family | dual personalities

February 13, 2019

“Curiosity is what separates us from the cabbages.”*

by chuckofish

In case you didn’t know, a lot of things happened on February 13.

1542: Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, was executed for adultery.

1689: William and Mary, were proclaimed co-rulers of England.

1945: RAF bombers were dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.

1955: Israel obtained four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.

1990: An agreement was reached on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

Yes, these are but a few of the interesting historical things you can find out more about if you are so inclined.

It is also the birthday of Chuck Yeager (b. 1923)– WWII flying ace and test pilot who famously broke the sound barrier.

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Sam Shepard played him in The Right Stuff (1983). Yeager wrote an autobiography called Yeager: An Autobiography, which I think I will read. I will certainly toast him tonight.

“You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up, but you don’t give up.”

On a personal note regarding things in the history genre: the other day, while perusing the latest issue of Missouri Conservationist, I came across an interesting article about Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, who made an amazing 900-mile trek 200 years ago into what is now southern Missouri and northern Arkansas to learn more about the lead mining potential in the area. This was Osage country then and pretty wild. There were not a lot of white settlers around, just scattered cabins. It was easy to get lost and he and his partner did, several times.

Fascinating in itself, but, hey, look:

Matney’s Cabin! This is about the time our own Matneys were in Arkansas, having journeyed from western Virginia. (Our great-great-great grandmother Susanna Matney was, in fact, born in Arkansas in 1818!) Was this the cabin of William Matney, our great-great-great-great grandfather? Well, this got me started looking further into it and there is a Matney Knob in Arkansas on the White River that today features a beautiful Ozark Highlands Trail.

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I also ordered Schoolcraft’s book, so I shall see what he had to say about Matney’s Cabin. (Probably not much. It is a travel journal, after all.)

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The world is more than we know.

And this was adorable: the wee laddie on Instagram…

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*David McCullough

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February 12, 2019

“Like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery.”*

by chuckofish

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A Valentine picture from the past!

“You think you will never forget any of this, you will remember it always just the way it was. But you can’t remember it the way it was. To know it, you have to be living in the presence of it right as it is happening. It can return only by surprise. Speaking of these things tells you that there are no words for them that are equal to them or that can restore them to your mind. And so you have a life that you are living only now, now and now and now, gone before you can speak of it, and you must be thankful for living day by day, moment by moment, in this presence. But you have a life too that you remember. It stays with you. You have lived a life in the breath and pulse and living light of the present, and your memories of it, remember now, are of a different life in a different world and time. When you remember the past, you are not remembering it as it was. You are remembering it as it is. It is a vision or a dream, present with you in the present, alive with you in the only time you are alive.”

― Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter

*Wendell Berry

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February 11, 2019

“Lookin’ out my back door”*

by chuckofish

Doo doo doo…How was your weekend? Mine was quite pleasant, despite some bad weather. Sometimes bad weather causes us to slow down and settle in at home for some quiet time, and that is not a bad thing.

I took daughter #1 to the airport early on Saturday morning and she headed off to the east coast.

She and daughter #2 and DN had so much fun, but I wasn’t jealous or anything.

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Indeed, the OM and I had our own good time at the Elegant Italian Dinner–so good, in fact, that we all forgot to take any pictures. Just one:

The wee babes, despite being tired and a bit cranky when they arrived, took right to the nursery and had a fine time playing and eating pizza with the other kids.

I read a lot of A Light in August by William Faulkner. Besides learning some new words (morganatic: “relating to or denoting a marriage in which neither the spouse of lower rank, nor any children, have any claim to the possessions or title of the spouse of higher rank”), I can see how this book published in 1932, added several stereotypes to our culture, evidenced profusely in other people’s books and movies ever after.

I worked on organizing our CDs and DVDs. I hemmed some pants.

I cleaned and puttered and tidied.

All in all, not an unproductive weekend.

I must also add my high fives for our she-ro Dolly Parton, who was honored as 2019 MusiCares Person Of The Year. The eight-time Grammy winner is the first artist from “the Nashville music community” (please) to be honored at the annual Grammy Week gala benefiting music people in need. Well, it’s about time those snobs did so, I’d say.

Have a great week!

*John Fogerty

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January 28, 2019

“Strive for the greater gifts”*

by chuckofish

My weekend did not turn out as planned due to my ungainly fall outside an estate sale on Saturday morning. I was okay, just shaken up a bit, but I went home and stayed home. I was grateful not to have broken anything, but falling makes one feel old and clumsy. It wasn’t even ice that tripped me up, but an uneven brick walk. C’est la vie.

At home I iced my knee, and worked in my office. I also got out my copy of Eudora Welty’s Collected Stories and read several, including “A Worn Path,” which was referenced in a story I linked to in a post last week.

Old Eudora is so good and I encourage you to revisit her oeuvre.

The OM and I watched Scottish movies: Dear Frankie, Whisky Galore! and Tunes of Glory. As it turned out, Brigadoon (1954) was on TCM, but I only saw the last 20 minutes. (That was enough.)

I went to the annual meeting at church–

and stayed for the cake after church. (Those are cupcakes surrounding the cake–not a terribly appetizing display.)

Then I went home and wrote some notes and mailed some photos to my daughters. (I still believe in snail mail.)

A 90+ year-old lady at work frequently exhorts me to have copies of photos printed and not just keep everything on my phone. Periodically I do that and I bring them in to show her. She is right, of course.

The wee babes and their parents came over per usual for Sunday night tacos.

And Lottie found all the bunnies (Dedham pottery)–so many bunnies!

Back to the salt mine today, limping but ready to go.

*I Cor. 12:31

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January 21, 2019

“Cheerful in God, arise and shine…

by chuckofish

…while rays divine stream all around.”*

Daughter #1 found a few pictures on her phone from Christmas that I had not seen and I had to share this one. Those little faces–especially the little guy in the bow tie on the left– are sure to make you smile, right?

How was your weekend? We had fun celebrating other people’s birthdays.

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We drank Prosecco and listened to show tunes on the record player. We are such hipsters.

We unearthed some more toys in the basement and cleaned them up.

I put the blocks away for a later date. I’m not sure the wee laddie is quite ready for them and we do not need to provide him with more missiles than he already has.

I read a lot in this book which I bought for a dollar at an estate sale a few weeks ago.

It is a children’s book from 1944, which tells the history of the world between the years 1809 to 1865, cleverly intertwining the stories. It is a book about people: Simon Bolivar, Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Benito Jaurez, Daniel Boone, Li Hung Chang, Buffalo Bill…which is the way I like history taught. I have enjoyed it a lot, especially the bits about Ulysses S. Grant.

Anyway, if you ever run across this book at an estate sale or used bookstore, pick it up! pick it up!

It snowed some more (but not on the day predicted). We thought we had dodged it, but no. Why do we ever listen to the meteorologists? Everyone still came over for dinner on Sunday night and we had tortellini.

We had way too much fun.

And today is a day off!

*Philip Doddridge, hymn #543

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January 18, 2019

“My only regret in life is that I didn’t drink enough champagne.”*

by chuckofish

It’s finally Friday! It was a long, busy week at my flyover Institute and I am really ready for the three-day weekend. Daughter #1 is driving in to town from mid-MO, if she can figure out when to do so in between the weird weather they are forecasting for the weekend.

We will celebrate our mother’s/grandmother’s birthday (along with Dolly Parton’s and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s) on Saturday–this calls for champagne–and, of course, Martin Luther King’s birthday on Monday.

Tonight we will toast Daniel Webster (1782-1852),

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along with Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), Cary Grant (1904-1986), Danny Kaye (1911-1987), and Kevin Costner (b. 1955)–all born on January 18. Just think of the movie viewing possibilities!

Screen Shot 2019-01-17 at 10.26.56 AM.png Screen Shot 2019-01-17 at 10.38.25 AM.png Personally I am leaning toward a Cary Grant marathon, which could include any of these favorites: Gunga Din (1939), The Awful Truth (1937), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Houseboat (1958), North By Northwest (1959), Charade (1963), or Father Goose (1964) or The Bishop’s Wife (1947) if you missed it at Christmas.

Screen Shot 2019-01-17 at 10.24.00 AM.png It might also be time to revisit Silverado (1985)–completely derivative, but entertaining nonetheless.

Screen Shot 2019-01-17 at 10.15.57 AM.png We should also mention that today on the Episcopal Church calendar is the feast day of Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), Protestant missionary in India, who was the real deal. She opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She served in India for fifty-five years without furlough and authored many books about the missionary work there. Her most notable work was with girls and young women, some of whom were saved from customs that amounted to forced prostitution. You can read about her here. Why don’t they make a movie about this remarkable woman?

Lots of choices to make this weekend–make good ones!

And stay safe in the winter weather.

*John Maynard Keynes

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January 16, 2019

Just saying

by chuckofish

Screen Shot 2019-01-15 at 7.45.02 AM.png (Instragam @vegaslady42 who reposted it from somewhere else)

Meanwhile the amaryllis, given to us by my brother and his wife before Christmas, continues to grow. Hopefully it will bloom sometime in mid-February, just when we need it the most! The wee laddie was quite fascinated with it the other night and thus we have it staked now…as usual, he heeded his mother’s pleas for a “gentle touch!” only after some damage was already done. The Christmas cactus is also a favorite place for the wee babes to deposit their Playskool chicken and rooster…

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…which is quite brilliant if you ask me. Birds in the foliage, right? It is great to see them recognize things and make connections.

Lottie has been terrific at pointing out horses (“neigh!”) on fabric and in pictures for awhile. The first time she did this, it blew me away. She is one observant child.

Now she can find elephants everywhere.

She called the clock a “house” which I thought was brilliant as well.Our house is like a treasure hunt for them anyway. It is their job to “find” their toys that have been put away and drag them out. Books in particular.

They also like to move the little chairs around, because, you know, they can.

I have bought nothing new for them except the shopping cart, which, of course, the wee laddie thinks is a Sherman Tank. What was I thinking?

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Well, nothing is too precious in our house not to be “antiqued” further by the demonstrative hands of our two-year old, twenty-pound twin tornadoes.

The old manse can take it.

By the way, yesterday the wee babes had their final NICU follow-up appointment. According to daughter #3, the doctors were very pleased with how they both are doing. Both are basically caught up developmentally to their same-aged peers…and they told us not to expect this until they were 3! Love and attention go a long, long way.

Thanks be to God.

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January 14, 2019

“See, what you have to ask yourself is: what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?”

by chuckofish

Well, we did, indeed, have a little snow on Friday night.

I did a little shoveling, but the boy brought his snow blower over and did most of our driveway…

He made short work of what would have been a major effort/pain for me to do. I did some more shoveling on Sunday…by then the snow was heavy and icey. But it felt good to get out in the cold and do some physical work.

I spent the weekend reading M Train by Patti Smith, “an unforgettable odyssey of a legendary artist, told through the prism of the cafés and haunts she has worked in around the world. It is a book Patti Smith has described as ‘a roadmap to my life.’”

Like me, she is a person who sees signs and miracles in the world. She rescues objects and keeps talismans that are full of meaning for her.

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She wears vintage clothes and watches detective shows and visits cemeteries to pay homage to specific graves, usually of literary figures or artists. If I ever go to Tokyo I will, like Patti, want to have dinner at the restaurant Mifune. In other words, we are on the same page.

–Reading Ibsen?

–Yes, The Master Builder.

–Hmmmm, lovely play but fraught with symbolism.

–I hadn’t noticed, I said.

He stood before the fire for a moment then shook his head and left. Personally, I’m not much for symbolism. I never get it. Why can’t things be just as they are? I never thought to psychoanalyze Seymour Glass or sought to break down “Desolation Row.” I just wanted to get lost, become one with somewhere else, slip a wreath on a steeple top because I wished it. (M Train)

I also delved into Sam Anderson’s Boom Town, “The fantastical saga of Oklahoma City, its chaotic founding, its apocalyptic weather, its purloined basketball team, and the dream of becoming a world-class metropolis,” which DN gave me for Christmas, because he knows that OC is on my top-five list of places I want to visit. Isn’t it great to have a son-in-law who picks out books for me? I mean really.

The wee babes frolicked in the snow…

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…and they came over for Episcopal souffle on Sunday night. Can you believe how grown up they look?

Can you say, “chip and dip”?

And now it’s back to the rat race…have a good week!

Here is Patti Smith’s lovely elegy for her friend Sam Shepard.

*Graham Hess in Signs (2002)

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January 2, 2019

“Don’t kid yourself. These are the good old days.”*

by chuckofish

Well, after daughter #1 headed back to mid-MO, I set to work putting away Christmas decorations, which is a pretty big job and always kind of sad. However, it was good to say hello to some old friends.

By mid-afternoon, I had everything mostly under control. I was glad we had taken down the big tree on Sunday!

Today, like a lot of people, I am back at work. It was a very nice break, full of family and fun, but I am ready to start the new year.

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Instagram @desiringgod

Onward and upward.

*Nick Charles in The Thin Man (1934)

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December 31, 2018

“And offered there in his presence their gold, and myrrh, and frankincense”*

by chuckofish

…great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (I Timothy 3:16)

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It is hard to believe that Christmas week is over. We tried to keep our focus where it belonged.

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@johnbcrist (Instagram)

Indeed, this thought was at the forefront of our minds…but the presents sure are fun.

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Also the Christmas movies…

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And the toasting…

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Alas, soon it will be back to the salt mine…but we’ll be celebrating one more time tonight with the wee babes, their parents and daughter #1. I think this calls for champagne!

*Hymn 109

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