Some days are better,
Some days are worse.
Look for the blessing instead of the curse.
Be positive, stay strong,
and get enough rest.
You can’t do it all. But you can do your best.
Thought for the day. It’s a good thought, right?
[The painting is by Edward Le Bas (1904-1966)]
On this day back in 1909 St. Louis observed the 100th anniversary of its incorporation. A week-long celebration, backed by dozens of civic organizations, called the nation’s attention to the city which then ranked a proud fourth and which only five years earlier had staged the fabulous Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
The centennial festival coincided with Veiled Prophet week (founded by prominent St. Louisans in 1878), so the city was decked out in purple and gold for the “monarch,” and in red, white and blue banners for the anniversary…
Veiled Prophet Parade in 1878
To open the celebration, the city’s harbor boat sounded a blast at 5:59 a.m. From Chain of Rocks to River des Peres and from the Mississippi River to the city limits, church bells rang out along with steam whistles. As that salute died away, every carillon in the city chimed out the melodies of favorite hymns.
For more than a century, St. Louis enjoyed a spot among the top 10 cities in the country, but by 1970, the city had fallen to 18th. A decade later, to 26th. The city that once ranked fourth behind New York, Chicago and Philadelphia then tumbled out of the top 50, and now stands at 62. Indeed, the population of St. Louis has declined from its peak in 1950 by 62.7%.
Well, I was surprised to find out that these days Wichita is bigger than we are.
Back in 1909 St. Louisans were proud of their city. Today we talk about the Gateway Arch “honor(ing) historical events that are now understood as deeply problematic within the larger trajectory of American history.” Western expansion = a bad thing. Okay, then. That may explain a lot.
Discuss among yourselves.
[Information about the centennial from St. Louis Day By Day by Frances Hurd Stadler]
October is one of my favorite months. Unfortunately, the frost is nowhere near the pumpkins here and the weather this week seems more like August.
I started putting away my spring/summer clothes this past weekend, but I’m afraid I’ve jumped the gun. C’est la vie.
In other news, I saw them unloading pumpkins from a big truck at the Methodist Church pumpkin patch, so I guess that is my cue to go buy some pumpkins. I also unpacked my Halloween decor, such as it is.
Well, fall will be here soon enough and with it wool sweaters and turtlenecks and black tights.
I like fall.
*James Whitcomb Riley
I watched 21 Jump Street over the weekend, and, as usual, I laughed.
You know that I detest vulgarity, but there is something about this particular avalanche of vulgarity that always cheers me up. I couldn’t say why exactly. It must be Channing Tatum in AP Chemistry.
I also got to see the wee babes when I went to cheer on the boy at the Pedal the Cause bicycle race on Sunday.
They enjoyed running around on a hot morning waiting for him to cross the finish line.
And they were proud of him when he did! I was too!
I had a good weekend puttering around. I also read quite a bit of Alistair McCall Smith’s 18th book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, The House of Unexpected Sisters. This suited me just fine. Precious Romotswe and I have always been on the same page.
Mma Romotswe was usually very even-tempered. She rarely allowed matters to rile her, and only very occasionally expressed a strong opinion. She could see the world as others saw it–she understood if people took a different view of things–but there were limits, and Mma Potokwane had just described one of them. “These people,” she said, with a note of irritation creeping into her voice, “what are they thinking of? They spend all their time criticizing the good things we have–the old Botswana morality, for example…but what do they say should be put in their place? They have nothing to offer, Mma. They say that life will be better if we get rid of our traditions, but what if we did that, all that would come would be selfishness, Mma. It would be every person for himself, or herself. People would forget about other people because there would be nothing to bind them together; none of the memories, songs, greetings, or customs that make people into a nation. We would have plenty of shiny cars, Mma–plenty of Mercedes-Benzes–but inside we would be as empty as an ant-hill…
And now it is October!
*Robert Frost, from “October’
Need a morale boost this weekend? Here’s how the students of one New Zealand school paid their respects to a retiring teacher. Watch the whole thing, it’s short.
Lest you catch yourself recoiling from all that “toxic masculinity”, notice how controlled everyone is, and how when they finish they go on about their business as if nothing has happened. That’s not toxic, it’s healthy and great for morale!
As Xenophon observed in his Anabasis,
“…it is not numbers or strength that bring the victories in war. No, it is when one side goes against the enemy with the gods’ gift of a stronger morale that their adversaries, as a rule, cannot withstand them.
So chin up! Let us face our opponents with God’s gift of stronger morale!
Earlier in the week I received the news that Charlie, the 20-year old grandson of one of my dearest friends, had been killed in a car wreck driving back to KU. This is crushing. Every parent’s nightmare.
Indeed, we hear such terrible stories all the time, but when they hit close to home, it scares us and we wonder if life is just one blow after another until we too die.
But then I was listening to my daily Tim Keller sermon as I rode my stationery bike yesterday and he was talking about 1 John 3:1-3:
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Though we see through a glass darkly, Charlie sees Christ face to face now. We must try to rejoice in that.
Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding: Deal graciously with Charlie’s family in their grief. Surround them with your love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness, and strength to meet the days to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This week has been a very stressful week at work, compounded by this tragic news. I feel unfocused and on edge. But the weekend is upon us. My boy will be riding once again in the Pedal the Cause bicycle race for cancer survivors. He is two years cancer free.
Have a good weekend. Tell your loved ones you love them. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (I Thessalonians 5:18)
[The engraving above is Rosa Celeste: by Gustave Doré]
The Norman conquest of England began on this day in 1066. The invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, Flemish and French soldiers was led by Duke William II of Normandy, later known as William the Conqueror.
This made me think of the book 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates.
The book is a parody of the style of history teaching in English schools at the time (1930), in particular of Our Island Story. It purports to contain “all the History you can remember,” and covers the history of England from Roman times through 1066 “and all that,” up to the end of World War I, at which time “America was thus clearly Top Nation, and history came to a .” [full-stop, like a telegram] It is full of examples of half-remembered and mixed-up facts, puns and really bad jokes.
The book is written in the manner of a bad test essay with most of the names wrong. It is also full of private jokes and you really have to know quite a lot of history to get them, so I can’t imagine anyone today being even slightly amused by it.
Truly it makes my own history-major head spin.
Zut alors!
On the whole I prefer Nigel Molesworth: “a chiz is a swiz or swindle as any fule kno.”
All latin masters hav one joke.
Caesar adsum jam forte
or
caesar had some jam for tea.
No one knows anything now.
I thought this was a good point.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
And don’t forget:
…And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20)
(Tiffany window in the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church, Albion, NY)
Today we toast Oliver Loving (December 4, 1812 – September 25, 1867) who was an American rancher and pioneer of the cattle drive. Together with Charles Goodnight, he developed the Goodnight-Loving Trail.
He was mortally wounded by Indians while on a cattle drive and died 151 years ago today. You may recall that Larry McMurtry borrowed his manner of death and the fact that Goodnight transported his body back to Texas for his character Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove.
Loving County, Texas, the second least-populace county in the United States in population, is named in his honor.
You can read more about the trail here.
Well, it may be time to dig out Lonesome Dove, the mini series.
“Here’s to the sunny slopes of long ago.”
Well, we had a joyful weekend, how about you? We celebrated daughter #1’s belated birthday as planned.
References to donuts abounded.
We also went to a couple of estate sales, but were unsuccessful. We returned something at J. Crew and resisted buying these gold leggings for Miss Lottie.
Daughter #1 hung a picture up for me.
Try as I may, I have never been able to drive a nail into a wall. Luckily my children are all handier than I am.
The weather was glorious all weekend, so we opted to take a walk through the nearby Powder Valley conservation area instead of going to church.
After daughter # 1 headed back to mid-MO, I gabbed on the phone with daughter #2 and caught up on my household chores and the OM gassed up my car. An excellent weekend, don’t you agree?
Now we are off to the races at work–a very busy week ahead. We’ll take it one day at a time.
“Listen to your life. Listen to what happens to you because it is through what happens to you that God speaks… It’s in language that’s not always easy to decipher, but it’s there, powerfully, memorably, unforgettably.”
–Frederick Buechner
