Daughter #2 and petite famille left yesterday for Lexington and should arrive later today in our flyover city. We are beyond excited!
Meanwhile I have been readying the old manse for their arrival, stocking up on fruits and veggies for them, Pampers, etc. Daughter #1 arrived yesterday with a case of our house wine and handmade holiday outfits, so we are all set.
Earlier in the week, we heard the very sad news that our favorite local watering hole, Club Taco, was set to close on Sunday, so we dropped by for our last take-out margaritas. We tried so hard to support them through the pandemic, which threatened to close so many small businesses, but it turned out it wasn’t COVID that did them in. Their lease was not renewed. Heavy sigh.
Then we went home and settled in for a somewhat subdued happy hour of listening to music at home, culminating in a good ol’ Bob Dylan singalong.
And every one of them words rang true And glowed like burning coal Pouring off of every page Like it was written in my soul From me to you Tangled up in blue
In church on Sunday we were flying high with a full congregation and the choir back! Congregational singing was awesome. Add to that a solid sermon on the second half of Romans 6 (The wages of sin is death!) and it was all pretty great.
So although we mourn the demise of Club Taco, we are nevertheless off to a good start to our Thanksgiving week. Hope you all are too.
In yesterday’s blog post I described a fun overnight visit to my daughter in Jefferson City. I was thinking more about it and it occurred to me that there was nothing particularly “Instagrammable” or blog-worthy about it. It was very ordinary indeed. But isn’t it in the ordinary that we see the beauty and blessings of God’s world?
Sure, it would have been great to eat dinner at the Gasparilla Inn in Boca Grande or sit on a patio overlooking Lake Como sipping a cocktail. But for me, eating lunch at the Grand on High Street in our state capitol is really just as pleasant. Driving around that small midwestern town and seeing the park and the local university was just as fun as sightseeing in Washington D.C. My point being that wherever you are, there you are, and your glass is either half full or half empty.
My glass is half full. I wake up every morning and thank God that His mercies are new every morning. (Some days it takes me a moment or two to remember what day it is or what month, but I get there eventually.) And there is usually a pot of coffee going that the OM made before I got up. And I know that nothing extraordinary will happen to me today–at least I hope not–but the memory of holding my grandchildren’s tiny hands as we crossed the church parking lot on Sunday will keep me going all week.
Well, I am going to tidy up and get ready for a houseful of family at Thanksgiving. I am thankful for a sweet son-in-law who is driving his family 700 miles to be here. I am thankful for a sweet daughter-in-law who is making special matching holiday pajamas for the cousins–a family tradition on her side of the family. We’ll have cheesy potato casserole and green beans and crescent rolls and Dierberg’s will prepare the turkey breast. And even if there is no canned jellied cranberry this year because of the sorry state of commerce in our country (I noted the absence of this staple today at Dierberg’s), we’ll survive. If the whole meal implodes, we’ll be fine. Because it’s not just about the yummy food and the perfect table settings. We have plenty to be thankful for.
Yes, it is November and we like to count our blessings extra hard in the run-up to Thanksgiving. I encourage you to do this as well. But keep in mind that being grateful means little if you do not know and acknowledge to whom you are grateful. So 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.
And take note of all the miracles in your life!
Why, who makes much of a miracle? As to me I know of nothing else but miracles, Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water, Or stand under trees in the woods, Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love, Or sit at table at dinner with the rest, Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car, Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon, Or animals feeding in the fields, Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air, Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright, Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring; These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles, The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.
To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, Every cubic inch of space is a miracle, Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same, Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.
To me the sea is a continual miracle, The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships with men in them, What stranger miracles are there?
My weekend made an interesting zig zag when daughter #1 came home on Wednesday night for a work event on Thursday and stayed until Friday morning. Then we drove back to JC together so we could do some Christmas shopping on Saturday.
We walked over to High Street to eat lunch. The capitol looked beautiful. That night we drank wine, ate some French bread and cheese…
… and watched a favorite Rock Hudson movie, Come September (1961).
That’s the one where where a quartet of hipster college boys take on Rock Hudson and lose terribly. A classic.
On Saturday we drove to Osage Beach and checked out the outlet mall–the four stores we like anyway–and did quite well. We braved the line to get into the Bath & Body Works to buy our 3-wick candles…Buy one, get one 50% off–such a deal!
When we got back to JC we drove around and found the neighborhood with the big old houses and also Hough Park with its serene lake and golf course in the middle of town.
Hough Park is named after Judge Arthur M. Hough who presented 50 acres to the City Council in 1917, requesting the land be used for the city’s first public park. I know you are wondering, but, no, Judge Hough was not a relative of ours–he descended from the Houghs that settled in Virginia. His father George Hough moved west to Jefferson City and helped establish the first Episcopal Church in JC. The name “Grace” was given to the parish and the name of the association was “Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Grace Church, Jefferson City”. George Hough served on the first Vestry and his wife, Mary C. Hough, was the first person confirmed there on April 17, 1841, by the Rt. Reverend Bishop Kemper.
We also drove around Lincoln University, which, you will recall, was “founded in 1866 by the men of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Infantries and their white officers, for the special benefit of freed African Americans.”
It has a very nice campus right in the middle of town.
We also went to Central Dairy and brought some coffee ice cream home to eat.
My plan was to take the Amtrak back to St. Louis on Saturday night. This was a good plan–unfortunately the train was an hour late and then halted (without explanation) for about half an hour outside Hermann, MO. This was quite disconcerting (especially when the lights went out) and caused several children to become hysterical and the already drunk group of young women in my car to become drunker. We eventually got going again and rolled in a couple of hours late. The OM was there to pick me up and I was very grateful to be home in quiet Kirkwood. So all’s well that ends well.
Meanwhile daughter #2 and her petite famille moved into a rented house–so exciting for them! I think they are pretty worn out from their exertions!…
We all made it to church again and I have to say the wee twins are making themselves right at home, which is the whole thing, right? They are very comfortable. They learned about Jonah and the whale (“It was a big fish!”). We discussed this lesson during lunch afterwards and I told them that this had actually happened to a man this year on Cape Cod. But this happened to Jonah because he was disobedient. We adults were treated to another slam-bang sermon on Romans 6: 1-14.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Well, we are experiencing some beautiful fall weather and I am grateful. The weekend was beautiful.
On Saturday I gave a talk on the history of the Santa Fe Trail to a group of DAR ladies. Daughter #1 accompanied me and provided tech support, because as I’ve learned in my years in academia, one always needs tech support (plus multiple back-ups, several PowerPoint versions of your talk, dongles, thumb drives etc. etc. etc.)
Everything went smoothly and I guess the ladies enjoyed it. I was pinch-hitting for someone in Kansas City in the Missouri River Outfitters chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association of which I am a member–obviously I’m the only chapter member who lives in St. Louis!
This experience did motivate me to look into the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. My maternal grandmother was a pillar of the DAR and now that I am retired, it might be something I could get interested in. It was the DAR, after all, who originally took on the important task of preserving the Santa Fe Trail and placing markers along the way, thus saving the trail from literally blowing away in the wind. The DAR in Kansas began the monumental task of marking the Trail in Kansas in 1902. Soon chapters of the DAR in Missouri, Colorado, and New Mexico followed suit and marked the Trail in their respective states. Pink granite markers were placed where one could see the original ruts or swales, or where traders still living indicated the location of the route. Four Madonna of the Trail statues honor the women who traveled the trail. Just another example of private citizens (and women at that) organizing a project, raising money and seeing it through to completion.
We are hoping to make the trek soon to Franklin, Missouri, the original site of the beginning of the trail…
…that is, before Franklin was washed away by a flood in 1827. Then the trailhead moved west to Westport Landing.
We got up early on Sunday and made a Tater Tot breakfast casserole before going to church to meet the boy and the wee babes for the 6th week in a row! They are really enjoying Sunday School. Lottie corrected my pronunciation of Naaman. (You remember him. He was the commander of the Syrian army who was healed of his leprosy by Elijah.) After brunch, daughter #1 headed back to JC and the twins went home to wreck havoc there.
We did get to FaceTime with our precious Katiebelle who is also (obviously) brilliant:
It was a nice quiet weekend.
Now as the week progresses, remember what the @madcapcottage boys say: “Be optimistic. Be happy. Don’t live with fear. Act like a kid. Create new chapters. Ditch the pessimists in your life. And always wear bunny ears whenever the opportunity arises.” Hear, hear!
I have been thinking about Halloween and how back in the day, the getting of candy was really the big deal. No one had candy at home. Candy was something we got on special occasions and on Saturday mornings when we went to Spicer’s and spent a nickel on penny candy. Five pieces, which we picked out carefully, in a little brown bag. So a holiday like Halloween was about candy and the hoarding of it thereafter. Our mother made some pretty great costumes early on, but later, when we got older, costumes were secondary and frequently were thrown together at the last minute. It was the free candy that we wanted. Those mini candy bars were a seasonal treat and not available at other times of the year like they are now.
I remember when I was in kindergarten or first grade and I was going over to my best friend Trudy Glick’s house to Trick-or-Treat. She lived in a mansion on a street with other very large houses spaced far apart from each other. My older brother felt sorry for me because obviously we wouldn’t be going to very many houses. Anticipating quite a haul in our own neighborhood, he uncharacteristically and magnanimously actually said he would share his candy with me. Imagine our surprise when the denizens of Dromara Lane gave out full sized candy bars and I came home with a heaping bag of goodies. No apples or cookies or raisins. Lesson learned. (I have no memory of sharing with him, but maybe I did.)
Later, in college, Halloween was an excuse to wear makeup and to try to look sultry…
Now we just turn off the lights and ignore anyone who comes to the door.
Over the weekend we watched our share of “scary” movies: Signs (2002), Night Creatures (1962)–recommended by Paul Zahl–and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1964). Both Night Creatures and The Scarecrow are based on a book by Russell Thorndike, Dr. Syn. I have to admit, I prefer the Disney version. Those historical movies from the early sixties, filmed in England and sometimes starring Patrick McGoohan, were very good. The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh really holds up. And who doesn’t love a story about an Anglican vicar who has a side hustle as a smuggler so he can steal from the government to help the poor…and, of course, the title song?
We all went to church on Sunday. As a special Reformation Day treat, the men’s ensemble (a sextet) sang “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” at the beginning of the service. At the conclusion the wee laddie turned to me and whispered, “That song was awesome!” and he applauded. Luckily, he was not the only one so moved. We had brunch together at home afterwards, which I hope will be our new Sunday routine.
I served Episcopal Souffle, but I may have to change the name now. Calvinist souffle?
We did not get to see the wee twins in their Halloween costumes, but we saw a lot of pictures.
Lottie was a mermaid (striped shirt optional) and the bud was Kion from the Lion King.
Daughter #3 whipped up the costumes as requested. Very wunderbar.
Meanwhile baby Katie sat out Halloween…
…and looked adorable doing so.
Today is All Saints’ Day, at least in the Anglican world. But it is still a good reminder to pause and think about all those saints who have influenced our lives.
On All Saints’ Day, it is not just the saints of the church that we should remember in our prayers, but all the foolish ones and wise ones, the shy ones and overbearing ones, the broken ones and whole ones, the despots and tosspots and crackpots of our lives who, one way or another, have been our particular fathers and mothers and saints, and whom we loved without knowing we loved them and by whom we were helped to whatever little we may have, or ever hope to have, of some kind of seedy sainthood of our own.
How was your weekend? Mine turned out to be very busy and with way more socializing than I am used to.
The OM and I spent five hours going to the Newcomer Classes at our new church (on Friday night and Saturday morning). It was time well spent, but it was a lot for my aging brain to take in.
“This is why Paul upholds the teaching of the gospel in such a forceful way … Seeing such an example and such a picture of man’s great weakness and fickleness, Paul states that the truth of the gospel must supersede anything that we may devise … he is showing us that we ought to know the substance of the doctrine which is brought to us in the name of God, so that our faith can be fully grounded upon it. Then we will not be tossed about with every wind, nor will we wander about aimlessly, changing our opinions a hundred times a day; we will persist in this doctrine until the end. This, in brief, is what we must remember.”
–John Calvin, Sermon on Galatians
On Saturday afternoon I brought in all the plants from the Florida Room and attempted to find suitable winter homes for them throughout my house. Exhausting. Then I took a quick nap before going out to celebrate our 41st (!) anniversary with some old friends at a nice restaurant.
Kids, 1980
On Sunday, instead of going to church with the boy and the wee twins as planned, the OM and I drove to Jefferson City where daughter #1 had purchased a Power Wheels Raptor for the twins at Walmart (spoiler alert: combo birthday/Christmas present from all of us)…
…but, curses, had discovered that it would not fit in her Mazda. (There is a lot of backstory here, but I will not go into it. Suffice it to say, we have been looking high and low for the aforementioned truck, so when she found one, she jumped on it.) So we drove to JC, picked her up and hustled over to Walmart where they were holding it. Two nice young men brought it out to the OM’s SUV…
…only to discover that it was too big for his car! Luckily we were in mid-MO where the two young men took it upon themselves to make it fit. They took it out of the box and persuaded it to fit. Bravo.
We thanked them kindly and headed to Steak ‘n Shake for lunch. Then we bid adieu to daughter #1 and drove back to our flyover town and managed to unload the Raptor into the garage, where we will put it back together at some later date.
What a weekend! I must say, it was a beautiful weekend, weather-wise–crisp and cool. I watched Circus World (1964) starring John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth on Sunday night, which rounded out the weekend nicely.
We celebrated daughter #1’s birthday by going to our favorite winery in Hillsboro. Now that we are experts, we know what to bring and how to set up for a picnic.
Accommodations were made for the small fry.
Pappy and the wee laddie went for a walk to check out the excavator down the hill and the pond around the bend.
When we had enough lovely sunshine and live music (and wine)…
…we packed up…
…and headed back to our flyover hometown where we ate “donut cake” and Aunt Mary opened presents.
It was a fun day.
I went to church in the morning after daughter #1 headed back to mid-MO. I was reminded once again that worship is a restorative act. It really is. Our clergy team is starting a new sermon series on the Letter to the Romans and I am looking forward to it. No one does exegesis like the Presbyterians.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Romans 1:16-17
In closing I encourage you to watch this video about a fine young man who lost his life on 9/11 helping to save people in the south tower. He reminds me of the boy, a lacrosse player who had an eerily similar name and the same initials. (Kleenex essential)
Have a good week. Pray that you might bring glory to God in thought, word and deed.
“I don’t give jobs, I hire men.” This scene from McClintock seems relevant.
“Only, let every one lead the life which the Lord has assigned to him, and in which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. “
I Cor. 7:17
The sermon yesterday was on I Corinthians 7:17-24. The preacher was Dr. Daniel Doriani, a well known Presbyterian in our community and a blogger at TGC. It was excellent–all about how God calls us to faith and union with Christ and to places and roles, about living faithfully in our callings and where God has put us. You can read his Work: Foundational Truths for Uncertain Times here. Again, it is wonderful to leave church feeling ebullient and ready to face the week. It has been literally years since I felt that way after church.
Meanwhile, Miss Katie needs to “work” on her table manners…
Speaking of nutballs, we had not seen the wee babes for a couple of weeks, so we were glad they could come over for a Labor Day BBQ with their parents on Sunday. It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 70s with low humidity. We sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine. When we came inside they wreaked havoc as usual.
In other news, daughter #1 and I went to one estate sale on Saturday where I found an old issue of the From Mary to You alumnae magazine from 1969 which I bought for a dollar and thoroughly enjoyed reading. There was a photo of our pater in a coonskin cap being uncharacteristically goofy in his AP U.S. class…
and a photo of moi in a seventh grade play …
I think that is my friend Harriet second from the left with a veil. I am second from the right (I think). I have no memory of this play, ‘The Paduan Berets’ by Pirandello. Zut alors! Weren’t we sophisticated? (Actually, no, not really.)
So if you have the day off today, enjoy it.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
How was your weekend? It was blazing hot here (well, not that hot) but at least there were no damaging storms to wreck havoc and make a big mess.
On Friday, the boy brought the twins over for a visit. Lottie complained about being hot…
while the wee laddie got busy emptying out the garage.
After a couple of hours, we did go inside where we ate some pretzels and cooled off.
Daughter #1 drove home that late afternoon after a busy week in JC for some downtime in our flyover town. On Saturday we were very successful at an estate sale and I bought a classic Forshaw wrought iron table and chairs for our patio. I have been on the lookout for a nice set for a couple of years, so I was very pleased. And what a bargain! The boy picked them up on Sunday morning before he opened his store and we went to church. How nice to have a son with a truck who so cheerfully pitches in!
Later on Sunday the boy came back for tacos with the wee babes. (Daughter #3 was getting ready for the first day of school today.)
Lottie still balked at playing outside, but Aunt Mary was there this time to make it all okay.
Fun times.
But it occurred to me the other day that I was way behind in pre-Christmas planning/present stockpiling. For some reason, I feel very unmotivated this year. I’m not sure why. Uncertainty about the world order? Feeling anxious about the end times? Wondering what God is requiring of me today?
When as the grass the wicked grow,
when sinners flourish here below,
then is there endless ruin nigh,
but you, O Lord, are throned on high;
Your foes shall fall before your might, the wicked shall be put to flight.
Hymn #635
Yes, I remind myself constantly, our Lord is throned on high.
Cheer up, Christian! Things are not left to chance: no blind fate rules the world. God hath purposes, and those purposes are fulfilled. God hath plans, and those plans are wise, and never can be dislocated.
We had a super fun long weekend with daughter #2, DN and Katiebelle visiting.
We got the cousins together for a backyard splash party…
I got this cute sprinkler for the wee babes…
…but, of course, their aunt in Texas had just bought them this sprinkler…
(which do you think they preferred?)
C’est la vie…we hung out…
and looked out the window (better than TV)…
…and we prepared for our big party celebrating the 200th birthday of Missouri statehood on Saturday…
We had a party tent!
..where our friends Gary and Don played…
We were living in the moment and no one took many pictures, but it was fun and no one passed out from the heat. (We were glad the the big thunderstorm held off until the next night.) Someone showed the wee laddie how to use the party pump on the keg of beer and he spent a long time filling up cups and passing them out to guests (whether they wanted one or not) after playing with his surprisingly anti-social sister got old.
My oldest friend came in from Virginia for the festivities (but no one took a picture of us!) and that was wonderful. We had a nice visit after everyone went home.
Family and old friends…that’s what it’s all about, right?
Daughter #2, DN and sweet Katie made it out of town before the big storm hit, but daughter #1 decided to wait to drive back to JC until Monday morning. We tried to watch the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, but we didn’t make it very long.
Gee, where can I get one of those caftans?
Grace and peace to you today and in the week ahead.
dual personalities 