Natural circumstances and the perversity of human will
by chuckofish
Another week almost gone with the wind. They do go by. I had a busy week “at work” and I went to a Vestry meeting. Yes, the Vestry meeting was actually at church, in Albright Hall, where we sat 6 feet apart and wore masks. It was a little ridiculous, but at least we were together all in one place. It felt kind of normal. We are the only Episcopal Church in the diocese that is meeting together on Sunday and I am proud of our Rector who is jumping through a lot of hoops to do this. I have a feeling there are many ministers/priests who are sleeping through this period and glad of the excused absence.
I liked Paul Walker’s daily devotion (from Charlottesville) the other day, which read in part:
I also went to the dentist (high fives all around) and drove to pick up a Victorian chair I won on the online auction held at our local auction house. It is a needlepoint rescue and nothing special, but it felt good to be back in the game.
Of course, there has been much FaceTiming and cooing over our sweet Katiebelle. She has changed so much in her first week!
And look how confident DN is getting compared to 3 years ago when he practiced holding the wee babes.
Meanwhile the OM and I have been watching The Last Ship, a series on Hulu that was originally aired on TNT back in 2014, about the crew of a U.S. naval destroyer that is forced to confront the reality of a new existence when a pandemic kills off most of the earth’s population. Timely, right? It stars Eric Dane and Adam Baldwin. We are enjoying it and I recommend it if you are in the mood for an action series that has some depth to it. And the leads are handsome.
We also watched 49th Parallel (1941), a British war film made by the Pressburger/Powell team with the help of Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier and Raymond Massey to help sway American opinion in favor of joining the war effort. It is pretty good and maybe it was considered tough stuff back then, but the Canadians seemed rather dim-witted and trusting next to the dirty Nazis who are trying to escape the RMP. I guess that was the point.
You can watch it on Amazon Prime.
Have a good weekend!
The wee twins came over on Sunday morning to frolic in the yard. They found our vintage Cozy Coupe from the late ’80s (“This was your daddy’s car!”) and they insisted on taking it for a spin.
The Sting, which is a terrific movie,
and Walking Tall, which I had never seen before and was an interesting movie.
Look at that little face!
The film is full of comedic exchanges such as “Get it?” “Got it.” “Good!” and “The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!” I found it to be very diverting and a lot of fun. I always liked Danny Kaye, and if you like him in White Christmas, you will love him in this.
The excellent supporting cast includes Basil Rathbone, Glynis Johns, Angela Lansbury, and Mildred Natwick. Together they manage to spoof movies like The Adventures of Robin Hood without going overboard. The production values are very high. The script is genuinely clever.
They will appreciate the handmade Christmas ornaments daughter #1 made them in years to come.
They got presents
including some books, which they like a lot.
Meanwhile the Christmas decorations are going up everywhere around here. The Kirkwood Holiday Walk was held last Saturday! Daughter #1 and I took a walk around the neighborhood and saw a few Christmas trees lighted up in living rooms! Please. Let’s get through Thanksgiving first.
My weekend was a good one, full of good friends, good estate sales and good old movies, including the politically incorrect, but hilarious, Gunga Din (1939)–continuing my Cary Grant thread.
I read the first lesson at church, a great section from Acts, ending with Peter’s exhortation to “Repent therefore, and turn to God“–I mean how many times a day do you get to say that? (Not nearly enough, although I frequently wish I could.)
That evening the wee babes came over for dinner with their parents.
dual personalities 