dual personalities

Category: Uncategorized

January 16, 2018

Back to the salt mine musings

by chuckofish

IMG_2356 2.JPG

There was a lot of coming and going during this long weekend, and sometimes this old lady could barely keep track of who was here and who wasn’t.

C’est la vie and I am not complaining. I am rejoicing.

It even snowed a little, just a dusting, but enough so we could see red fox tracks zipping through our yard.

03e3fdf15fb34435c0dc98f0d4bef3d0.jpg

Life is full of wonder.

Although it was only four o’clock, the winter day was fading. The road led southwest, toward the streak of pale, watery light that glimmered in the leaden sky. The light fell upon the two sad young faces that were turned mutely toward it: upon the eyes of the girl, who seemed to be looking with such anguished perplexity into the future; upon the somber eyes of the boy, who seemed already to be looking into the past. The little town behind them had vanished as if it had never been, had fallen behind the swell of the prairie, and the stern frozen country received them into its bosom. The homesteads were few and far apart; here and there a windmill gaunt against the sky, a sod house crouching in a hollow. But the great fact was the land itself, which seemed to overwhelm the little beginnings of human society that struggled in its somber wastes.

–Willa Cather, O Pioneers!

Albert-Bierstadt-Clouds-Coming-Over-the-Plains-MONA-Kearney-1.jpg

“Clouds Coming Over the Plains” by Albert Bierstadt

8 Comments
January 15, 2018

“Speak, for your servant is listening.”*

by chuckofish

Visit then this soul of mine, pierce the gloom of sin and grief!

Fill me, radiancy divine; scatter all my unbelief;

More and more thyself display, shining to the perfect day.

–Charles Wesley, hymn #7

Boy, do I love a three-day weekend! Don’t you? Daughter #1 stopped overnight Friday on her way to Indianapolis to meet up with some old college friends who also had had exciting careers in NYC and then moved back to the midwest. Then she stopped last night on her way back to central Missouri. How fun is that? We watched The World of Henry Orient (1964)–“an Upper East Side” movie and one of our faves. It is by far my favorite Peter Sellers movie and the girls in this film are dear to my heart.

(Like all trailers, this one does not quite convey the true idea/flavor of the movie.)

In between I met with my girlfriends to plan a bridal shower in March. Bells are ringing (again)! I puttered around the house putting stuff away. This is what I do and this is what brings me joy.

We had a guest preacher at church on Sunday–the Bishop’s Deputy for Gun Violence Prevention. I thought, oh brother, are we in for it, but he actually preached on MLK (his feast day is April 4, whatever) and tied it into the OT reading. Okay, then.

The wee babes came over on Sunday night for dinner and to show us their new haircuts.

IMG_1150

That face!

Their mother loves to take them to have their locks shorn–I’m not sure why and neither are they.

IMG_1847.jpg

But mine is not to reason why. They are adorable regardless.

IMG_1217.jpeg

Here are a few things from the internet:

This was interesting. #6 is particularly true–especially for those of us with scary RBF**: “Remember to smile. It will brighten your aspect and your voice, and serve as a corrective to the inevitable facial droop.”

I couldn’t agree more with this. Bravo.

Have a great week.

Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which Thou has given me, for all the pains and insults which Thou hast borne for me, O most merciful Redeemer, Friend and brother, may I know Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, and follow Thee more nearly, day by day.

–St. Richard of Chichester

*I Samuel 3:10

**Resting Bitch Face

3 Comments
January 13, 2018

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”*

by chuckofish

Yesterday, the temperature reached 60; all the snow melted and there were floods. This morning it is 9 and a winter storm is busily dropping a foot of snow on us. The world is silent: no plows have come by; no one is out shoveling; everyone is hunkered down inside.

Nowadays, people seem to look at the weather the way they do anything they can’t control, as a moral outrage.  Remember what the great Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, once wrote:

Some things are in our control, while others are not. We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything of our own doing. We don’t control our body, property, reputation, position, and, in a word, everything not of our own doing.

(from Holiday and Hanselman, The Daily Stoic, 2016)

Obviously, the weather is beyond our control. We can, and should, prepare for bad weather, but we can also enjoy it. It would be boring to live where the climate never changed.

It’s not as if winter doldrums are anything new. Take this letter from my great grandmother to my great aunt, Hazel, dated January 13, 1931 — this very day 87 years ago!

Dear Hazel,

I received your letter yesterday and as you say it won’t be long before spring — just think, this is the 13th of Jan. I can hardly believe it is so far into the winter. I am glad you are able to get at your rugs (?) again — they will take up your mind and it is nice to be working on some color you like. I think, like you, that yellow is a lovely color and helps to cheer you up. Please try and look on the bright side and look forward to spring. It won’t be long now…(the letter discusses some mutual acquaintances and ends as follows).

I wish you could have a nice plant of some kind in your room. Could you get one at the greenhouse? I would like to send you the money for it. Let me know.

Loads of love, Mama

Mama gave good advice. If winter gets you down, get busy working on something you enjoy! While I can’t say I’m a big fan of the color yellow in home-decorating, I do love yellow flowers in a bouquet.

Source: Google images

Why not treat yourself to some grocery store flowers or a plant as a reminder that spring really IS right around the corner? Plants brighten up a room, refresh the air, and give you an excuse to buy pretty ceramic pots.

I recommend philodendrons — it’s easy to keep them alive and thriving.

So. No giving in to seasonal affective disorder (SAD). No winter doldrums. Get moving and  remember that  Epictetus said you can control what you think and feel. Remember, too, that we’re not as young as we were and have to take precautions. Don’t shovel heavy, wet snow or exercise when it’s super cold. Hire someone with a snow-blower/plow or just stay inside until it melts. With weather this changeable that will probably be next week!

Have a great weekend.

*Percy Bysshe Shelley “Ode to the West Wind”

 

 

 

 

 

2 Comments
January 12, 2018

Thou wouldst have us learn this day

by chuckofish

Screen Shot 2017-11-10 at 8.32.08 AM.png

They say we are in for some wintery weather this weekend.

Screen Shot 2018-01-11 at 3.39.32 PM.png

Well, it’s winter. The chill is on, as the meteorologists are fond of saying.

It has been a hard week and I am ready for some down time. And some baby time.

IMG_1842.jpg

IMG_1841.jpg

Have a good weekend.

“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”

–Laura Ingalls Wilder

5 Comments
January 11, 2018

I will follow you into the dark*

by chuckofish

 

464cf46d0c5e6b4bca2c43a3ab0e229c--rosh-hashanah-marc-chagall.jpg

I went to the funeral of another Jewish friend yesterday. It was at a very large Reform congregation; the service was minimal. We said the 23rd Psalm and the rabbi read the Mourner’s Kaddish. In between, members of her family gave eulogies for their beloved mother and grandmother, who was an accomplished and much admired lady. Her 96 years by all accounts were happy ones. The message, however, was life is a journey and the journey ends at death.

A funeral like this always leaves me feeling empty and kind of sad. Reading some Frederick Buechner puts things in perspective for me.

When it comes to the mystery of death, like the mystery of life, how can any of us know anything? If there is a realm of being beyond where we now are that has to do somehow with who Jesus is, and is for us, and is for all the world, then how can we know the way that will take us there?

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” is how he answers. He does not say the church is the way. He does not say his teachings are the way, or what people for centuries have taught about him. He does not say religion is the way, not even the religion that bears his name. He says he himself is the way. And he says that the truth is not words, neither his words nor anyone else’s words. It is the truth of being truly human as he was truly human and thus at the same time truly God’s. And the life we are dazzled by in him, haunted by in him, nourished by in him is a life so full of aliveness and light that not even the darkness of death could prevail against it.

How do we go where he is? How do we who have a hard enough time just finding our way home in the night find the way that is his way, the way that is he? Who of us can say, and yet who of us doesn’t search for the answer in our deepest places?

As for me, I think what we are to do is to keep on ringing and ringing and ringing, because that ringing – and the longing, the faith, the intuition that keeps us at it – is the music of the truth trying to come true even in us. I think that what we are to do is to try to draw near to him and to each other any way we can because that is the last thing he asked of us. “Love one another as I have loved you” John 15:12) is the way he said it… By believing against all odds and loving against all odds, that is how we are to let Jesus show in the world and to transform the world.

– from Secrets in the Dark

*Death Cab For Cutie

3 Comments
January 10, 2018

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.*

by chuckofish

The boy pointed out to me that freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa gave all the glory to God in the CFP National Championship post-game interview:

There are still some fine young men out there. Roll Tide.

Speaking of fine young people, here is a new picture of the wee babes entertaining themselves.

Unknown-1.jpeg

The wee laddie is quite adept at pushing that little wagon around…with his sister in it!

soli_deo_gloria.png

Soli Deo Gloria.

*I Corinthians 10:31

5 Comments
January 9, 2018

TCB, baby

by chuckofish

Yesterday was Elvis Day. The King would have been 83 years old.

“If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.”

–Johnny Carson

And while we’re on the subject, here’s another example of the Anglican communion losing its way.

2 Comments
January 8, 2018

“O Comforter draw near, within my heart appear”*

by chuckofish

Here is a photo I found of one happy DP on Christmas morning circa 1972 or 1973 with our pater who looks slightly annoyed per usual.

katie_anc.jpg

It struck me that we were still sitting on the same loveseat this Christmas.

Screen Shot 2018-01-07 at 12.51.24 PM.png

It has been in our family for nearly 200 years. I had it re-covered several years ago, horsehair stuffing and everything. The wee laddie has already spit up on it, so it has been baptized. I do not get upset about such things. We do not live in a museum. C’est la vie, right?

It also struck me that back in the day I was no doubt foolishly critical and hard on my 17-year old self in that picture, thinking I didn’t look like I thought I should look. Good grief, what is wrong with teenage girls? The thing is– I still do this, and I am going to resolve to stop doing it in 2018.

Good luck to me!

Well, we had a busy weekend. I wrapped all my Christmas decorations, which I had taken down last week, and put them away–even the outdoor lights! Our neighbors across the street have not turned off their outdoor Christmas lights since they put them up in November! Their inflated Santa in a trailer decoration stayed inflated and plugged in night and day throughout December, and when I would get up at 3:00 a.m., Santa would still be opening the door and closing it. Finally the snow and ice did him in and he got stuck…IMG_1857.JPG

…and then he died.

IMG_3041.JPG

He will probably be there ’til the spring thaw. Neighbors.

The OM and I babysat the wee babes on Saturday night while their parents went out to celebrate daughter #3’s birthday. The babes were tired and so it wasn’t difficult to get them to bed.  The wee laddie even let me change his diaper without much of a struggle–a sure sign of exhaustion. The OM went to sleep on the couch shortly after and I scanned Netflix for something/anything to watch–quelle wasteland. I watched the Tin-Tin movie which was not great.

IMG_3039.JPG

Oli kept me company in Lottie’s chair. The cats appear to have seized ownership. Big surprise.

I read in church on Sunday and then went home and finished putting away Christmas stuff. In the afternoon I took a break and treated myself to 3 Godfathers (1948).

wayne508.jpg

Just a perfect movie. I also watched Logan Lucky (2017) with my fave Channing Tatum. I think it kind of bombed at the box office, but I can’t imagine why. I liked it and recommend it. Kind of a hillbilly Oceans 11, the hero is smart and sweet. Daniel Craig plays against type. It was even rated PG-13 (no violence, no bad language!)

maxresdefault.jpg

I have a super busy week ahead. Have a good one!

*Hymn #516

7 Comments
January 6, 2018

Start as you mean to go on

by chuckofish

Aside from the extreme cold (-25 last night), the new year has gotten off to a good start. I’ve already seen one good movie and I’m reading Hilary Mantel’s superb French Revolution novel, A place of Greater Safety.

I hesitated to start the book — who wants to read about the unremitting bloodbath called the French Revolution? I should have had more faith in Ms. Mantel, who is a brilliant writer and a better historian than most people trained to the profession. Who but she could humanize villains like Robespierre and Desmoulins? In her hands, we follow the inexorable progress of the Revolution to its hideous apogee. How could such intelligent, talented people start a revolution without having any plans in place for a new government? What made them think they could control the mob?

Desmoulins rallying the mob

Then, as now, the answer is the same: power corrupts and leaders who value their ideas more than people’s lives inevitably cause the deaths of untold numbers of people. Most dangerous are leaders who believe only in themselves, have no moral sense and no belief in a higher power, who see the masses as chattel to be manipulated, and for whom life is at best an intellectual exercise and at worst a game for personal amusement.  These are men, who, as Lafayette described them in the novel, “have never been to war. They’ve never been on the hunting field. They’ve never killed an animal, let alone a man. But they’re such enthusiasts for murder.”

Beware the type of person who apparently believes whatever he says, but who never says the same thing twice:

“Talking to Robespierre, one tried to make the right noises; but what is right, these days? Address yourself to the militant, and you find a pacifist giving you a reproachful look. Address yourself to the idealist, and you’ll find that you’ve fallen into the company of a cheerful, breezy professional politician. Address yourself to means, and you’ll be told to think of ends: to ends, and you’ll be told to think of means. Make an assumption, and you will find it overturned; offer yesterday’s conviction, and today you’ll find it shredded.”

Sadly, all of this cuts a little too close to the bone these days. Be warned.

********

In case you need a diversion from the serious side of life, my movie recommendation for this weekend is Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. It’s clever (they handle the premise extremely well), laugh out loud funny, has great performances, and a good message. It’s a very worthy sequel to the original film. Two thumbs up!

Have a great weekend!

2 Comments
January 5, 2018

Brrrrrrrr

by chuckofish

Screen Shot 2018-01-04 at 8.57.11 AM

The Mississippi River freezes solid in February 1905.

Il fait froid! There are ice chunks in the ol’ Mississip today, but I don’t think one could walk across it. I certainly wouldn’t want to try! Here are some interesting historical photos of our frozen river through the years.

I plan to stay warm at home this weekend packing up Christmas decorations. But I also have two birthdays to celebrate, including daughter #3’s, so I’ll be out and about.

I saw a fox run through our back yard early on Christmas Eve morning. Maybe he’ll be back.

2c1da737e0268d5ed4d12f77027cd076

Thus by the snow I was made aware in this short walk of the recent presence of squirrels, a fox, and countless mice, whose trail I had crossed, but none of which I saw, or probably should have seen before the snow fell. Also I saw this afternoon the track of one sparrow, probably a tree sparrow, which had run among the weeds in the road. (Dec. 14, 1855)

–Henry David Thoreau, A Writer’s Journal

Since it is Epiphany,

Screen Shot 2018-01-04 at 5.27.06 PM.png

it is time to watch 3 Godfathers (1947)–an all-time favorite.

godfather-john-wayne.png

What have you got on the docket?

IMG_0904.GIF

The OM and I are also babysitting the wee babes. Please note that the 16 lb. dynamo is now on the move for real! Keep us in your prayers.

Have a good weekend!

The painting is “Tracks in Snow” by Morten E. Solberg.

2 Comments