dual personalities

Could see some snowflakes

by chuckofish

Boy, did they get the weather all wrong on Saturday! We had no idea there was a veritable blizzard coming…

My iPhone camera never shows snow falling–but believe me, it looked like a fake movie scene with big, fat soap flakes coming down. It stopped pretty soon and didn’t amount to all that much, but it did take us by surprise. Luckily our January DAR meeting was already scheduled as a Zoom meeting, so I could just stay home. Daughter #1 is one smart regent!

It was super cold on Sunday morning again but we faithful made it to church. We heard another good sermon on Joshua–we’re up to chapter 3, verses 1-17–crossing the Jordan River. After the service Lottie asked me if she got an A+ and I said, ahem no, not today. She said, Yeah, I guess I was more of a B+. Our adult ed class was part two of Intro to Covenant which I am enjoying so much. How great is it to sit in a room with 200+ people who are all in the process of being sanctified! We went to the Sunny Street diner afterwards and the twins had dinosaur pancakes and the boy tried something new–loaded hash browns. I had my usual #2 on the seniors’ menu. Everyone was happy and content with their choices.

Today, it should be noted, is my dear mother’s birthday–her 100th! My oh my, she has been gone for 38 years. I think about her every day. Time is unreal, or as Borges says,

And yet, and yet… Denying temporal succession, denying the self, denying the astronomical universe, are apparent desperations and secret consolations. Our destiny … is not frightful by being unreal; it is frightful because it is irreversible and iron-clad. Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire. The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges.

It is also Dolly Parton’s 80th birthday (!) and she is still going strong–here’s her new song, ably assisted by Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Reba, and Queen Latifa:

You go, girl! Everything’s going to be all right.

Precious Ida B had a wonderful birthday on Saturday…

And this sign on the neighborhood Catholic church makes me laugh every year…

Enjoy your Monday!

2 Comments

January 16, 2026

Another crazy trip around the sun

by chuckofish

Tomorrow is the birthday of our precious Ida B! She will be three years old.

One of her favorite things to do with Mamu is listen to music on her phone. I hope her Mommy will play her this song, which I think she will like.

I hope she has super fun on her birthday, which might include doing the following: turning somersaults, petting a nice dog, eating candy, reading a book about Angus, watching football, singing along to her favorite Christian radio station…Can’t steal my joy (Woh oh oh oh, woh oh oh oh, woh oh oh oh)

Have a good weekend. I am going to do all the above mentioned activities, minus the somersaults.

2 Comments

January 15, 2026

Walk this way

by chuckofish

Today we toast the great American dancer Ray Bolger who died on this day in 1987. He had a long and fruitful career, starting in vaudeville and on Broadway, and continuing in the movies. Here he is in The Great Ziegfeld (1936):

Woweee! Of course, everyone remembers him as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939) and with good reason. He was amazing! Whenever he was asked if he had received any residuals from telecasts of The Wizard of Oz, Bolger would reply: “No, just immortality. I’ll settle for that.” His portrayal truly was immortal.

We’ll also toast Pitbull on his birthday (born 1984) today.

Everyone needs a little Pitbull at least once a year.

4 Comments

January 14, 2026

This and that

by chuckofish

We have been experiencing mild temps here–63 degrees yesterday–but we are told to expect them to “crash” today. Zut alors, I don’t like to hear that. But it is January so I guess we shouldn’t. be surprised.

I had lunch yesterday with the boy at another of our favorite diners, Uncle Bill’s, which is out near his store. I sure am grateful to be able to spend time with my adult children, because they are, after all, my favorite people.

If I were younger, I might try this!

This is an amazing video from the John 10:10 Project:

Praise the Lord!

And RIP Scott Adams…

2 Comments

January 13, 2026

Avoiding the myth

by chuckofish

Today we toast the great American writer A.B. Guthrie, Jr. on his birthday (1901-1991). He wrote the western series featuring Dick Summers, who I maintain is one of the great characters of fiction, winning the Pulitzer Prize for The Way West in 1950. ”I don’t write ‘gun-and-gallop’ jobs that promote the myth of the West,” Mr. Guthrie said in an interview. ”I avoid the myth. I have a sense of morality about it–I want to talk about real people in real times. For every Wyatt Earp or Billy the Kid, you see, there were thousands of people trying to get along–not ready with a gun or ready to spill blood. And that story has been obscured.” His books are well worth reading.

Last week John Piper celebrated his 80th birthday. As you know, he is considered quite the guy in reformed circles. He has been a wonderful help to me on my spiritual journey. He has taught me a lot. “In his second year as a pastor, Piper noted that the mercy of God and the sovereignty of God were the twin pillars of his life: ‘They are the hope of my future, the energy of my service, the center of my theology, the bond of my marriage, the best medicine in all my sickness, the remedy of all my discouragements. And when I come to die (whether soon or late) these two truths will stand by my bed and with infinitely strong and infinitely tender hands lift me up to God.’”

Here’s the audio transcript of his latest Ask Pastor John podcast. “[Public] faithfulness becomes public performance when we fail to hope that God will be glorified more than we will be glorified. We just fail to want that; we don’t want it. That’s a failure. Which brings us back to where we started: Is God real for us? Is he a precious Father to us? Is the promise of his reward far more desirable to us than the rewards of human admiration?”

Have a good Tuesday!

And remember: “If you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week. There is no such thing known in heaven as Sunday worship unless it is accompanied by Monday worship and Tuesday worship and so on.” (A.W. Tozer)

1 Comment

January 12, 2026

Lay your worries down

by chuckofish

Well, I had quite a weekend, starting Friday night when the twins came over for dinner and a movie and spent the night. Daughter #1 and Mr. Smith joined us for pizza from Dewey’s and we watched one of our favorite movies, The Court Jester (1955).

After they went home, the twins and I went to bed. I have four bedrooms and plenty of beds, but unfortunately, as the night wore on, we all ended up in the same bed (mine) and it was like trying to sleep with squirrels. Hopefully we will do this again soon, but I will have to make sure everyone is prepared to stay in their assigned space–my life is not a Shirley Jackson story, after all! Right? Right?

The boy picked them up in the morning. I spent the rest of the day recovering from getting no sleep, but daughter #1 and I did manage to meet for margaritas and visit our favorite antique mall and re-sale shop where we got some DVDs and books.

It was 25 degrees when I left for church on Sunday morning, so I wore my vintage fur coat. The wee bud asked me what kind of fur it was–bear? I said, no, mink. He said, oh, like a ferret? I said, no like a mink. He said he would like to have a ferret for a pet…Anyway, church was good. We heard a great sermon on Rahab (Joshua 2:1-24), a story I’m happy to say I was familiar with. Rahab is one one of those great women of the Bible–a Canaanite prostitute who does the right thing and believes in God, the one God of the heavens above and the earth beneath. After church I went to the new adult ed class which is for everyone and is the Intro to Covenant class, in other words, the newly developed new members class. They want everyone to take it and I think that is a great idea. It is a wonderful reminder of what we believe and why we go to Covenant. It made me very happy.

In the evening I returned to church for our annual meeting. Once again I was very impressed. Our session has a strong grip on things and boy, those Presbyterians can handle money. We send 25% of our budget to missions! And no deficit!

Morning by morning new mercies I see:

all I have needed thy hand hath provided–

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923

And now it is Monday. Onward and upward!

P.S. It was an amazing week for memes, but my favorites are still all the Marco Rubio ones.

3 Comments

January 9, 2026

Happy New Year!

by marycompton

Well, Daughter #1 here. I’ve had a busy week back at work. But, I can’t really complain. I had a full two weeks off. And my break was a pretty good blend of relaxing, some chores, and Sunday Murder She Wrote marathons. Too much furniture re-arranging, though. I sprained my back and it flared up while I was in Illinois. I could barely stand up–thankfully, it calmed down enough for me to go to work this week. I really am becoming the old lady emoji.

He got a new toy from his Illinois cousins and he loves it.

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful holiday and have a relaxing weekend. I’ll leave you with a little Mr. Smith. He’s getting a bath and a groom today because, let’s be real, he’s getting kind of mangy.

3 Comments

January 8, 2026

“It took me a long, long time to learn my elbow from a hot rock.”*

by chuckofish

Things are starting to get back to “normal” here. But I have a lot of bins to take down to the basement. I am going over to church this morning to help take down the Christmas greenery. More bins. And my community group starts up again tonight, so it’s back to Matthew. I am slowly getting back into the swing of things.

I thought this Open Letter to Scott Adams in response to his possible deathbed conversion was interesting. “Hopefully you understand that no one means to discourage you. They only want you to know how good the good news actually is.”

And I liked this answer to the question “What are your plans for the new year?”

I like the idea of “Pray more. Pray better.” Beyond that, my plans for the new year are pretty vague.

But I’ll keep reading, keep watching old movies, keep showing up. You do the same. And pay attention. “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1)

Thanks for keeping me company.

*Vin (Steve McQueen) in The Magnificent Seven

4 Comments

January 7, 2026

The sky is low/The wind is gray/The radiator/Purrs all day.*

by chuckofish

I continue to take down my Christmas decorations and to tidy up my house. I am also working on the Kirkwood Historical Review and getting it ready to send off to the printer. But I like to take a break on the yellow antique loveseat in my office and read the internet or poetry and listen to the woodpecker outside in the tree by my window.

Sometimes I catch a glimpse of him and it is very exciting.

(I wish I had taken this photo, but, of course, I did not. Thank you @audubonsociety.)

Anyway, the pace of January is much slower than December and that is okay with me.

And, hey, my new sweet grandson Wes is a month old (four weeks) today!

*John Updike, “January”

2 Comments

January 6, 2026

The poem is inexhaustible

by chuckofish

Our week is turning out to be fair and mild–what a relief! Love those upper 50s temperatures. Isn’t it so much more pleasant to run errands around town when you don’t have to get all bundled up to go out?

In other news, my son-in-law gave me a book for Christmas, Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations, which I have been reading. It is from the Literary Conversation Series. It prompted me to read this poem by Borges: Another Poem of Gifts