Indianapolis to have a second surgery for his cancer at Indiana University Hospital. The OM and I went and spent the night there also. Once again, time flies. A lot has happened in those intervening years, things change. But some things do not change. And that’s a good thing.

Here’s an old-fashioned, and some would say, sappy poem, but it expresses my feeling very well. It’s “The Stick-Together Families” by Edgar Guest:

I will also note that this week marks the fifteenth anniversary of this blog! Back when I started it, daughter #1 was living and working in Washington DC, the boy was unmarried and daughter #2 was still in college! The OM and I were working stiffs. Thank you to all who continue to read the blog. L’chaim!

And just as a reminder…

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt, crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

–RWE

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September 16, 2026

I walked abroad

by chuckofish

Today we toast T.E. Hulme (1883-1917), an English critic and poet who, through his writings on art, literature and politics, had a notable influence upon modernism. Hulme volunteered as an artilleryman in 1914 and served with the Honourable Artillery Company and later the Royal Marine Artillery in  France and Belgium. He was killed by a shell in West Flanders.

A touch of cold in the Autumn night –
I walked abroad,
And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge
Like a red-faced farmer.
I did not stop to speak, but nodded,
And round about were the wistful stars
With white faces like town children.

We are in the middle of another hot week in the 90s, so I won’t be doing much walking abroad! All the better for catching up on my Bible study homework and other reading. I am also re-watching No Direction Home Bob Dylan, the 2005 documentary by Martin Scorsese, and really enjoying it.

Have a good Wednesday! Read some poetry, re-watch a good movie, listen to some Bob.

(The painting is by Atkinson Grimshaw, a Victorian artist.)

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September 14, 2026

Morning by morning new mercies I see*

by chuckofish

My weekends seem busy, I think, because my weekdays are so quiet. But the lazy days of summer are coming to an end. My calendar is filling up (relatively speaking).

I went to a double funeral on Friday at my old church–for a devoted married couple who had died within weeks of each other. I mostly knew Ron who was 93 years old, a retired army major who had served in Korea, Germany and two tours in Vietnam. He was awarded two Bronze Stars and many other commendations and badges. He was also a devoted churchman who served as our Senior Warden more than once. He gave the blessing at the boy’s Eagle Scout court of honor and also before dinner at his wedding reception. He was a fixture in our life for 25 years at Grace Church. I thought it was great that all three scripture readings contained a military reference: Exodus 17:8b-11; Ephesians 6:10-17; Matthew 8: 5-10, 13.

Later in the day I celebrated daughter #1’s birthday with the boy and his family at her house.

Mr. Smith kind of lost his mind over the excitement of having everyone in his house…

…but we all had fun and Dewey’s pizza!

Saturday morning I went to a DAR meeting–my first as the chapter chaplain! Daughter #1 and I went to our favorite winery in Hillsboro afterwards (as is our tradish) for a much-needed refreshment.

It was lovely to sit in the sunshine and listen to live music and drink the local wine.

On Sunday I got up and met the boy and the twins at church. We are back on the fall schedule. We had a baptism–the Assistant Pastor’s son, Asa Keller (named after guess who)–and that was fun. I love when the whole congregation sings “Jesus Loves Me” as the pastor carries the baby up and down the middle aisle. The Assistant Pastor got a little weepy quoting I Kings 15:9-24: “The heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days.”

We heard a good sermon by our Senior Pastor on I Corinthians1:1-9–wonderful exegesis on the “Who do you think you are?” theme. The congregation sang with verve and vigor and I felt joyful. Then we all went to Sunday School. I chose the “Union with Christ” class taught by a Covenant Seminary professor. It was so good! I love being in a class where the teacher assumes an intelligent audience who is there to learn. Woohoo! What a treat.

Have a great Monday!

Great is thy faithfulness,
Great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hast provided;
Great is thy faithfulness,
Lord unto me.

*Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923

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September 11, 2026

This day, whate’er the Fates decree/ Shall still be kept with joy by me

by chuckofish

Today is daughter #1’s birthday! Although September 11 has been ruined to some extent by the heinous events of 2001, we will endeavor to celebrate anyway. Because if anyone deserves a party, it is she.

This day, whate’er the Fates decree,

Shall still be kept with joy by me:

This day then let us not be told,

That you are sick, and I grown old;

Nor think on our approaching ills,

And talk of spectacles and pills.

To-morrow will be time enough

To hear such mortifying stuff.

Yet, since from reason may be brought

A better and more pleasing thought,

Which can, in spite of all decays,

Support a few remaining days:

From not the gravest of divines

Accept for once some serious lines.

–Jonathan Swift, “Stella’s Birthday, March 13, 1727”

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September 10, 2026

A little bit o’ history

by chuckofish

Today we toast Captain Thomas S. Baldwin, who made history when he flew an airplane for the first time over the Mississippi River on this day in 1910.

The starting point for the flight was a field just east of Bellefontaine Cemetery. The flight area was cleared of spectators, soldiers took guard positions around the field, and Baldwin’s plane, the Red Devil, was wheeled out. After a short test flight, Baldwin took off at 5:11 p.m. Some 200,000 persons lined the riverfront on both sides to watch the red biplane fly from the north St. Louis field and land in Illinois opposite Arsenal Street.

On the return flight Baldwin astounded the crowds by flying under both the Eads and McKinley bridges at the breakneck speed of 50 miles an hour. He landed at 6:05 p.m., exactly at his starting point.

Pretty cool, eh?

And in memory of Charlie Kirk, who was murdered on this day last year, please listen to Marco Rubio’s speech at the memorial service last year. Lest we forget.

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September 9, 2026

Live long and prosper

by chuckofish

I have to admit I watched a couple of episodes of the original Star Trek with William Shatner the other night. It’s the 60th anniversary of the franchise you know–1966-2026! That’s hard to wrap my mind around, I have to tell ya. Sixty years.

You can even get a commemorative coin!

Yesterday was the actual anniversary of its first airing. I was in the fifth grade and my brother was in the tenth grade in 1966 and we watched it every week. My sister was only in the second grade but she may have watched it too.

We thought the show was hokey back then and I still do to a certain extent. The sets were cheesy and the costumes and wigs and makeup were terrible. But my opinion of William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk has actually improved over the years. I now recognize that he was quite handsome and darn appealing on the show. So for a further blast from the past, I may watch a few more episodes.

FYI: In 1967, Ricardo Montalban starred as Khan Noonien Singh, Captain Kirk’s foe in the “Space Seed” episode of “Star Trek.” His scene-stealing performance as a villain inspired the team to bring him back for the 1982 Star Trek movie that was named after his character: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Since Montalban is the TCM Star of the Month in September, they are showing Star Trek II on September 28–so mark your calendar! “From hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”

Anyway, time barrels on per usual.

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September 8, 2026

Postcards from an interrupted weekend

by chuckofish

Well, our trip to the prairie was cut short when most of the prairie fam came down sick with some virus and we thought it best to hightail it home on Sunday. C’est dommage!

We did, however, manage to have some fun. We visited the nearby Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve and we went to the Museum of the Grand Prairie, which I thought was pretty great as museums go…

The next day when it had cooled off quite a bit, we managed to take a mile walk on the prairie trail with Mr. Smith…

We had one scary encounter with a pit bull who could barely be restrained by its owner, but disaster was averted and we continued on our hike. Mr. Smith comported himself admirably. In fact, he was a gentleman throughout our visit, showing canine patience with the girls and with the baby.

After returning home, neither daughter #1 nor I felt great on Monday, and the boy and his family were under the weather as well, so we played it cool on Labor Day. We had already watched my traditional Labor Day movie–The Pajama Game (1957)–while back on the prairie. It’s the musical about labor troubles and romance in a pajama factory with snazzy choreography by Bob Fosse. It’s a favorite of mine, but the girls didn’t really get into it.

Anyway, back home on Monday I watched Passport to Pimlico (1949), an Ealing Studio production. I enjoy those post-WWII English comedies, although I admit, I did fall asleep toward the end.

Here’s hoping everyone feels better today!

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September 4, 2026

In the dust and smoke of the arena*

by chuckofish

I’m heading up to the prairie today with daughter #1 and Mr. Smith to see the prairie fam–so much more fun than imaginary talking on the phone!

Enjoy your long weekend and let’s all toast the hardworking American men and women out there! And a special call out to those men who do the important jobs women don’t want to do: who pick up your trash, and fix the roads, who are plumbers and electricians, who mine the coal and fix our cars and fight the wars and protect the streets. The ones who stop on the highway and pull people out of burning cars. I salute you and I thank you.

Work and love, using each in its broadest sense – work, the quality which makes a man ashamed not to be able to pull his own weight, not to do for himself as well as for others without being beholden to anyone for what he is doing; work, no man is happy if he does not work.

–Theodore Roosevelt speaking to the railroad branch of the YMCA in Topeka, Kansas, on “decent living and high ideals”, 1903

This little picture essay offers one of the best reminders of the wonders all around us, even in a simple small apartment. We are blessed beyond measure.

And this is a really good article about Wendell Berry. “Berry’s poetic imagination shapes us to love the limits and simplicity of the real life we have, even if it’s not the perfect life.’

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)

P.S. Prayers for travel mercies are much appreciated!

*Theodore Roosevelt

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September 3, 2026

How’s it going?

by chuckofish

It has been steamy hot all this week so I have been working on inside projects and getting ready to head up to the prairie on Friday for the long weekend.

I have, as usual, been reading several different books, including Agatha Christie’s autobiography. She really was quite an unusual person who seemed to think nothing of traveling to exotic places like Bagdad alone. She was always very lucky and found people to stay with and hang out with for lengthy periods of time. It was a different world–at least for people of her social class etc. If they had made a movie about her, she would have been played by Margaret Rutherford, if you can imagine Margaret Rutherford surfing. (I can.) She was married twice and had one child, who was shipped off to boarding school at age eight–don’t worry–she wanted to go. Agatha, of course, never had any formal education, but was, of course, much better “educated” than most modern students. It is a fascinating read, but I’m not sure how much of it I actually believe.

Indeed. what can beat a train?

This is a really interesting short film I saw on TCM about the making of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)–back when making movies was a true collaboration of real artists. It was an entirely different endeavor from today when everything is done on computers. They were crafting illusions and bringing them to life through brilliant camera work, art direction, costumes, music, makeup, acting. Wow. Fascinating!

Down to the buzzing of the arrows, they don’t don’t make ’em like this anymore!

Well, have a great Thursday! Keep cool.

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September 2, 2026

“I been eating peaches/off some mighty fine trees.”*

by chuckofish

Kentucky poet, novelist and essayist Wendell Berry died on Monday. He was 92.

He was right about a lot of things and wrong about others (as are we all) but I always liked him.

I like his poetry and I like his novels.

“You mustn’t wish for another life. You mustn’t want to be somebody else. What you must do is this:
‘Rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing.
In everything give thanks.’
I am not all the way capable of so much, but those are the right instructions.”

–Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter

I am re-reading Hannah Coulter; it is pretty great.

Enjoy your Tuesday! Read some poetry, re-read an old book, take a walk, be thankful, do not be ashamed.

* Wendell Berry, read the whole poem here.

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