family | dual personalities

April 25, 2022

Let all things seen and unseen/ Their notes in gladness blend,

by chuckofish

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.

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

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April 21, 2022

Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life*

by chuckofish

What is it about Easter candy? I have a hard time resisting–especially those malted milk eggs.

I had a lovely birthday. A beautiful flower arrangement from the OM was delivered while I was on the phone with the boy, who called to say Happy Birthday.

Daughter #2 checked in with Katiebelle before daycare…

Daughter #1 drove in from Jeff City after lunch and we went to an event at our favorite local store where our Insta-pals the Madcaps (@madcapcottage) were the special guests.

It was great to meet Jason and John, who seem like old friends. Jason’s Mom and my Mom both went to Middlebury! OMG. Daughter #2 told them it was my birthday and Jason said, “40 is a great year!” Bingpot! Then we met Becky across the street at 19th North for some wine.

We opened presents at home and ate some of an Edible Arrangement from my old friend Denise…

What more can anyone want?

Indeed, birthdays aren’t so bad. I refuse to be depressed like most modern poets, such as Donald Hall:

Let us stifle under mud at the pond's edge 
and affirm that it is fitting
and delicious to lose everything.

Heck, no. I prefer to think positive: We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

…and also this:

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴They still bear fruit in old age;
    they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵to declare that the Lord is upright;
    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Psalm 92: 12-15

Ever full of sap and green!

*Proverbs 16:31

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April 18, 2022

The world is more than we know

by chuckofish

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ¹⁵Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! ¹⁸Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
²⁰But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

–1 Corinthians 15: 12-22

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. Mine was full of church and family, just the way I like it. We went to church on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday. On Easter Saturday daughter #1 and I sat out on the patio in the sunshine and then we listened to some Talking Heads. The OM got Mexican takeout and then we watched Ben-Hur (1959)–part one.

The weather was not so great on Easter Sunday–rainy and chilly–so we had an egg hunt inside after church, and that was okay. Flexibility is key.

We played with some old toys and with a new toy…

…and ate a lot of jelly beans…

We also ate a delicious meal…

on a lovely table…

While eating, we were reminiscing about the Good Friday tornado in 2011 and Lottie interrupted saying, ‘A tornado?! Tornados are hot air and cold air meeting and swirling around.”

I said, “How do you know that?!”

She said, “We watched a video at school.” Table conversation is always interesting at our house!

Here we are reading one of the wee laddie’s favorite book, “Weapons of WWII.” He’s a real chip off the old block.

We also FaceTimed with daughter #2 and heard all about their egg hunt…

All the egg hunting reminded me of the year long past–around the time we moved to our house in the early nineteen-sixties when I was about the twins’ age–when my older brother (about 10 or 11 at the time) staged an Easter egg hunt for our parents. He surmised that they might appreciate searching for the eggs for once. I’m sure my father was non-plussed but I’m sure my mother was touched. My DP and I probably wondered, “What about us?” It’s funny the things you remember in your dotage.

Sunday night we watched Ben-Hur–part two.

The perfect way to wrap up a great weekend.

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. ²And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone ^[a]from the door, and sat on it. ³His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
⁵But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
–Matthew 28: 1-7

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April 14, 2022

Glory! Glory! This I sing—

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of precious daughter #2!

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.
–Robert Lowry, 1876

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April 11, 2022

Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain

by chuckofish

Well, we made it to Oklahoma and I must say, I was impressed. It is a beautiful state and the two cities we visited–Oklahoma City and Tulsa–were super nice. Both cities are very modern and up-to-date with cool boutique hotels and good restaurants.

But, boy, it is windy! (💨💨💨)

Our reason for visiting was, of course, to see the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which we did bright and early on Monday. We were the first people there (at the special “senior hour” of 9 a.m.) so we had the place to ourselves for awhile. We visited Prosperity Junction, which is a replica of an old western town, and then moved on to the exhibits, which unabashedly celebrate Western history, art and culture.

So much to see and read and do! I have to admit that a lot of museums leave me cold, but not this one! Absolutely wonderful. We were too engaged to take many pictures–mea culpa!

And look who followed us to the Cowboy to be inducted into the Hall of Fame:

(I hope Goldie went with him.)

After lunch we headed down to Fort Worth, about which I will blog tomorrow.

On our way home on Thursday we stopped overnight in Tulsa. I have always wanted to go to the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, but, of course, it is closed for a major reconstruction. Instead we ventured to the Philbrook Museum of Art which opened in 1939 and is located in a 1920s villa, “Villa Philbrook,” the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his wife Genevieve. The collection, which includes some good paintings by Oscar Berninghaus and other Santa Fe artists, is mostly a lot of whack-a-doo modern art. The house, however is fabulous and the gardens even better.

It made me think of the boy and how one of his favorite movie lines is when Cary Grant says sarcastically to Irene Dunne (in The Awful Truth) who is moving to OK with her oilman fiancé Ralph Bellamy, “Just think. If you get bored in Oklahoma City, you can go to TULSA.”

Haha. Well, I think Oklahoma City and Tulsa are pretty great!

Hats off to daughter #1 who drove the 1500 miles from St. Louis to Oklahoma City, to Fort Worth, to Waco, to Tulsa and home! Impetuous! Homeric!

Of course, let us not forget that Holy Week is underway. At church yesterday our choir was three times its usual size and the wee laddie spontaneously applauded at the end of their hymn. I could not disagree.

Fling wide the portals of your heart;
Make it a temple, set apart
From earthly use for heavens employ,
Adorned with prayer,
God’s love and joy.
–George Weissel, tr. Catherine Winkworth

And how about Scottie Scheffler winning the Masters?

His victory was his fourth for the PGA Tour season, making him the first golfer since Arnold Palmer in 1960, and only the second ever, to win as many events including the Masters in that span of time to begin a season. It was his fourth win in his last 6 starts. Scottie is a fine young man and I salute him. What can I say? Watching golf is my new coping devise.

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March 14, 2022

Come ye before him and rejoice*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was super cold and then super nice and sunny, so we covered the bases, weather-wise. On Saturday I got up early and went with my friend Becky and her sister to the Vintage Market Days in St. Charles, held at the giant St. Charles Convention Center. We had to stand outside in line in the bitter cold (16 degrees) for a good fifteen minutes, but it was worth it. We had fun perusing the aisles.

By the time we left it was very crowded. I bought a little cement rabbit for the yard.

I was worn out though, so when I got home I lay on the couch and watched three hours of PGA golf.

The boy and WRC jr. joined us at church on Sunday. (Lottie and her mother had a Mommy and Me day to mark the anniversary of the day Lottie came home from the NICU back in 2017…)

After church we ate bagels and then played outside. The wee laddie took the Raptor out for a spin…

…checked out the “moisture” in the grass…

…and blew some bubbles…

…in a nice sunny spot he chose for his chair. He (and I) are ready for some driveway sitting!

We missed the girls, but it was nice to have the boys all to ourselves. After they left to go work at the boy’s store, I gabbed on the phone with daughter #2 and heard all about her fun visit with daughter #1 who had moved on to her conference in D.C.

I watched some more PGA to round out the weekend and saw Shane Lowry hit a hole-in-one on the 17th hole which the day before had been giving everyone a super hard time because of insane headwinds. Crazy, man–made my day.

*All people that on earth do dwell,
sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
him serve with fear, his praise forthtell,
come ye before him and rejoice.
Old One Hundredth

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March 8, 2022

“I will keep broken things”*

by chuckofish

Inspired by my DP’s post on Friday, I spent a good portion of the last few days trying to clear out the closet in my office by going through old letters, photos etc and deciding what can go down to the basement. Yes, I am throwing away relatively little and am just moving stuff around. But maybe in the process I am getting a bit more organized.

Yeah, I doubt it too. It is hopeless when we are unable to part with 20-year-old calendar pages that have a good quote…

…or clippings from the funny pages…

…those wonderful cards that accompanied every gift my mother ever gave me…

…much less classic HS photo proofs like this…

Yes, it’s hopeless. C’est la vie.

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d and sorrows end.
–William Shakespeare, Sonnet 30

*Alice Walker, I Will Keep Broken Things

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March 7, 2022

What then shall we say to these things?

by chuckofish

This weekend I stepped out of my comfort zone and ventured to an estate sale in a part of town that is terra incognita to me. Daughter #2 was in Jeff City so I had no trusty co-pilot…but I found the house without a problem. It was in Affton, a tiny house that would usually never tempt me, but the pictures on the estate sale website had led me to believe that it might be worthwhile because there were lots of Ehrman needlepoint pillows, finished, unfinished and unopened kits. A veritable treasure trove of the best kits from the U.K.! Even though I arrived within an hour of opening, a lot of the best pillows and all the kits were already gone. However, upon investigation, I soon discovered that the woman who had made all the pillows and sewed all the kits was not a very accomplished needlepointer. They were all trapezoidal, not square, and nothing had been blocked. Her stitching was terrible. What a shame!

I bought one that had not yet been made into a pillow in memory of the devoted needlepointer, but I am ~~uncertain~~ pretty sure it can’t be salvaged.

I also bought a good book…

…which happened to have the woman’s name in it. It sounded vaguely familiar and I was curious, so I googled her. It turns out she went to my old Episcopal church! Zut alors–the world is so small.

We had another great sermon in church on Sunday. It was on Romans 8:31-39, one of the greatest passages in scripture.

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
³⁷Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As usual, I cried during every hymn. All these tears made me think of what Frederick Buechner wrote about tears…

Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go to next.
–Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark

Nevertheless, it is kind of embarrassing and I need to stop wearing mascara to church.

The boy and his wee family joined us at church and then came over for brunch. The sun wasn’t out, but it was warm enough to do a little exploring in the yard after our meal…

…and I put the wee babes to work picking up sticks after a very windy winter…

This is a game they enjoy. (Lottie made believe we were going to have a bonfire. Make-believe bonfires are the best.) I went out and bagged it up later.

How was your weekend?

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as now.
Elvina M. Hall, 1865

8 Comments

March 1, 2022

Crashing and burning with dignity

by chuckofish

A new month is starting and spring is on the horizon. Let us rejoice and sing! We still have a little ice and snow around, but Mother Nature is undeterred.

If you are in need of a mood lightener (and who isn’t?), I recommend this article. You also have to watch the embedded video which is pure gold. “You see, in a world plagued by sin and evil, in which churches increasingly have no room for church musicians without commercial appeal, Jon Daker represents hope, joy, and faith. Here is a regular guy who has managed to lift the spirits of millions thanks to his love of singing and a willingness to crash and burn with dignity.”

I also cannot express how much I love these daily updates that the daycare sends to daughter #2 and that she in turn sends to me from Maryland.

This is Life from the frontlines of daycare.

In case you forgot, today is the birthday of David Niven (1910-1983) so we’ll have to watch one of his movies tonight to celebrate! Maybe Separate Tables (1958) for which Niven won the Best Actor Oscar. Hard to believe, but it was the only time he was nominated and I can think of other roles for which he was more deserving. With 23 minutes and 39 seconds of screen time, his performance in this movie is the shortest ever to win an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Here he is winning his Oscar. (Note how tiny Jerry Lewis appears to be next to John Wayne.)

It’s nice to see someone win who is so clearly pleased but has no ax to grind beyond saying thank you. But then, he had some class.

And since you enjoyed yesterday’s video, here’s Iron Horse with another Metallica cover–bluegrass style. Personally, I can’t get enough of this.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

4 Comments

January 31, 2022

“If life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car”*

by chuckofish

Another quiet weekend passes by. I went to an estate sale where I picked up a few books, including They Were Expendable, which jumped out from a lower shelf in a packed basement. This is a book which has been out of print for some time, so I was thrilled to find it. My guardian angel was working with me then!

On Sunday we all went to church where the sermon was on 2 Timothy 1:8-14.

But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.^[a]13Follow the pattern of the sound^[b] words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
1:12-14

We then headed to our house to eat the shepherd’s pie the OM had made ahead of time. The temperature had reached 40 degrees so the wee twins got to run around outside and drive the Raptor around the cul de sac.

Lottie thought about driving, but then was a little too timid to do so. She also balked at rolling down the hill. She is of an age where she does not abandon herself so willingly to such activity. She reminds me a little of myself in that way.

The wee boy has no such restraint. He relishes getting so dizzy he falls down. Anyway, they had fun and it was good to breath the cold, fresh air.

I downloaded the TNT app on our Amazon Fire Stick and so now I am able to watch Supernatural (2005-2020) to my heart’s content. You remember Dean and Sam, “Two brothers [who] follow their father’s footsteps as hunters, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons and gods that roam the earth.” It is pretty crazy, I admit, but Dean is dreamy and demons are real. They mostly live in Washington.

In other news, this is very cool:

Another good reason to visit the National Cowboy Museum before May 1 when the Santa Fe Trail 200th anniversary exhibit closes. We are starting to plan our trip for early April! (#Hashtag The Cowboy)

February starts tomorrow–spring is in sight. But don’t miss February looking forward to warmer temperatures! And guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

*“If life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car / and objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are.”–Meatloaf, RIP

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