dual personalities

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September 21, 2026

Come ye weary, heavy laden

by chuckofish

We had another very hot weekend, but they say we’re in for cooler temps this week. Let’s hope so. Today is the first day of fall, after all!

The gutter guys (moonlighting firemen) came on Friday to wash my windows and I had an interesting conversation with the head dude prompted by the picture of John Wayne in my kitchen.

This happens not infrequently. Kindred souls, you know. It periodically restores my faith in humanity.

I went to Mudd’s Grove in the afternoon to do a little research and then I enjoyed wine time with daughter #1 at our favorite local watering hole. I also enjoyed therapy time with Mr. Smith who was newly shampooed.

On Saturday I decided not to attend the Greentree Festival parade in my flyover town, instead planning to go to the bud’s soccer game, but I was foiled in my efforts when there was absolutely no place to park in all of Shaw Park. (There was also some art fair going on and half of Clayton was blocked off.) So I headed over to daughter #1’s house and we went to two estate sales in her neighborhood. They were both in old houses where the people had obviously lived for many years. This is the kind of estate sale we like best. Fascinating. We found a few things and spent less than $20. Afterwards we went to the new hip restaurant in her neighborhood–Cibo–the one in a renovated gas station, for a yummy lunch. Then I went home to recover from walking around in the 95+ degree sunshine.

Later she came over to my house and we went to the Greentree Festival for wine time and live music. We parked in my friend Carla’s driveway and walked over–again very hot! It was fun to people watch, but we didn’t stay too long. We hoofed it back to Carla’s where she and her husband gave us glasses of ice water and a cool house to cool off in. I did not go to the Pig Pickin’ dinner at church that night, opting to stay home and watch A Mighty Wind (2003). Having just watched No Direction Home (22005) documentary, it was doubly hilarious.

On Sunday I met the boy and the twins at church. As usual, the music was wonderful and the entire congregation sang with gusto. The choir was in great form as was our resident violinist. We sang my favorite hymn (Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy) and Lottie’s favorite (Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me). The sermon on I Corinthians 1:10-17 about Christian unity was very good, as was our Sunday School class, continuing on the Union with Christ theme. We were all energized when we left church. Imagine that.

I went home and worked on my blogpost and did the homework for my Monday afternoon Bible Study. I went back to church Sunday night for a presentation about our mission work in Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, and around the world. Amazing work being done by God! When I got home, it started to rain and the temperature dropped.

Stay positive. Choose joy.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32) 

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September 18, 2026

Look up

by chuckofish

Daughter #1 was going to write a post for today, but she got busy and didn’t*. So here is some food for thought from Mike Woodruff:

I believe my job as a pastor would be easier if people saw two things that were common 100 years ago but quite hidden today: 1) cemeteries and 2) the night sky. 

When I was driving home last night from my community group Bible study–it is dark now at 8 p.m.–the moon was very bright and beautiful and I noted it. We do tend to forget.

Why is that?

Have a good weekend! Look up.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.

–John 10:27-30

*Oh wait, she did–see below!

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September 18, 2026

It’s the doghouse for me.

by marycompton

I said I would write a blogpost for today. My mother reminded me. I sat down to do it, got distracted and didn’t do it. Then, her final reminder came after my phone-appointed bed time when alerts about new messages are not displayed. Sigh. Hopefully this cute artwork will brighten your Friday.

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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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