Today we toast the wonderful Shirley Temple (1928-2014) on her birthday. There has never been another child star as beloved as Shirley, who made 29 films by the time she turned 10. She was the top box office draw from 1934-1938. She was a pro and she worked hard in a tough business and survived amazingly unscathed–probably because she retired so early and never looked back.
We should all drink a non-alcoholic mixed drink (a “Shirley Temple” made with lemon-lime soda or ginger ale and a splash of grenadine, and garnished with a maraschino cherry) in her honor and watch one of her films.
Also on this day in 1953, the movie Shane, directed by George Stevens and based on the 1949 novel by Jack Schaefer, starring Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur, premiered.
As you know, it is my favorite of all time. Almost 75 years old!
In other news, on this day in 2005 YouTube’s co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the first video to YouTube, “Me at the zoo” showing him in front of two elephants at the San Diego Zoo.
Not very exciting in my opinion, especially when compared with Shirley Temple.
Have a great Wednesday!
Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done.
So here we are: it is the last Friday in 2023 and the last weekend. Do you have New Year’s Eve plans? The boy and his family will be back from Florida on Sunday. We plan to get together and have a dance party. Daughter #1 will be spinning 45s from the 1980s. We also are planning something new. Everyone will choose a favorite scene from a favorite movie to present. I will have a hard time choosing one, so being the hostess, I will pull rank and show several. I think that’s fair. Can you guess what they might be?
Also tonight the Cotton Bowl is on TV so we will be watching the Mizzou-Ohio State match-up. Since we actually kind of care, this does not bode well for Mizzou.
Well, although it seems like western civilization is falling to pieces around us, we can take solace in knowing this is not the first time this has happened. I prefer to focus on the many blessings which have poured down on me this year.
Baby Ida was born in January! She is on the verge of walking now…
2. Daughter #1 started a new corporate job and bought a house. Mr. Smith has learned to be a good guard dog.
3. We did a lot of driveway sittin’.
4. I made it through another session of Vacation Bible School.
5. I trekked to Maryland three times, Glens Falls, NY, and Nashville and lived to tell the tale.
6. I rescued various items of great old “brown” furniture at auction and the boy helped me move it all home.
7. I wrote four articles for the Kirkwood Historical Review.
8. I completed my 5x5x5 Bible reading program, plus Pilgrim’s Progress, and two women’s Bible studies: the book of Daniel and Even Better than Eden.
9. My new church community continued to strengthen and enrich me. Weekly worship is a delight and a feast. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) And old friends stood by me and supported me in all my endeavors.
10. And DN got a job at the University of Illinois! Woohoo!
I am thankful for God’s grace and mercy. As Randy Alcorn says, “Yes, let’s serve Jesus faithfully and seek to preserve Christian liberties, but let’s not whine about things being so dark. Instead, let’s shine the light as faithful children of God. Let’s trust Jesus to return when He is good and ready to do so, whether that is today, or a hundred years from now, or a thousand. Let’s live as people who are indeed going to meet Jesus soon, either by His return or our deaths. And let’s be ready to meet Him, and by His grace, hear those incredible words: ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant; enter into your Master’s joy.’”
…that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.
Philippians 2:15
Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Happy New Year!
We are really in the dog days of summer now, but on Friday it was still nice enough to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. Mr. Smith sat like a good dog with us and was not too distracted by the flora and fauna. As little Katie would say, “Mr. Smith is growin’ up!”
Earlier on Friday I met the boy down at the Link Auction Galleries and he picked up a glass-front bookcase for me and a large oriental rug for daughter #1 before rushing off to open his store. He came back on Sunday afternoon and moved the bookcase inside from the garage and the rug over to her house.
What would I do without him and his truck?
I watched Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023) on my friend’s very large television and I enjoyed it, although it was much too long–2 hours and 30 minutes! It could easily have been edited to an hour and a half, but today’s moviemakers are so self-indulgent, they have no idea how to edit a movie.
It was very good to be back at church after missing for two weeks when I was out of town and then sick. We even sang my new favorite hymn:
Come, ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall; if you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.
And is this baby too cute or what?
Life is full of blessings. Be sure to count yours every day!
Happy 4th of July holiday! I hope everybody celebrated appropriately yesterday, i.e. in noisy American fashion. We went down to Jefferson City and celebrated in the state capitol with daughter #1 and the boy and his family. I’ll have more on that tomorrow.
Anyway, I forgot to mention that last Thursday was the anniversary of daughter #2 and DN. Mea clupa.
I had retirement on my mind, but when reminded, it was nice to remember that lovely summer day back in 2017 when these two lovebirds tied the knot.
Now, of course, there is little Katiebelle to celebrate as well. What a big, strong, happy girl she is!
Which brings me to this interesting article, which sums up pretty well how I have been feeling about our current content-creating culture. “Have we lost the ability to simply experience the goodness of life because we have become so obsessed with documenting and sharing it?” You may have noticed that daughter #2 did not post a baby update last week. We talked about it and both agreed we needed to back off. Katie deserves her privacy. This is a topic that everyone needs to think seriously about. “Let’s just be present. Let’s just experience life and not be so concerned about documenting it. We don’t need to be our own biographers. We don’t need to build our own brands.” We will continue to blog about our quite ordinary lives, but we will focus more on poetry and history and genealogy and movies and other things that interest us.
Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
dual personalities 