Uncategorized | dual personalities

June 21, 2024

This was a long week, was it not?

by chuckofish

Well, hello and happy Friday, dear readers. The alarm on my phone just went off–and I can’t remember why I set it! I hope it was to remind me to write a blog post. I guess merely setting the reminder alarm is no longer enough–I’ll have to start labelling them! This is worthy of a facepalm emoji and an oy vey.

Well enough about that. I did not spend the week toiling at VBS but I did have to work all day each day. And then take my silly dog on a hot walk. But I’m not complaining. Mr. Smith continues to adjust to his new lifestyle of guard dog several feet removed from the windows.

Quit bothering me, I’m watching the neighbors.

I am very excited because, having lived in my house for a year, I am finally starting some home improvement projects. For instance, this past weekend I painted my front door. It used to be a bright royal blue which was a bit much for my taste. I think the green is an improvement, even if it isn’t quite the color I had in mind. I’m pleased. And I’ll do the backdoor this weekend.

Tomorrow, I am having my landscaping cleaned up and a (small) dead tree cut down. I am really looking forward to my mother no longer commenting on the dead tree every time she comes over. And also having a more presentable yard. Next week, my driveway is being resurfaced. I’m a real homeowner, Gepetto!

I will close with this, because it really did make me laugh out loud.

3 Comments

June 20, 2024

I continue to press on

by chuckofish

Two more days (and counting) of VBS!

Today we toast Errol Flynn on his birthday. Born in 1909 in Tasmania, he moved to Hollywood in 1934. His third movie was Captain Blood (1935) with 19-year old Olivia de Havilland, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Wow.

I always say Errol was a much better actor than people give him credit for, because he always comes across as such a nice gentleman, and we know that probably wasn’t the case. Whatever. I like his movies and will watch one this weekend. It is a pleasure to watch him handle a horse…

…a bow…

…a sword…

…and the ladies…

In other news, here are the Seven Wonders of the South. You will get no argument from me, Matt Mitchell, and #7 is right on the money!

Roll Tide.

3 Comments

June 19, 2024

I press on

by chuckofish

Well, I made it through another day of VBS. Thankfully it was not as hot as they predicted and it was windy so not really unpleasant at all.

Yes, it is hot work for this old lady, but I salute myself for getting out of my comfort zone. And I do enjoy interacting with the kids and the teenage helpers. It makes me feel better and more hopeful about the world in general. Every year the guy in charge of Games is pretty special and this year is no exception. It is our friend who just graduated from WashU Law School and is headed into the JAG Corps. Ridge is like 6″4″, handsome, a Marine, hilarious, and a fine young man. Of course, the kids love him.

He can make them do anything in the 95-degree weather, including jumping jacks, and think it’s fun. (Don’t worry, most the games involve being doused with water.) He has a whistle.

I loved how when the boys doused him at the end of Game Time today, one of them said, “We are baptizing you!”

Meanwhile here are some worthwhile things to read:

What You Read Builds Who You Are–so true!

Anne has many good thoughts here, well expressed as usual. “This is the point in late-stage decadence where the progressives who created a perfect world for themselves look around and hate what they have made. They are Frankenstein, recoiling from their fancy-liberal-utopia Monster. They are the proverbial I-Didn’t-Leave-the-Left-the-Left-left-Me.” Haha–so true.

Well, onward and upward.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

–Philippians 3:12-14

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June 18, 2024

Postcards from Michigan

by chuckofish

We had a wonderful time hanging out on Lake St. Clair with my brother and his wife. The marsh is beautiful there and a treasure trove of birds and other wildlife.

We went out in the boat…

…and drove to Port Huron, a nice town on Lake Huron with a good coffee shop. We sat on folding chairs and watched the big boats go by on the lake and on the St. Clair River.

Mostly we talked and talked. We are great talkers. We also celebrated my brother’s upcoming birthday…

Sunday we went back to Grosse Pointe and then I flew home without much ado that evening. Daughter #1 picked me up at the airport and I got home around 9:30. (The OM managed to get to Nashville and back and not burn the house down in the meantime. 🙌)

After the gorgeous Michigan weather it was a blow to return to 95-degree St. Louis! But bright and early the next day I arrived at church for the first day of VBS.

It was hot as blazes outside but I survived. Afterwards I went home and ate a big bowl of ice cream and took a nap. It will be a wild ride, but I think I’m up to it!

“They will not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them
And will guide them to springs of water.”

–Isaiah 49:10

5 Comments

June 17, 2024

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

by chuckofish

Just a quick post to say I got home safe and sound after a lovely sojourn in Michigan. The weather was lovely and it was, of course, great to spend time with my siblings.

I’ll post more postcards tomorrow! Now on to VBS!

4 Comments

June 14, 2024

A quick update.

by chuckofish

Well, my mother and her dual personality both made it to Michigan to hang for the weekend with their brother. I got up and drove my mother (and my father who was off on a work trip ) to the airport early, early this morning. Yes, I’m a good daughter.

I have had a pretty normal week, with nothing too exciting to report. I had a very full weekend–and it didn’t rain on the birthday party! I also rearranged my living room furniture BY MYSELF to keep Mr. Smith off the radiator/windows.

It looks like there is no gap between the couch and the radiator, but it is a big enough gap to walk through. He’s a little betrayed but adjusting. He can still monitor the street, but he doesn’t get so excited/rage-filled when people walk by. And he can’t scratch the windows anymore!

It was an endeavor, but well worth it.

Well, prayers for a fun weekend for the sibs in Michigan and safe return travels on Sunday. xo.

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June 13, 2024

Gaily bedight

by chuckofish

So I am off to Detroit this morning and points north. As usual, I am traveling alone (the OM is going to a conference in Nashville), but I tell myself:

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.

I can handle it, right? I am thankful that my brother will be there to meet me.

See you soon!

P.S. Happy Father’s Day to all you good fathers!

3 Comments

June 12, 2024

Questo e quello

by chuckofish

We are experiencing some lovely weather this week and–bonus!–the cicadas seem to be gone! I was working outside on Tuesday when I suddenly noticed how quiet it was. The incredible din was gone. Thanks be to God.

The boy and his family have been in Florida this week–first at DisneyWorld and then in Sarasota with the other grandparents–so, even without the cicadas, it’s been pretty quiet around here.

(I had no idea it ever rained in DisneyWorld!!)

But I am getting ready for a short jaunt of my own up to Michigan on Thursday to meet with my sister and brother at his lake house. It has been a decade since I ventured up there, so I am looking forward to it.

The summer moves along…

I watched the great Italian movie La Strada (1954) the other day. It is one of my favorites. Federico Fellini’s masterpiece about a traveling strongman who buys a young girl from her poverty-stricken mother in ugly postwar Italy should be depressing, but somehow it is not. Anthony Quinn plays the strongman, who is a brute, a beast without an inner monologue. Giulietta Masina gives a shining performance as Gelsomina, the simple girl who follows him, and Richard Basehart is the Fool who tries to teach her that everyone has a purpose in life. It is a hard lesson to learn under the circumstances. “The Road” is a metaphor for life, of course, and so it is full of sadness and comedy. Here is Martin Scorsese talking about it.

“And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.” (Isaiah 35:8)

Have a good day–enjoy the good (or bad) weather, watch an old movie, and remember that your most important attachment is to God.

*This and that

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June 11, 2024

A handful of quietness*

by chuckofish

I am currently reading Ecclesiastes in my daily Bible reading and it is a wonderful reminder that earthly treasures are precarious and can cause a lot of anxiety. For those who know, however, that God is the source of the richness of life, there are many pleasures in life and the ability to enjoy them.

What gain has the worker from his toil? ¹⁰I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹²I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; ¹³also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13)

It’s really pretty simple. Work hard, do good, worship God and enjoy Him forever.

Here are three things you should know about Ecclesiastes.

Here’s an interesting article about Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707–1791) who was an English Christian and religious leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She did a lot of good in her life.

“The Sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the child of God rests his head.” –Charles Spurgeon

*Ecclesiastes 4:8

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June 10, 2024

Like a tree planted by streams of water*

by chuckofish

My weekend was a quiet one, especially compared with last weekend. Since I was still recovering from a cold (or whatever), I didn’t do much. Daughter #1 came over while Mr. Smith was being groomed on Friday and we went to Hobby Lobby. After we picked him up we enjoyed Happy Hour at my house, which has become somewhat of a routine (a good one.)

I did very little on Saturday, but watched the PGA tour on TV. I’m so happy to see Scottie back on top. The OM and I watched The Boys in the Boat (2023) on Prime and enjoyed it. It is based on the fantastic (true) story of the University of Washington J.V. crew team that beat the Ivy League elite teams for a spot on the 1936 US Olympic team. I read the book back in 2015.

(The blond kid really reminded me of my nephew Foster throughout the movie.)

The film, directed by George Clooney, is well done, but lacks a certain spark that would have made it a great movie. I know I sound like a broken record but back in the day Michael Curtiz or Howard Hawks or John Ford would have known how to supply that spark. For one thing, you don’t learn much about any of the guys on the crew team except for the hero Joe Rantz (Callum Turner). In a sport where all eight members of the team must move in unison, it is a mistake to make them all invisible except for 2 or 3. Also, the coxswain was an integral part of the team and you don’t get to know that really until the end. It just fell a little flat to me. Too bad, because it is such a great story! Read the book!

It was good to be back in church after a week away when we were out of town. We had a guest preacher, a church member who is on the faculty at Covenant Theological Seminary up the road. Our pastor introduced him by reciting his impressive CV and also by mentioning that once in a meeting J.I. Packer had conceded a point to him. Everyone laughed–Presbyterian humor. Anyway, it was a good sermon on Psalm One.

After church there was a meeting for VBS volunteers–zut alors!

They had me with the first graders, and I was, like, no way, José ! They switched me to 4/5th graders. Okay, then. They can at least go to the bathroom by themselves.