dual personalities

Category: Uncategorized

January 23, 2023

“I gave you a book, you didn’t read it”*

by chuckofish

Well, I have hardly left the house all week and I am not complaining. Baby Ida is doing well, and how could she not with such a good big sister? I am not sure how much actual “help” I have been besides being another pair of hands to hold the baby and another lap for Katie to sit in, but we have managed quite well.

While here, I have been reacquainting myself with A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh and am newly impressed. “For I am a bear of very little brain, and long words bother me.” But for a bear with very little brain, he has quite a varied and amusing inner monologue.

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn’t.”

Anyway, the stories are a pleasure to read, to yourself or out loud to a two-year-old.

I also love stories like this. It is what being an American is all about.

And, oh Dolly, you released a good new song on your 77th birthday last week! The apocalypse is coming…

And speaking of the apocalypse, Anne is on fire here. Yeehaw.

“How on earth can you say that the Bible is “central to our understanding,” though that is a tepid, if not actually fatuous, way of putting it, and then announce that there are many different possible conclusions for what it says about gender, relationships, and marriage?”

(The links in the first paragraph are also excellent.)

Have a good Monday. Read some A.A. Milne. Listen to some Dolly. Hold a baby. Ask yourself:

Do two walk together,
    unless they have agreed to meet?
Does a lion roar in the forest,
    when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
    if he has taken nothing?
Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
    when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
    when it has taken nothing?
Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the Lord has done it?

–Amos 3:3-8

*Dolly Parton

5 Comments
January 20, 2023

“Is the baby happy?”*

by chuckofish

Katie and I have played with a lot of Play-Doh and cut up a lot of Washi tape. She is more fun than a barrel full of monkeys. We have also cleaned up when we needed to.

And I have read a lot of good books over the last few days (and some really boring ones as well). My favorite books, besides the classics…

…are anything from the Pete the Cat oeuvre.

These books are gold and I highly recommend them to anyone who has small children!

A children’s book that quotes Emerson! I mean, the author James Dean is one groovy dude!

James earned his degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and went on to work for Georgia Power for a number of years. Eventually, he was called to pursue his art full-time and began selling his work at art festivals around the Southeast. 

It was during this time that he began creating paintings and drawing of his cat, Pete. The little blue cat showed up as a character in James’ artwork around 1999 and has been a permanent fixture ever since. 

In 2008, James partnered with Eric Litwin to create the first Pete the Cat children’s book, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. Now, James has helped create over 70 Pete the Cat books, including many NYT Bestsellers. 

James is humbled every day by the success that this groovy blue cat has brought him. He says positively affecting children’s lives is his number one priority, and he is grateful to have such an amazing audience to work for. 

Good stuff is out there if you look!

And, of course, holding an infant is the best therapy for anything that ails you.

*What sister Katie asks incessantly.

3 Comments
January 19, 2023

“I drive a Dodge Stratus!”

by chuckofish

Well, it has certainly been an eventful few days. Baby Ida and her sweet mother made it home. Katie is reportedly much relieved. And Mamu has assumed the role of chief baby holder. And DN continues to be a real gem.

In other news, Mr. Smith received his first bath this weekend (Westies aren’t supposed to bathe that often because of their sensitive skin that can get dried out).

And on Monday night, he got a stick stuck in the roof of his mouth while playing outside and we had to make an emergency trip to the vet [insert eyeroll emoji]. They had to induce vomiting to get the stick out after he swallowed it. He was contrite that evening, but quickly resumed his usual antics. Looking cute and trying to sample my wine.

And doesn’t his fur look nice and white!

At work, they have begun renovating the floor I work on, so we all had to move to the fifth floor (decidedly less glamorous). Nevertheless, I am settling in to my new office with this lovely view.

But there are also views like this. In real life, the blinds aren’t so noticeable.

So far, I still find it thrilling to see the Arch.

*The blog post title comes from this classic SNL sketch that always makes laugh.

4 Comments
January 18, 2023

“Sweet joy befall thee”*

by chuckofish

We welcomed baby Ida yesterday around 12:30 pm.

She looks just like her sister!

All concerned are doing well. Thanks be to God.

Into your hands, O God, we place your children. Support them in their successes and in their failures, in their joys and in their sorrows. As they grow in age, may they grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thanksgiving for the Birth of a Child, BCP

*William Blake

5 Comments
January 17, 2023

Updates

by chuckofish

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I am…

Reading some good books…

Walking to the park where sweet Katie held her ground and told another child to stay off her slide (!)…

And eating gourmet meals prepared by DN without tears…

When I turned off my light last night daughter #2 had been admitted at the hospital and things were moving ahead…so stay tuned for more updates!

1 Comment
January 16, 2023

“Like newborn infants, long for the spiritual milk”*

by chuckofish

Well, I made it to Baltimore without any delays (thanks for all those prayers and well wishes) and wonderful DN was waiting to pick me up at the airport and drive me to Silver Spring. Since then I have been enjoying lots of quality time with precious daughter #2 and sweet Katiebelle.

We are waiting patiently for baby #2 to arrive.

In the meantime, here’s a poem, a sonnet by Christina Rossetti (1830-94), “Sonnets Are Full of Love”:

Sonnets are full of love, and this my tome
Has many sonnets: so here now shall be
One sonnet more, a love sonnet, from me
To her whose heart is my heart’s quiet home,
To my first Love, my Mother, on whose knee
I learnt love-lore that is not troublesome;
Whose service is my special dignity,
And she my loadstar while I go and come
And so because you love me, and because
I love you, Mother, I have woven a wreath
Of rhymes wherewith to crown your honoured name:
In you not fourscore years can dim the flame
Of love, whose blessed glow transcends the laws
Of time and change and mortal life and death.

*1 Peter 2:3

2 Comments
January 13, 2023

A Fiat with the top down

by chuckofish

–“Amaryllis” by Connie Wanek

Also this (picturing Ronnie Howard):

This is how my brain (still) works.

Have a good weekend! Pray for traveling mercies for me as I head to Baltimore tomorrow morning.

5 Comments
January 12, 2023

This and that

by chuckofish

We have been enjoying the January Thaw here in flyover country. And I must say, it is nice not to have to bundle up every time the pup needs to walk around the yard looking for gross things to dig up and munch. (I hate to think what he has ingested, but I can’t be held responsible. He heeds not his Mamu’s sharp words.) This warm weather will, of course, not last. The daffodils and iris and lilies etc seem to think otherwise.

In other news, I put up this bird feeder which was a Christmas gift from a BFF…

I can’t wait to see which birds find it!

Last week I mentioned that someone had suggested I read the entire Shakespeare canon since I had completed reading the Bible. Since I own an (incomplete) set of Shakespeare that belonged to my grandmother, I may dive in. Mira, it seems, was given a new play for birthdays and Christmas when she was a teenager.

I mean, why the heck not? (But who was Aunt Fannie?)

I just found out that our Women’s Bible Study group will be studying the book of Daniel this spring and I am happy we will be back in the Old Testament. I am glad I spent so much time last year reading Leviticus–twice! Here’s a great explanation of why that is so. “Our own age of diversity echoes the fickle relativity of the ancient gods.”

However, just like ancient Israel, believers now don’t have to live at the mercy of the fickle gods. We have God’s Law and his gospel, wondrously clear and accessible. It proved to be a solid rock in the churning sea of ancient polytheism. It is just as stable of a rock in the contemporary sea of progressive culture and globalization.

And Tim Challies really nails delineating what he wants in a church here: “The cure that these church leaders propose is actually indistinguishable from the disease. The cure they propose for this illness is to administer more of the illness! They are treating cancer with cancer, infection with infection, radiation poisoning with even greater doses of radiation.” Amen, brother.

Raise your hand if you think Stetson Bennett IV , the Georgia QB, is awesome. Okay, I am a sucker for a good (Christian) sports story. “Bennett III was asked how his son was able to reach his ultimate goal of playing at Georgia. ‘Everyone that asks that question,’ he said. ‘I tell ’em two things: One, how good the Lord is. And two, just the fact that he never gave up. I’ve told him his entire life that he can do anything in the world that he wants to do, but he can’t just want it, you got to go to work. That’s what he did.’”

But, what ho, Two Gentlemen of Verona calls…”Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers…” Have a good day!

6 Comments
January 11, 2023

“Are you not Scott Bakula?”*

by chuckofish

Well, it’s Daughter #1 here. Life has been very busy for me lately! I started a new job, moved in with my parents, have a wild animal of a puppy to care for. I have to commute downtown everyday! It’s a lot of adjustments, but it’s going okay. Luckily, my sweet mother takes care of the puppy during the day. And makes dinner at night. I am very #blessed.

We’re all getting by. And it will probably be like this for a few months (hopefully not too many months). But I’ll try to come up with some good stuff for my weekly blog posts. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much time for internet perusing or amusing anecdotes this week. I am trying to look like a professional for my new coworkers.

Well, we made it to Wednesday!

*The post title comes from Only Murders in the Building which we are rewatching and enjoying immensely.

4 Comments
January 10, 2023

Bright shining as the sun

by chuckofish

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the introduction of the hymn “Amazing Grace” by John Newton. It was written in the weeks leading up to the 1773 New Year’s Day service at Newton’s church in Olney. His sermon that day was based on 1 Chronicles 17:16-17:

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:

“Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You, Lord God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men.

There are literally hundreds of versions recorded of this famous and much-loved hymn (and available to view on YouTube!), but honestly, this plain, straightforward version by Alan Jackson is one of my favorites. I’m sure John Newton would approve.

Sunday was the birthday of Elvis Presley and we watched Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970) on TCM in his memory. There was a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on in that movie, which documents the King’s Summer Festival in Las Vegas during August 1970.

Somehow I think Elvis must have frequently felt like old King David and may have prayed a similar prayer (see above) many times in his confusing life. Hopefully he is singing God’s praise in his heavenly choir, a sinner redeemed and joyful.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we’ve first begun.

2 Comments