dual personalities

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December 8, 2011

Wine country–flyover style

by chuckofish

Last weekend I ventured forth with my best Grace girlfriends to celebrate one of their birthdays. We went to Gasconade County, which is located on the south side of the Missouri River, in the area called the “Missouri Rhineland.” The county seat is Hermann, a lovely river town settled by Germans in the mid-19th century. It is full of nice old brick buildings, quaint shops and wineries.

We went to the Stone Hill Winery which at the turn of the 20th century was the second-largest winery in the United States and the third-largest in the world; it produced 1,250,000 gallons in 1900. Its wine had won numerous awards in international fairs, including Vienna in 1873, Philadelphia in 1876, and St. Louis in 1904. Due to Prohibition, the winery was closed in 1920, along with virtually all others in the nation. In 1965 Stone Hill Winery was the first in Missouri to be re-established. Its main building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

While we were there they were hosting a Kristkindl Markt–lots of craft and local vendors in a big barn. I purchased some handmade ornaments and stocking stuffers.

Also in Hermann is the Lewis and Clark Encampment. (Germans love their gilded stags, don’t they? I mean what do they have to do with Lewis and Clark?)

On this particular Saturday, there were lots of friendly re-enactors hanging out.

When the skies began to threaten and we were beginning to tire out, we headed to our Bed and Breakfast in Marthasville, Monette’s Cabin. To our delight we found a two-story log cabin, fully modernized with all the requisite luxuries, including a hot tub. The view of the rolling Missouri hills was lovely. And we had the place all to ourselves.

It was even decorated for Christmas!

There were cows mooing in the distance, goats in the backyard, keeping the grass under control, and coyotes howling in the evening. In the morning our hosts returned and cooked us a traditional breakfast of “Dutch Babies”–a baked pancake with fresh strawberries and yogurt.

All in all, a flyover getaway of the best kind. We’ve reserved a return visit for next year!

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December 7, 2011

Deck the halls

by chuckofish

This dualpersonality has been decorating, too. Marjorie and the little Dutch girl always sit in the chair. Marjorie was my mother’s doll, and although she has seen better days, I think she seems cheered up by the festive company she is keeping. The wonderfully late 1950s Santa I received on my first or second birthday. I couldn’t say Santa Clause so I called him Kee-Kaw and the name stuck. He’s a favorite of ours. One of my aunts made the doll with the wild red hair and (if I remember correctly) the primitive angel on Marjorie’s lap. Unfortunately, I can no longer remember which Aunt was responsible. Can anyone help? The two snowmen are new and store-bought but I like their expressions.

These dolls occupy an 18th century Windsor chair from the Sargent side of my family. It sits in a corner of my living room under a couple of etchings and next to the big bookcase that my mother bought and stained many, many years ago.

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December 7, 2011

Thy daily stage of duty run

by chuckofish

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
thy daily stage of duty run;
shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise
to pay thy morning sacrifice.

Lord, I my vows to thee renew;
disperse my sins as morning dew;
guard my first springs of thought and will,
and with thyself my spirit fill.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
all I design or do or say;
that all my powers, with all their might,
in thy sole glory may unite.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host:
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

–Thomas Ken

Now here’s a poem we have probably all known forever and taken for granted. What a great morning prayer and hymn! If you are alone and cannot sing it as a round, sing it anyway. You’ll be glad you did.

And while we’re at it, let’s give a high five to Bishop Thomas Ken (1637–1711) who wrote it. (Ken is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on March 20.)

They don’t write ’em like this anymore.

P.S. This is our 100th blog post! Yay for us!

3 Comments
December 6, 2011

Winds thro’ the olive trees softly did blow

by chuckofish

Round little Bethlehem long, long ago.

Everyone needs a Christmas creche…or several. This one is very similar to the one we had at home when I was a child. It was from Italy. We played with it, rearranging it ad infinitum, so the kings’ heads were always getting knocked off. This one I found on eBay–oh, that wonderful place where you can rediscover your childhood!

We had a plastic version for our kids when they were little–the heads didn’t come off. It still looks pretty good.

Strategically placed nativity scenes around the house remind us (and our children) that:

For in a manger bed,
Cradled we know,
Christ came to Bethlehem,
Long, long ago.

3 Comments
December 5, 2011

In some ways, you’re far superior to my cocker spaniel.

by chuckofish

Well, as they say, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. And that means: Christmas movies! This month I will be blogging about my favorites. First off: White Christmas (1954) directed by one of my favorites, Michael Curtiz, and starring the most wonderful cast ever, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, who had to be the model for the original Barbie Doll.

In this well-written, fast-paced musical film, a successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general. Sentimental and G-rated, it somehow never seems dated. This has to be because of the witty script and the stellar cast, not to mention the great tunes by Irving Berlin.

I have seen this movie every year since my family had a television and my sister (and dual personality) and I knew the whole Sister Act scene by heart and frequently regaled our family with our rendition.

When my husband and I bought our first VCR in 1986, the first video we bought was White Christmas. It was so great not to have to wait and see when it would be shown on TV–and no commercials! My kids loved it too and it was a big event and the start of the Christmas season to watch it all together. One year in elementary school daughter #1 wanted to be Betty Haynes for Halloween! (I talked her out of it.)

The movie even has a reference to Smith College (which both dual personalities attended).

Bob Wallace: You don’t expect me to get serious with the kind of characters you and Rita have been throwing at me, do you?
Phil Davis: Well, there have been some nice girls, too, you know.
Bob Wallace: Oh yeah, yeah. Like that nuclear scientist we just met out in the hall.
Phil Davis: All right, they didn’t go to college. They didn’t go to Smith.
Bob Wallace: Go to Smith? She couldn’t even spell it.

What could be better than that?

After the Advent Service of Lessons and Carols, White Christmas is truly the beginning of the Christmas season.

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December 5, 2011

Stand ye still, and ye shall see the salvation of the Lord

by chuckofish

Tonight I went to our service of Advent Lessons and Carols at Grace Episcopal Church. We sang all the great Advent hymns, including (56) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, (66) Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, and (265) our all-time favorite, Gabriel’s Message, the one about “thou lowly maiden Mary, most highly favored lady.”

There were eight lessons, scripture readings from the old and new testaments, and a variety of carols sung by the Choir of Men and Women, the St. Nicholas Boys Choir, the St. Cecelia Girls Choir, and the (adorable) St. Patrick Training Choir. This AND a homily from the visiting Rt. Revd. Stephen Dokolo, Bishop of the Diocese of Lui, Southern Sudan, who looked like a Masai warrior without a spear. Very impressive indeed.

The highpoint for me was when fourth grader Brigid strode across the choir, bowing before the altar, and proceeded up to the lectern to read the second lesson. Clearly enjoying herself, radiantly self-confident, she smiled and read Isaiah 40:1-8: “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God” better than most adults are able. She never stumbled over such stumbling blocks as “recompense” or “constancy”. She read with conviction, “‘Cry out!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?'” She brought to mind Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I am particularly fond of Brigid and her siblings because daughter #2 has been babysitting them for many years and so I have a tangential, proprietary attachment to them. They give me faith in the next generation.

So onward through Advent: Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God.

5 Comments
December 2, 2011

The cutest elves ever

by chuckofish

We had a set of these when I was growing up and I spent hours playing with them every December. A couple of years ago I started searching on ebay for a set of my own and after months of outrageously competitive bidding and many disappointments, I finally procured my very own sweet elves. I just love them. I know they are only cardboard and pipe-cleaner, post WWII Japanese made, but somehow these little guys just make me happy. I got them out today and wanted to share… Don’t you wish you had some?

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December 2, 2011

My goodness!

by chuckofish

How did it get so late so soon?
It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before its June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?
–Dr. Seuss

7 Comments
December 1, 2011

Moving to the Big Apple

by chuckofish

It’s official: daughter #1 is moving from Washington D.C. to NYC in January. Of course this put me in mind of my favorite movies that take place in NYC, especially the ones that make it look beautiful and full of sophisticated, beautiful people.

Here are my top four choices:

1. The World of Henry Orient (1964), directed by George Roy Hill, starring Peter Sellers, Angela Lansbury, Paula Prentiss, and written by the father/daughter team of Nunnally Johnson and Nora Johnson (who went to Smith College!). Two private school misfits run all over NYC following their hero Henry Orient, giving us great glimpses of Central Park, the Plaza, brownstones and Carnegie Hall.

2. Pillow Talk (1959) directed by Michael Gordon, starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Thelma Ritter, and Tony Randall, written by Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro, and Maurice Richlin (Academy Award winners for Best Screenplay). Career gal Doris Day goes to work, various decorating hangouts and numerous cool bistros all over town.

3. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) directed by Blake Edwards, starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Mickey Rooney, written by Truman Capote and George Axelrod. You know this one–starting at Tiffany’s and continuing through Central Park and Rockefeller Center–all over town.

4. Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) directed by Woody Allen, starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Alan Alda, and written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman. This one has the usual Woody pre-war apartments and walks through the streets of New York.

What do you think? Any other ideas?

12 Comments
November 30, 2011

New Wallpaper!

by chuckofish

I finally got my downstairs bathroom wallpapered. And by ‘got’ I mean I found someone else to do it for me. I’m not that handy and if the husband and I tried to do it together the marital consequences would probably be dire. After this long together, we know our limits. We can paint. I do the details, he fills in. We’re a great team for basic jobs, but we don’t like to get fancy. I leave it up to you to decide whether that’s some sort of metaphor for our marriage….I tend to think it just means we’re tired and not that into DYI.

Since the bathroom is so tiny, it’s practically impossible to take a good picture, but you can sort of get the idea. There’s white bead board wainscoting on the bottom half of the wall, white fixtures, and a light faux stone tile floor. The photos don’t quite capture the color of the paper because of the light coming in the window and the flash.

I bought this watercolor in an antique store in Devon a couple of years ago and when I get it framed, I’ll probably hang it in the bathroom. I really like this watercolor, don’t you?

I wish I had taken a ‘before’ picture so you could see the enormous improvement the wallpaper makes. The bathroom used to be bright yellow. It was pretty awful. Now I just have to re-paint the wainscoting and put up pics.

4 Comments