…whom I will miss especially because she always reminded me of my mother and now that connection is gone.
We toasted daughter #1 and celebrated her birthday yesterday…
And we toasted all those brave souls who died on September 11, 2001. Last year I included a video in a blogpost about a fine young man who died in one of the towers helping others and I encourage you to watch it again. Lest we forget.
Yes, there was a lot of toasting, but some events call for that. L’chaim! In the midst of life we are in death (BCP).
This reminder of the Budweiser ad that only aired once in honor of 9/11 is cool.
And I liked this article about taking up your cross daily. “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me,” Jesus says.
For when we cease to worship God, we do not worship nothing, we worship anything.
–G.K. Chesterton
What do you worship? Yourself? Science? Social Justice? It’s an important question.
I had a busy week. We even went out on a weeknight.
The OM got to use his office’s (air-conditioned) suite at the ballpark so he invited a group of friends and clients to watch the game. I had not been to a Cardinals game in many years, not since my flyover university used to sponsor nights at the ballpark. Also I lost interest in the redbirds when they fired Mike Matheny in 2018 (sigh). Anyway, it was fun to watch a game right on the third base line.
The little bud made a new best friend, who taught him how to yell, “You’re a bum!” to the manager. (Our manager is a bum, so it’s okay.) We had a 6-0 lead through seven innings and then lost the game because we have no relievers. C’est la vie.
After my busy week, all I wanted to do was chillax and watch the 150th Open at St. Andrew’s. I did get to see a little, but since I went to church on Sunday I missed the end. (Congrats to Cameron Smith who to me always has a disconcerting Nathan Bedford Forest vibe.)
We celebrated the OM’s birthday with a little party after church.
(The pictures of our birthday parties always look the same, don’t they?) Mr and Mrs Crypt Keeper–c’est la vie.
I’m impressed the OM blew out all the candles with one breath. (So was he.)
The French Silk pie was from Tippins and a big success. I made a tater tot casserole which was also a hit.
Here’s hoping this week will not be so busy and maybe it will cool off a little. It has been a hot summer, but that is par for the course and I am not complaining (as long as the electric grid holds out.)
And here’s a bonus picture of precious Katiebelle doing her chores:
We are deep into summer here in flyover country. The Hibiscus is blooming!
This is always thrilling to me because this plant has grown from seeds harvested from a friend’s yard which I planted years ago. Yay Hibiscus!
Today we note the birthday of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862).
Thoreau was an intriguing character, even to his contemporaries, but particularly to a whole generation of Americans who grew up in the 1950s and became hippies in the 1960s. I always think of Rockwell Gray, who was an adjunct professor of English at my university and who I knew and liked. He was a certain type of WASP, highly intelligent and very kind, who would have preferred to be Jewish or at least Irish so he could just relax and be a square peg. He loved Thoreau. Like so many others, he felt he was a kindred soul. And don’t we all, to some extent.
Perhaps I am more than usually jealous with respect to my freedom. I feel that my connection with and obligation to society are still very slight and transient. Those slight labors which afford me a livelihood, and by which it is allowed that I am to some extent serviceable to my contemporaries, are as yet commonly a pleasure to me, and I am not often reminded that they are a necessity. So far I am successful. But I foresee, that, if my wants should be much increased, the labor required to supply them would become a drudgery. If I should sell both my forenoons and afternoons to society, as most appear to do, I am sure, that, for me, there would be nothing left worth living for. I trust that I shall never thus sell my birthright for a mess of pottage. (Life Without Principle)
Today we celebrate the birthday of Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), American actor, dancer, singer, choreographer par excellence. Fred was born in Omaha, Nebraska where he started performing at age five. I always liked his movies from the 1930s the best–the ones with Ginger Rogers–but he was in some good movies later in a long and storied career.
He wasn’t much to look at and his singing voice was a warbly soprano, but he could sure dance like nobody’s business. So let’s watch a Fred Astaire movie tonight. They’re always good for what ails you. Here’s a list.
And there’s this…I gather Fred was not amused…
This interview with Saint Paul on the subject of what is wrong with us is brilliant. Just to make things crystal clear.
This article about the late Sen. Orrin Hatch makes me like him even more.
Meanwhile, it finally stopped raining and we have been enjoying beautiful weather. It is also getting hot and we had to turn on the air-conditioning. Zut alors, it is May 10!
This little gal and her mommy are arriving on Thursday, so I have to get busy preparing the house for visitors. Woohoo!
For Christ the Lord hath risen, Our joy that hath no end.*
How was your weekend? We had a glorious (but windy) Saturday, followed by a rainy Sunday–par for the course this spring. Daughter #1 came home and we went to the Sappington House Country Craft Festival where we walked around their lovely grounds, checked out their library and perused the craft booths.
Junior fiddlers tuning up
We moved on to a couple of estate sales. Daughter #1 found a nice little “brown” table and when one of the guys helped us move it to my car, he asked, “Which car is yours?” I said, “The little green car over there.” “Oh, the Mini Coop!” he replied. “I remember you ladies! Have a blessed day.” Yes, we are that Mother-Daughter pair in the Mini Coop. My day was made.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon on the patio soaking up the vitamin D under the umbrella, which, thankfully, did not blow over.
We went to church on Sunday and heard a good sermon on shame from the text, Genesis 18:9-15. After church we celebrated my birthday (again) with a breakfast casserole and cake…
and more presents…
We played inside…
…but we also managed to spend some time outside…
We found a good spot for my new elephant…
Then everyone went home and I caught up with daughter #2 on FT.
Are those baby Crocs not the cutest?
Meanwhile, continuing on my theme of watching Akira Kurosawa films, I watched The Hidden Fortress (1958) last week, which stars Toshiro Mifune and Misa Uehara as the princess. The story follows two unlucky and rather stupid peasants who seemingly cannot do anything right. Bickering constantly, they end up in the middle of a war and become pivotal in helping a princess get over the border to safety in Hayakawa. Of course, Toshiro Mifune is there as the general tasked to escort the princess and do all the heavy lifting and thinking. The princess herself is a very interesting character–smart, dignified, courageous, kind, and beautiful. The bond forged between her and the bondswoman she saves is quite touching. (Boy, you can have all your Disney princesses–this is a great princess.)
There is a lot of action and we get to see Toshiro do some great stunt riding– standing in the stirrups and wielding a sword with both hands while screaming the Japanese version of a rebel yell. It doesn’t get much better than that.
A lot has been written about George Lucas being heavily influenced by this movie when developing Star Wars. This is not surprising since everything he has ever done is derivative of something else. (He has said that R2D2 and C3PO are based on the two peasants.) You can argue that Kurosawa was derivative of John Ford–okay. But the bottom line is that this is a very entertaining and insightful film. It also has something significant to say about kindness (what an overworked word these days) and friendship. The princess learns a lot and she isn’t ashamed to say so. Even on the verge of being beheaded, she can say:
I have enjoyed the journey. The happiness of these days, I would have never known living in the castle. I’ve seen people as they are, without pretense. I’ve seen their beauty and their ugliness with my own eyes.
Great, great movie–check it out. You can rent it on Amazon Prime or watch it here.
P.S. We also watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop II (2015)–one of our low-brow favorites. The OM was riveted, but apparently unamused. Sorry (not sorry) Kevin James is a laugh riot.
*The Day of Resurrection, John of Damascus, 749, tr. by John M. Neale, 1862
What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
–Ecclesiastes 3:10-13
I realize it may seem trite and simplistic to say, but having had cancer followed immediately by the Covid pause, I know that it is important to wake up every morning and rejoice for the new day. It is important to live your life without fear and without anxiety. And I also know, along with Kenny Chesney, that “the second coming’s coming; it’s right around the bend.” So hang on.
Tomorrow is my birthday, so I’ve been thinking about that and I’m grateful to have taken another crazy trip around the sun! I hope to take many more.
I go to a church now where we all raise our hands in praise and blessing at the end of each service and it brings the tears to my eyes every time. We live coram deo–“before the face of God.” Indeed, our privileged purpose as Christians is to live humbly under God’s authority and to live joyfully to His glory.*
So count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, and know that it’s all good. Love your families and hold them close, stay loyal to your old friends, and don’t be afraid to try something new!
We wish we could celebrate with her today, but we look forward to seeing her in May when she and Katiebelle are planning to visit. Daughter #2 did a fantastic job of filling in for me on the blog while I was traveling and I thank her. We managed, as usual, to keep our running text thread going throughout the week and she kept us up-to-date on Katie’s progress at daycare.
Be assured we will toast her tonight! (While we’re at it, we’ll toast Loretta Lynn who turns 90 today!)
This was a very interesting article. The author relates Saint Paul’s run-in with the mob in Ephesus to the screaming, wall-pounding, and chanting Yale students who shut down a scheduled speaker in March. “Free speech is not a virtue, because much of it is not virtuous. But free speech is necessary to a pluralistic society.” Amen.
I was happy to see that the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum taped the award ceremony at the gala event last Saturday night. I especially appreciated seeing Kurt Russell accept the award for his father Bing Russell who was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
There is a brief video about Bing where they talk about his life (He was from Vermont and went to Dartmouth!) and his career in baseball and the movies/television. However, they never mention that Bing was the guy that gets murdered at the beginning of Rio Bravo (1959) and gets the whole ball rolling. Neither do they mention that he’s there at the beginning of The Magnificent Seven (1960) or that he’s the poor dude who has his leg amputated without anesthesia in The Horse Soldiers (1959).
When I think of Bing Russell, I think of those great movies, not his recurring role on Bonanza!
Anyway, Kurt is very gracious and I love the end, where he gives this parting shot: “You guys are great. And if there’s ever a moment in your life–which I just feel some of the time and energy in this room–where you think that your values and your ways are not being listened to or in some way are forgotten, I promise you that’s not true.”
Finally, happy Easter. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Watch Ben-Hur (1959). Go to church!
Glory! Glory! This I sing— Nothing but the blood of Jesus, All my praise for this I bring— Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Yesterday I caught up on all the stuff I do to keep the home fires burning. However, I also caught up on a new puzzle I was working on before I left and that took up an alarming amount of time.
Zut alors!
Tonight we will toast per usual our January 19th birthday girls–our mother…
and Dolly Parton,
who share a birthday with the fictional character Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Our three favorite role models.
This was an interesting article about the problem with leaving the Church. “We can’t comprehend the love of Christ individually. There may be a time to leave the local congregation but never a time to leave the church.”
Genesis 1.21: like I always say about elephants, evolution cannot begin to explain whales.
And I loved this scene from the book of Acts (17: 22-31) which I read in my daily reading:
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
When I was going through an old file, I found this New Yorker cartoon, torn out of a magazine in 1979.
Don’t forget to stop and look out the window today (but brush your hair first). There is a lot of Life going on out there: squirrels and birds and weather and the UPS man stopping by.
Today is the 248th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. You remember–when members of the Sons of Liberty dressed up like Mohawk Indians and dumped hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act. A toast to these domestic terrorists of yore!
It is also the 210th anniversary of the first two in a series of four severe earthquakes which occurred in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. The New Madrid zone experienced four of the largest North American earthquakes in recorded history, with moment magnitudes estimated to be as large as 7.0 or greater, all occurring within a 3-month period between December 1811 and February 1812. At New Madrid, trees were knocked down and riverbanks collapsed. This event shook windows and furniture in Washington, DC, rang bells in Richmond, Virginia, sloshed well water and shook houses in Charleston, South Carolina, and knocked plaster off of houses in Columbia, South Carolina. In Jefferson, Indiana, furniture moved, and in Lebanon, Ohio, residents fled their homes. There was renewed concern in the 1990s of imminent earthquake activity and I remember putting away my antique china for fear it might be broken. We may have had some water in reserve in the basement too as a precaution…but nothing happened and I don’t worry about such things anymore.
Today is also the birthday of George Santayana (1863-1952), philosopher, essayist, novelist, poet, and legendary Harvard professor. Here is one of his poems, A Toast, in keeping with the situation:
See this bowl of purple wine,
Life-blood of the lusty vine!
All the warmth of summer suns
In the vintage liquid runs,
All the glow of winter nights
Plays about its jewel lights,
Thoughts of time when love was young
Lurk its ruby drops among,
And its deepest depths are dyed
With delight of friendship tried.
Worthy offering, I ween,
For a god or for a queen,
Is the draught I pour to thee,–
Comfort of all misery,
Single friend of the forlorn,
Haven of all beings born,
Hope when trouble wakes at night,
And when naught delights, delight.
Holy Death, I drink to thee;
Do not part my friends and me.
Take this gift, which for a night
Puts dull leaden care to flight,
Thou who takest grief away
For a night and for a day.
I will be toasting my dual personality on Saturday, because it is her birthday.
Here is a snapshot of the siblings a week after her 2nd birthday on Christmas morning. Our brother is 9, she is 2 and I am 4 1/2. I loved the dress I was wearing. Another girl in my class had it and I felt very cool. In fact, there might have been three of us in my small junior kindergarten class with that dress. It was red. The things that stay in your mind!
Anyway, here’s to my lovely and much-loved sister on her birthday.
(Long distance toasting!)
Now it’s time for tree-trimming…
The painting at the top is by Ernest Lawson (1873 – 1939) who studied at the Art Students League, New York, with J. Alden Weir and John Twachtman, and later in Paris at the Académie Julien. Upon his return to the United States he produced his famous impressionistic urban landscapes that linked him to the Ashcan school.
dual personalities 