dual personalities

April 22, 2021

Mamu’s birthday week continues

by chuckofish

First things first: we want to add our happy birthday messages to mamu!

We love her very much, especially when we get to see her on FaceTime after the phone goes “boo-do-boo-do-boop” and her face shows up. Mamu sends us the best care packages, including the chicest outfits (hello leopard print and quilted jackets). Mostly, she sets the very best example for mommy and we can only hope to continue a wonderful generational mommy-and-me tradition. Will Katie want to spend all of her Saturdays with me in high school?

“Only if you chill with the matching outfits.”

In our neck of the woods, we continue to work and play nonstop. Like, literally nonstop until we all crash into bed (Katie for 12 hours, mom and dad for AT LEAST 9 or we feel like zombies.) When Katie wakes up, it’s like a jack-in-the-box who is ready to go after being all wound up with all that rest. Very sweet, and very exhausting.

We suspect that another tooth is coming in, so the teethers are back in action. Does anyone have advice for holding on to your teether while doing your wiggle dance?

Above, you will also see clown bear and little brown hare, Katie’s friends who now have full-fledged personalities and voices thanks to her parents. Are we going nuts? A little bit.

In other news, a friend passed along this standing activity toy for Katie now that she wants to pull up whenever and wherever possible. Did I used to scoff at garish primary-colored toys with jungle themes and music features? Yes. Am I thrilled to now have this in my living room? Yes. Are we still holding firm with the “off” switch on sound? Wholeheartedly yes.

Really, I jest. Grab your bonnets, we’re living our best lives (headed to the park)!

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April 21, 2021

Ready for the weekend.

by chuckofish

This picture is from five years ago (FIVE YEARS) when Susie and I were in town to throw a rager for our dear Mother’s 60th birthday. It seems like a lifetime ago. I don’t think any of those clothes fit me anymore. Well, maybe the scarf does.

Anyway, I’m glad we’ll all be together this weekend to celebrate Susie’s birthday AND Mom’s birthday. Last year, we were all sequestered in our separate homes–and Dad forgot about it entirely (he was too busy stocking up on Dinty Moore beef stew in the event of the apocalypse). Was that worse than the year I accidentally froze her birthday cake and had a meltdown a la DJ Tanner the time she froze the turkey on Thanksgiving? Well, I think we can laugh about both now…

I sure am grateful for my sweet mother who always brightens my day, takes my phone calls, and tells me my stitching looks fine, even when it doesn’t. She is a blessing to those around her.

I should have volunteered to take blog post duty for her birthday–but I guess my failure to do that means that at least she doesn’t have to write one on her birthday. So let’s raise a toast to her today and many more toasts this weekend! And hopefully at a rager this summer, when we’re allowed to gather in person again. Oy vey. We can all channel our inner-Lottie.

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April 20, 2021

“So now I’m going back again/ I got to get to her somehow/ All the people we used to know/ They’re an illusion to me now”*

by chuckofish

The 1970s is not my favorite decade. Although it is the decade of my long lost youth and beauty, I view those years with some horror and a bit of loathing. Lately, however, I have been revisiting the decade and finding comfort and, yes, even some joy in it.

Last weekend when daughter #1 and I recovered from one long bout of babysitting with a margarita at Club Taco, we listened with pleasure to the 1970s playlist being piped in. It wasn’t just the booze. I enjoyed hearing Don McLean, the Eagles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bob Seger, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, ~~even~~ the Bee Gees, and so on.

Besides listening to music from yon olden days, I have to admit that I have been watching reruns of Adam-12, a show I wouldn’t have been caught dead watching as a teenager when it was first on TV (my father was a big fan) but with which I am now quite taken. In fact I watch it every weeknight instead of the evening news.

It looks like I’m not the only fan out there:

Love the Coldplay mood music

As you know I’ve also been watching Starsky and Hutch and Banacek from the 1970s. Where is all this nostalgia coming from (and where is it going) you ask. I couldn’t really say. But there is comfort to be found in the adventures of old Pete Malloy and Jim Reed and comfort is what I’m looking for I guess.

Don’t judge me, but I think this guy is next on the list.

Maybe the point is, when you get to be my age, you don’t care if it is cool to do something. And I can’t always be reading the Psalms.

P.S. I also like these kiddos doing covers of music from the 1970s.

P.P.S. Today is my birthday!

*Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue”

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April 19, 2021

Postcards from the weekend

by chuckofish

I turned in a huge project on Friday–a grant proposal years in the making–and so when daughter #1 arrived in town, we celebrated at our favorite local re-opened wine/Tapas bar with a glass of wine and some hummus. Delightful. That set us up nicely for the rest of the weekend which involved a 4.5 hour babysitting assignment with the wee twins on Saturday, followed by a reprise on Sunday afternoon.

It was a lot, but a mostly delightful experience. I also managed to go to church for the third week in a row! In addition, we ordered a car seat and stocked up on Pampers and organic veggie pouches in anticipation of daughter #2 and Katie’s visit this coming weekend. We watched Hatari (1962) in two parts. This movie is a lot of fun and was a huge hit in 1962. All the actors did their own stunts with the wild animals–amazing!

It is a celebration God’s creation, plus there is a lot of chain-smoking, hipster merry-making.

It is fun to have four-year olds with whom to share the bounty of spring: the beautiful blooming trees, the lush green grass, the bugs that are appearing, the hosta poking through the dirt, along with the iris, the roses, the Euonymus and Ajuga, the peonies, the ants.

We even found two plastic Easter eggs that had not been found two weeks ago during our egg hunt! The chocolate bunnies inside were gobbled up immediately!

But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
    or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
    or let the fish in the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature
    and the breath of all mankind.
–Job 12: 7-10

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April 16, 2021

The wondrous chant of the gray-brown bird

by chuckofish

This weekend we are babysitting the wee twins twice! Lucky for me, daughter #1 is coming home to assist.

Did you see that the oldest Medal of Honor recipient died last week? He sounds like he was quite a guy. He reminds me of the sergeant in Glory for Me. “My first concern when I was a platoon sergeant was my men,” Charles Coolidge told the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. “I didn’t care what happened to me, but I wanted to protect my men, under any circumstances. I always referred to them as my men — not anybody [else’s], not the company’s. They were strictly my men, and I’d do anything for them.”

Here is an interesting article from the currrent issue of True West magazine, “The Santa Fe Trail Beckoned the Mosty Brothers.” Albert Mosty, it turns out, worked for our ancestor, rancher John Wesley Prowers! He kept a journal and illustrated it. Check it out! It includes this nice photo of JWP.

Here are Paul Zahl’s movie pics for April, Part II. In the small (Episcopal) world department, PZ mentions our old friend Fred Barbee, who baptized daughter #2 oh so many years ago. Fred, besides being a priest at our old church, was also the editor for many years of The Anglican Digest. I did not know that his favorite movie was One Foot in Heaven (1941)!

Here is a fun movie quiz: So you think you know the Oscars? Personally I don’t, because I haven’t watched the Oscars for years and I can’t answer questions after the 1990s. I am so old, I can remember when Bob Hope hosted them.

Today is the birthday of the great Henry Mancini (1924 – 1994). We will toast him tonight and play some of our cool Mancini LPs. What is a cocktail, after all, without a little Mancini?

Please note that yesterday was the anniversary of the death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. So here in remembrance are the first three stanzas of When Lilacs First by the Dooryard Bloomed:

1
When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d,
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.
2
O powerful western fallen star!
O shades of night—O moody, tearful night!
O great star disappear’d—O the black murk that hides the star!
O cruel hands that hold me powerless—O helpless soul of me!
O harsh surrounding cloud that will not free my soul.
3
In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash’d palings,
Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle—and from this bush in the dooryard,
With delicate-color’d blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig with its flower I break.

(Read the whole poem here.)

Have a good weekend. Take a walk around the neighborhood–the azaleas are blooming!

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of thy people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calleth us each by name, and follow where he doth lead; who, with thee and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-BCP

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April 15, 2021

Thirty plus one!

by chuckofish

Please indulge me in a little reflection here — it is hard to believe that a year ago was my thirtieth birthday and I was about 7.5 months pregnant. The pandemic was relatively new and I thought it was great that people had flowers delivered, etc. while we were all self-isolating or quarantining or whatever we were calling it last April.

We are still pretty much in “have things delivered” mode. My mother sent flowers. My boss even sent me a bottle of champagne. We got yummy takeout for dinner and I snuck in a Target drive-up order just for the fun of running an errand.

Anyway, I am a year older with a very, very, very significant “plus one!!”

Our cupcake of love!

Katie dear now knows how to pull up to standing on her own. Here she is showing off on our newly-installed baby gate at the kitchen. She did this for the first time on a FT with her mamu and aunt, which also consisted of her screaming for, like, 10 straight minutes. This is how I imagine Katie learning a new skill:

(Do you remember this scene from *Saved by the Bell* as vividly as I do?)

Katie is not on caffeine pills, but she does get VERY EXCITED and then VERY UPSET about her newfound strength. “Who let me get this high above ground?!?!”

P.S. You might recall that when Katie was very little, she loved to gaze at brown furniture. Well, now she loves to inspect the handles and knobs on all of the brown furniture…

…and she always seems so pleased. “Yep. This here is a fine piece of furniture.”

Well, in sum, I am a happy thirty-one year old with a happy baby. Brown furniture exists, and standing up. Sometimes, champagne and flowers show up at your door. Life is good.

4 Comments

April 14, 2021

It’s your birthday, Lisa.

by chuckofish

Well, it’s dear Susie’s birthday today. And as my mother mentioned, we are looking forward to fete-ing her when she visits in less than two weeks (!!). Am I reserving one of the COVID-pod igloos at Club Taco? Perhaps. Mapping out the best wineries in Jefferson County? Duh. Hitting up Macadoodles for fresh cases of wine? Obviously. Is she only going to be in town for three days? Sadly.

In other news, work had me feeling like this:

But when I got home, I found this in my mailbox:

And I am trying!

One way I recently chose joy was to purchase this gold “M” at Hobby Lobby and then Command Strip-velcro it to my craft room wall.

I’ve always wanted one because Mary Richards had one.

Now if only had those groovy outfits and friends.

In other news, it was Big Trash Day in Jefferson City this weekend–the day when everyone puts their large items out for a city-wide big trash pickup and then everyone else drives around looking for things they want. I scoped out the joint hoping to find treasure but no luck. But aren’t these flowering trees amazing?!

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April 13, 2021

“Some days are diamonds/ Some days are rocks”*

by chuckofish

Hope you are having a diamond of a day, able to enjoy the weather and read a little poetry.

The Real Prayers are not the Words, but the Attention that Comes First

The little hawk leaned sideways and, tilted, rode
the wind. Its eye at this distance looked like green
glass; its feet were the color of butter. Speed, obviously,
was joy. But then, so was the sudden, slow circle
it carved into the slightly silvery air, and the squaring
of its shoulders, and the pulling into itself the long,
sharp-edged wings, and the fall into the grass where it
tussled a moment, like a bundle of brown leaves, and
then, again, lifted itself into the air, that butter-color
clenched in order to hold a small, still body, and it flew
off as my mind sang out oh all that loose, blue rink
of sky, where does it go to, and why?
–Mary Oliver

Today is the birthday of writer Eudora Welty (1909–2001) whom I have admired for many years. It is always a good day to take down one of her books from a shelf and open and read.

“The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order, a timetable not necessarily – perhaps not possibly – chronological. The time as we know it subjectively is often the chronology that stories and novels follow: it is the continuous thread of revelation.”
Eudora Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings

I will also note that tomorrow is daughter #2’s birthday.

We will celebrate her birthday in 10 days when she and baby Katie visit for a long weekend. Of course, we can’t wait to hold that baby, but I can’t wait to hold my baby…

…who was a precious bundle of joy not so long ago and is now a beautiful and talented young woman.

Sunrise, sunset. Time is the continuous thread of revelation.

The watercolor is by Louis Michel Eilshemius, painted between 1888 and 1910. (Detroit Institute of Arts)

*Tom Petty, Walls

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April 12, 2021

“Let angels prostrate fall”*

by chuckofish

Did you have a lovely weekend? My pals Becky and Carla came over for Happy Hour in the Florida Room on Friday and so the weekend started off on the right foot. Now that we are all vaccinated, why the heck not?

Saturday was dark and stormy, but I did go out to the antique mall to wander around. I also went to TJ Maxx and bought a new shower curtain liner. Life in the fast. lane. The rest of the day I puttered around the old homestead, watched some of the Masters Golf Tournament, and caught up with my DP via phone and this nutball on FaceTime.

All the rain has had a positive effect on the flora.

Oh boy, spring has really sprung!

On Sunday I got up and went to church with the Presbyterians at 8:30 am for the second week in a row. It felt great. The service, compared with the liturgical Episcopalians, is plain, but it includes the Apostles’ Creed, the Gloria Patri, the Corporate Confession (almost the same as the General Confession), and the Doxology. The hymns (4) were all good standards, including What a Friend We Have in Jesus. The sermon was on Luke 24:13-35, the walk to Emmaus. I am so happy to have a church to attend.

After church I went and had an hour long facial, using the gift certificate that daughter #1 had given me for my birthday a year ago. It was awesome and I feel like a new woman. The wee babes came over later in the afternoon after attending a birthday party in a park. They were tired and Lottie was especially cranky. The OM made tacos, but Lottie’s mood never improved and they went home early. Sigh. Well, I wouldn’t want you to think my grandchildren were perfect angels or that we never get annoyed with their antics. But we “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18)

I watched A Change of Habit (1969) the DVD of which daughter #1 had left at our house. You will recall that it is Elvis’s last movie and no wonder. I fell asleep and missed part of it. Oh darn.

Now it is Monday and back to the Zoom salt mine. Have a good week!

*All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name by Edward Perronet (1780)‎

5 Comments

April 9, 2021

“In a world gone mad”*

by chuckofish

Today is the commemoration in many Christian denominations of the death of German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed/martyred by the Nazis two weeks before the Flossenbürg concentration camp was liberated by the American Army in 1945.

The great masquerade of evil has played havoc with all our ethical concepts. For evil to appear disguised as light, charity, historical necessity or social justice is quite bewildering to anyone brought up on our traditional ethical concepts, while for the Christian who bases his life on the Bible, it merely confirms the fundamental wickedness of evil. The “reasonable” people’s failure is obvious. With the best intentions and a naive lack of realism, they think that with a little reason they can bend back into position the framework that has got out of joint. In their lack of vision they want to do justice to all sides, and so the conflicting forces wear them down with nothing achieved. Disappointed by the world’s unreasonableness, they see themselves condemned to ineffectiveness; they step aside in resignation or collapse before the stronger party. Still more pathetic is the total collapse of moral fanaticism. Fanatics think that their single-minded principles qualify them to do battle with the powers of evil; but like a bull they rush at the red cloak instead of the person who is holding it; they exhaust themselves and are beaten. They get entangled in non-essentials and fall into the trap set by cleverer people.
–Letters and Papers from Prison

Interesting. I became acquainted with Bonhoeffer in graduate school when my best friend was a Lutheran. I was kind of embarrassed by my ignorance, but, really that was (and is) par for the course. There is just so much not to know-we do the best we can.

When I am not reading about courageous women who lived in dangerous times–try being a Protestant in 16th century France–I continue to plan curriculum and moderate Zoom classes. But the end is in sight, as my retirement has been officially announced and the search is on for my replacement. Daughter #1 has started planning the rager that will follow (a barbecue in the back yard with 7 or 8 people?)

Yesterday was the home opener of the Cardinals. (Not that I care anymore.) But I did watch Major League (1989) in honor of the occasion. Why does Bob Uecker amuse me so much? “It’s Harry Doyle with Tepee Time.”

Meanwhile, in my nostalgic look back at 1970s television in order to speed the Sandman, I have been watching old episodes of Starsky and Hutch. Surprisingly, this show is not that bad. Starsky and Hutch are both appealing, although I personally have always been on team Hutch (reader, I married him)…

…and who doesn’t love Huggy Bear?

Well, I’m just saying, if you get desperate enough for something to watch…try it. There is also all that driving fast of the red Ford Torino and making u-turns etc.

Anyway, it is finally Friday and the bell tolleth for me. Have a good one.

And for kicks, here’s more Josh Turner, this time covering one of my favorite Tom Petty songs.

*Tom Petty

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