Friday again. What are your plans? This weekend I will be finishing Mr. Churchill’s Secretary written by Elizabeth Nel in 1958. She was one of Winston Churchill’s secretaries during WWII working tirelessly behind the scenes from 1941-45.
A friend at work loaned it to me and I have been enjoying it very much. It is full of intimate details only a woman would notice.
It was a new experience to travel in a battleship. It seemed like a floating city, and we were glad to see notices for our benefit: THIS WAY FORWARD, TO THE WARDROOM, etc., which must have infuriated the proper denizens. Ham and I shared a vast cabin astern; it seemed right over the propellers, and the shaking and roaring was continuous. The office was a little farther forward, but the Prime Minister’s quarters were just under the bridge and miles on toward the bow. To walk there took at least ten minutes. Four flights of steps had to be mounted, and the continual updraft was an embarrassment to one’s skirts, particularly as Royal Marines were stationed on duty at every turn.
Times have changed so much since this hard-working, patriotic young women worked so diligently for her country and for a man who liked to work in his pajamas in bed in the morning. She didn’t begrudge him this eccentricity because she knew how hard he worked. She thought nothing of it. And, of course, there was nothing to think about it.
I also have to pick out wallpaper for my dining room–an exciting prospect!
Obviously, I am leaning toward the chinoiserie…
Also, I forgot (!) to wish the boy and daughter #3 a happy 4th anniversary! A belated happy anniversary to a lovely couple!
And, hey, another lovely couple is getting hitched–daughter #2 and Nate! Date TBA, but probably a year from now.
Yippeeee! Lots of good things to look forward to in the months to come.
“Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young, the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom, and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above it, was green with vegetation, and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.” *
Happiness is road-tripping with your BFFs in your home state and stopping at every antique mall along the way.
This past weekend we journeyed to historic Arrow Rock, MO. We stopped for lunch in historic Boonville and also in historic Blackwater.
What, you ask, makes them historic? Well, they’re old and there is probably some link to the Santa Fe Trail or a Civil War engagement. To some people they are just old river towns that have seen better days. But I like them.
The whole town of Arrow Rock is on the historic register. It is truly lovely, lush and green and well cared for. There are some wonderful old buildings.
The theater there seems to support the town and its bed and breakfasts, restaurants and shops.
It is a booming place during the theater season. We bought our tickets back in March when tickets first went on sale. (They sell out fast!) We made our B&B reservations in April and got the last room in town (practically).
As usual, I came prepared for a late afternoon pick-me-up.
Fun fact about Arrow Rock: In 1973, a musical version of Mark Twain’s “Tom Sawyer” was filmed here. It starred Johnny Whitaker as Tom, Jeff East as Huck, Celeste Holm as Aunt Polly, Warren Oates as Muff Potter, and Jody Foster in her third movie as Becky Thatcher. Supposedly, many of the town’s buildings and landscapes are recognizable in the film. I saw the movie back in 1973, but I guess I will have to check it out.
The OM, who does not enjoy the above activities, spent a quiet 36 hours home alone, ordering pizza and watching Nascar. At least that’s what he told me.
Our electricity went out Sunday night–it was 100-degrees outside–but it came back on after a couple of hours. Thunder and lightening followed. Now it is Monday and it’s back to the salt mines. Have a good week!
Or Happy 27th Anniversary to us. Yep, yesterday was the big day. We celebrated modestly because it was hot (in the low 90s) and we aren’t used to it. For dinner, I made this Bon Appetit recipe with fruit and refreshing white wine to accompany. My son’s wonderful girlfriend gave us these beautiful flowers.
Don’t they look nice on my recently acquired vintage tablecloth? In the background you can just see our tiny foyer, freshly painted by yours truly in a nice neutral shade called, of all things, “Beluga Song.” In the morning light it looks like this,
but really it’s not so dark, purple or gray (the flower picture is more accurate). Son #2 and I had a hilarious time choosing the color. Imagine what it must be like to spend your days naming colors. Our favorite was “Release the Hounds”, which we agreed would be perfect for an entryway, especially if the idea was to put people off.
Was the namer drunk, crazed, or just having an existential crisis? The mind reels! Then again, what does it say about us that we find paint color names so entertaining?
In other household news, the fern that I bought as a two-inch seedling a couple of years ago is now threatening to take over the living room.
Sometimes I think I hear it whispering, “feed me”. But not to worry, soon it will have a new home upstairs in the former Lego room. Yes, that’s right. With his brothers’ consent, this guy has begun the herculean task of dismantling, sorting and packing the Lego.
The picture doesn’t really do it justice but you get the idea. There’s a lot of the stuff. Someday the room will make a nice study/sunroom. Picture a comfortable reading chair in the corner. And the light is just right for plants. Stay tuned for updates.
In the meantime, have a great week, pay no attention to politics, and stay cool!
*The wonderfully evocative title of a Tragically Hip song.
We return to Fat Baby Friday with a baby who was always quite a skinny-pants, but whatever. This photo was taken twenty-five years ago in the summer of 1991 when daughter #2 was learning to walk with the aid of her ever-helpful siblings. She is pretty excited.
And what about those Black-eyed Susans?
So do you have plans for the weekend? I am venturing to scenic Arrow Rock, MO, a village in Saline County, Missouri which has been designated a National Historic Landmark because of its association with Westward Expansion, the Santa Fe Trail and the artist George Caleb Bingham.
I am going with my adventurous friends Becky and Carla and we have tickets to see a play at the historic Lyceum Theater, a professional repertory theater that has been producing “Broadway-caliber plays and musicals” since 1960.
We should have a super fun time, if the heat doesn’t deflate us too much. But what am I saying? We are flyover natives and we do not let a little heat stop us from having fun!
Today is the 151st anniversary of the Wild Bill Hickok–Davis Tutt shootout in the town square of Springfield, Missouri (July 21, 1865). It is reputedly the first and one of the few recorded instances in the Old West of a one-on-one pistol quick-draw duel in a public place.
Wild Bill Hickok threatens the friend of Davis Tutt after defeating Tutt in a duel, in an illustration from Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, February 1867.
What began as an argument over gambling debts, turned deadly when Tutt took a prize watch of Wild Bill’s as collateral. Warned against wearing the watch in public to humiliate Wild Bill, Tutt appeared on the square on July 21, prominently wearing the watch. The two men then unsuccessfully negotiated the debt and the watch’s return. Hickok returned to the square at 6 p.m. to find Tutt once again displaying his watch. Wild Bill gave Tutt his final warning. “Don’t you come around here with that watch.” Tutt answered by placing his hand on his pistol.
Tutt was killed and Hickok was arrested and eventually brought to trial. The judge gave the jury two apparently contradictory instructions. He first instructed the jury that a conviction was its only option under the law. He then instructed them that they could apply the unwritten law of the “fair fight” and acquit, an action known as jury nullification which allows a jury to make a finding contrary to the law. The trial ended in acquittal on August 6, 1865, after the jury deliberated for “an hour or two” before reaching a verdict of not guilty, which was not popular at the time. (Wikipedia)
There’s a marker now on the street in Springfield where it all took place. Although the boy went to college in Springfield for a few years, I was unaware of (or had forgotten) this fun fact.
According to IMDB.com, Wild Bill Hickok has been portrayed on screen over 70 times by actors including William S. Hart, Gary Cooper, Bill Elliott, Richard Dix, Forest Tucker, Howard Keel, Guy Madison, Adam West, Robert Culp, Lloyd Bridges, Don Murray, Charles Bronson, Richard Farnsworth, Frederic Forrest, Josh Brolin, Sam Elliott, Sam Shepard, and Keith Carradine.
My favorite is probably Gary Cooper in The Plainsman (1936), but you have to love Charles Bronson as Wild Bill in White Buffalo (1877)–at least I do. Since I recently watched part of The Plainsman on TCM, I will watch White Buffalo (which we own!) tonight and toast Wild Bill Hickock one more time.
In case you’ve forgotten, White Buffalo is a Dino de Laurentis “disaster film/monster movie” from the 1970s–pretty darn terrible, especially the special effects–but it has its moments. Wild Bill gets to say things like,
“In the first place, the Great Spirit did not give you these hills. You took this land by force. You took it from the Cheyenne, the Shoshoni, and the Arapaho. You took it with the lance and tomahawk. Now the white man makes war on you. What’s the difference?”
and his mountain man friend, played by Jack Warden gets to say,
“Probably heard about the white buff on the moccasin telegraph.”
Political correctness had not been invented yet.
Speaking of Charles Bronson, I recently watched Red Sun (1971)–a western with an international cast: Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress, and Capucine playing a Mexican named “Pepita”.
After a train robbery, Bronson and Mifune (the Japanese ambassador’s bodyguard) team up to find Alain Delon and get back the stolen money and a Japanese sword. “2 Desperados … 1 Hellcat … and a Samurai”–well, you can imagine. Luckily Bronson and Mifune are awesome together and Alain Delon is really handsome, so it is hardly a waste of your time. And it’s definitely more enlightening/entertaining than watching either the Republican or Democrat conventions.
Here is a nostalgic mid-week look back at our grandfather Bunker Cameron holding a garpike in the 1920s. Bunker liked nothing better than fishing and he was quite accomplished. He was a member of a private club on North Hero Island (or was it South Hero?) on Lake Champlain and spent a lot of time there over the years. He went to Florida and did some deep sea fishing, but his heart was always in his home state of Vermont.
Although I do not fish, I would like nothing better than to be on North Hero Island in Vermont right now. However, I am in hot and sticky flyover country–C’est la vie!
Par for the course.
And apropos of something: “It is better to sit in a boat thinking about God than to sit in church thinking about fishing.” As someone (not Thoreau) somewhere said.
As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
The message here is, of course, when Jesus is in your living room, pay attention! Beyond that, it is a wonderful vignette, captured in only a few words, of something we see all the time at church, in our families, in the world. We see bitterness and resentment, distracting Martha from what is really important. We see multi-tasking gone awry.
I mean really–Martha is the one who invited Jesus in the first place! But she’s too busy to pay attention. On top of that, she’s annoyed with her sister for not doing what she thinks she should be doing.
Marthas still abound at churches everywhere. Churches are full of people who give lots of time and talent to organizing fundraisers and social events, serving coffee and working in the kitchen, keeping up the buildings and grounds. All very well and good. However, these same pillars of the church often give little more than lip service to the real reason they are allegedly active there, i.e. being disciples of Christ. They get very uncomfortable at the idea of Bible Study.
Well, as I get older, I get worse and worse at multi-tasking. I embrace that. I never liked it much in the first place. One thing at a time, I now say.
As focusing becomes more of an issue in this modern sound-bite world, I try harder to focus.
I do not need to be an anchoress (a woman who chooses to withdraw from the world to live a solitary life of prayer and mortification, although the idea is somewhat attractive to me) in order to focus. I just need to take time every day to spend with Jesus. To be a Mary, to choose the better part.
*”Christ in the House of Martha and Mary” by Johannes Vermeer
When I got to church on Sunday I saw that two huge oak trees had been blown down in last Wednesday’s big storm. The branches had been moved out of the driveway, but the huge trunk with its root ball still remained.
During the announcements our rector told us that the pastor of the St. Louis Family Church, a very large evangelical church in west county, had called him the next day and said he would send people out to move the downed trees asap. This is part of their emergency storm relief mission. Our rector said, “Thank you!” The motto of this church is “Honor God. Help people.” I was surprised, impressed and the news made me feel very happy. This must be a very busy week for those volunteers.
I did quite a lot of work in our own yard on Saturday–cleaning up from the storm. I filled five bags with detritus.
The boy came over with some loppers and he and the OM cut up the big branches and filled a bag too. What a storm! I was actually driving home when it hit and it was very scary indeed. I was afraid a tree would fall on my little car and I would be squished. Zut alors! was I glad to get home.
In other news, we celebrated the OM’s birthday with the boy and daughter #3 at a restaurant down in Lafayette Square in the city–We are so adventurous!
I couldn’t be in this picture, because I didn’t get the memo about wearing blue!
Also, the boy got his first penalty in a hockey game and also made his first shot on goal. Onward and upward.
We watched a terrible movie: Hail, Caesar! (2016), the Coen brothers send-up of Hollywood in the 1950’s. Even Channing Tatum couldn’t salvage this mess. Totally not funny.
I finished The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine, the 17th installment of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith. Although I find these books mildly irritating, I am a loyal reader and always ultimately enjoy them. Precious Romotswe is a great character after all.
[Clovis Anderson] wrote: Do not allow the profession of which you are a member to induce you to take a bleak view of humanity. You will encounter all sorts of bad behavior but do not judge everybody by the standards of the lowest. If you did that, he pointed out, you would misjudge humanity in general and that would be fatal to discerning judgement. If everybody is a villain, then nobody is a villain, he wrote. That simple expression had intrigued her, even if it was some time before its full meaning–and the wisdom that lay behind it–became apparent.
Wise words to ponder this week. Discuss among yourselves.
On Thursday this week the weather people promised to deliver severe thunderstorms. I waited all day for a storm that never materialized. No thunder, no lightening, not a drop of rain. Only sun and muggy, muggy wind. Much as I like the North Country, I have to admit that I miss the great storms of the Midwest and the eerie fogs of the UK. After Thursday’s weather bust, I took consolation in pictures from son #2’s recent hiking trip to the Old Man of Storr on the Island of Skye. In clear weather, a good photographer can’t miss:
Photo by BJE photography
But more often he or she faces an other-worldly landscape**,
fog-enshrouded
and darkly menacing.
Sunshine may offer great views but the muffled world of rain and fog is certainly a lot more dramatic.
Of course, it’s also nice if the person being photographed actually turns toward the camera once in a while. In case you wonder what boy#2 looks like, here he is facing the camera.
I’m all in favor of not letting weather get in the way of adventure but we should always take precautions and obey the warning signs.
For now I’m content to live vicariously through pictures, and keep an eye on the weather for a good storm that I can enjoy while safely ensconced at home.
*Charles Dickens, Bleak House
**The foggy photos of Skye were taken by friend and fellow-traveler, Julie Collins.
