family | dual personalities

July 7, 2014

Yep, our family is as functional as all get-out.*

by chuckofish

As you know the OM and I spent four days over the holiday in Michigan with my dual personality and her spouse at our brother’s lake house in Clay Township on Lake St. Clair. He and his lovely wife wined and dined us, took us on boat rides

and on nature hikes.

They introduced us to the neighbors

and took us shooting

No, that’s not Ernest Hemingway, that’s my bro

and treated us to incredible sunsets from their backyard.

And who knew my brother could cook?

It was lovely.

*Homer Simpson, of course

13 Comments

July 2, 2014

I tramp a perpetual journey

by chuckofish

Today I am actually traveling! The OM and I are flying up to Michigan where we are meeting my big brother and heading to his house on Lake St. Clair. My dual personality and her DH (Dear Husband) are driving from the North Country to meet us. We will celebrate the frater’s birthday (and also our country’s) with much toasting and fireworks. Absent friends and all that.

The siblings circa 1967–pretend traveling at the Transportation Museum

And FYI the Star of the Month for July on TCM is the lovely Maureen O’Hara.

Check out the schedule here. They aren’t showing The Quiet Man (1952) or Only the Lonely (1991) where John Candy plays her son–inspired casting! But they are showing Rio Grande (1950), and there are some other good ones on the list.

Enjoy your holiday weekend! Celebrate responsibly!

2 Comments

July 1, 2014

“Gentleman, this is America!”*

by chuckofish

Last Saturday (June 28) was the birthday of Emerson Hough (1857–1923), the author of some 34 books and countless magazine articles and a distant cousin of my great-grandmother. You can read all about him here.

Emerson was also descended from the original Hough who emigrated from Chester, England in 1683 to Pennsylvania, but his ancestors subsequently moved from Pennsylvania to Loudoun County, Virginia.

Family legend has it that Hough’s most famous novel, The Covered Wagon, was based on my great-great grandmother’s journal.

If there is any truth to this story, boy, wouldn’t I love to get my hands on that journal! One of these days I’ll have to venture up to the University of Iowa (Hough’s alma mater) to check out his archive. (There are also letters in the collections at Iowa State and the University of Virginia.)

Besides writing fiction, Hough was also a journalist and conservationist. He once explored Yellowstone on skis and his reports were largely responsible for an act of Congress protecting the buffalo in the park.

One of the highlights of his writing career came when Theodore Roosevelt wrote him a fan letter, praising Story of the Cowboy (1897):

I don’t know when I have read a book that I like more than your “Story of the Cowboy.” I have always been hoping against hope that such a book would be written, but I had about given it up, and there was scant time remaining in which anyone could write it. At last, thank Heaven, it has been done! Not only is it to my mind a most fascinating book, but I think it is as valuable a bit of genuine contemporary history as I have yet examined.

Hough died in Evanston, Illinois, on April 30, 1923, a week after seeing the Chicago premiere of the silent movie The Covered Wagon, which was a huge hit. It ran fifty-nine weeks at the Criterion Theater in New York City, eclipsing the record of The Birth of a Nation. He is buried in Galesburg, Illinois.

findagrave.com

Anyway, I plan to toast old Emerson Hough tonight. And while I’m at it, I’ll toast Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders who stormed San Juan Hill on this day in 1898.

How about you?

*First line of The Mississippi Bubble by Emerson Hough

5 Comments

June 30, 2014

And that’s my opinion from the blue, blue sky

by chuckofish

At church last week we were exhorted to “Bring your smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras… any electronic communications device…” to church yesterday as we joined a nationwide effort to “make the Good News go viral.”

O gee. No thanks. Call me old-fashioned, but I wanted no part of this:

Use your smartphone, tablet or other electronic devices to share comments, prayers or pictures on your favorite social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
Use #Episcopal and #GraceKirkwood.
Text questions or comments to Fr. Todd during the service.
Post a selfie with people around you during the time of the Peace, in the Narthex, during coffee hour, etc.
(please ask permission before taking anyone’s picture).
Use #Episcopal and #GraceKirkwood.
Keep an eye on the monitor next to the pulpit to see what other people are posting (yes, there will be a TV in the sanctuary — just for today!).
Come to our Sunday Forum at 9 a.m. in LaVielle Conference Room (all ages welcome).

I suppose this was supposed to appeal to young people, motivating them to come back to the new hipster Episcopal Church. See, we are with it! We’re still where it’s at, man.

The rector takes a selfie

Passing the peace

Yes, a picture speaks 1000 words. (These were on Facebook.) Now all doubt has been erased concerning whether or not we are all huge nerds at Grace.

Anyway, I stayed home. Because–zut alors!– I think church should be a haven away from cell phones and monitors.

That was what I didn’t do this weekend. As for what I did do–it was the usual: estate sale-ing, house cleaning, yard work, a little shopping, reading, and movie watching. I watched The Magnificent Seven (as I said I would) and Blackthorn, as my dual personality suggested. I am proud to say, I figured out how to turn on the subtitles (on Netflix). Go me.

I also watched Murder My Sweet (1944), which is the best film version of a Raymond Chandler novel (Farewell, My Lovely). Dick Powell is, in my estimation, better than Humphrey Bogart. I know that’s sacrilegious to some, but it’s what I think.

Wasn’t it swell of the boy to drop it by for me? It is a really good movie, full of wonderful Chandler lines like “I caught the blackjack right behind my ear. A black pool opened up at my feet. I dived in. It had no bottom. I felt pretty good – like an amputated leg.”

I also had a big work event on Saturday which went very well. Now I have two work days and then the OM and I are heading up to Michigan to celebrate the 4th of July and my brother’s birthday with my siblings and their better halves. Go team.

8 Comments

June 26, 2014

Despite all our outfield saves*

by chuckofish

She was quiet and she stared at the sky. There were many ways of pursuing happiness and perhaps half of them were stupid. Most of the time you were a fool and the rest of it in pain.

–H.E. Bates, A Month at the Lake

Sometimes I feel this way. We all do, right? Sometimes I drive around on Saturday mornings going from estate sale to estate sale, feeling really stupid. And sometimes I think how much fun I would be having if my mother was there to ride around with me. She would have loved it. The driving around. The estate sale-ing. The being with me.

Sigh. My mother died 26 years ago today. I think about how much fun we’ve missed these last 26 years. She never even saw most of her grandchildren.

C’est la vie. We take the bitter with the sweet. We do our best. We are grateful for what we have. And had.

* “Honey, It’s Alright” by Gregory Alan Isakov

5 Comments

June 24, 2014

Being faithful in the little light received*

by chuckofish

Readers of this blog may remember that my great-great grandfather John Simpson Hough was a Quaker. He came from a long line of Quakers who came to Bucks County from England in 1683. The Houghs prospered in Pennsylvania and had many children, many with the same names–such as Benjamin, Hannah, John, Joseph, Silas–which makes genealogy so challenging…But I digress.

After moving West, JSH no longer actively practiced his Quaker faith, but I believe no small part of the high esteem in which he was held was due to his reputation as a fine Quaker gentleman–truthful, (relatively well) educated and beyond reproach in legal and mercantile dealings.

Anyway, the Quakers have always fascinated me. I found this little book recently, written by Robert Lawrence Smith, the former headmaster of the Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C., the largest Quaker day school in the U.S.

I highly recommend it.

The most valuable aspect of religion is that it provides us with a framework for living. I have always felt that the beauty and power of Quakerism is that it exhorts us to live more truthfully, more simply, more charitably. For many Friends, simplicity is a cornerstone of their faith that continues to define their daily lives….For Quakers, simplicity is truth’s twin virtue: The two concepts are seamlessly intertwined. Without simplicity of spirit, we are not prepared to receive the truth. And if we fail to act in accordance with the truth, we cannot let our lives speak.

* “Being faithful in the little light received, in that light I saw more light; and by it I was taught to trust in God in all my ways, and to consult him to direct my paths.”
(Increase Woodward, 1744-1822)

3 Comments

June 16, 2014

Kickin’ up dust

by chuckofish

So did anyone watch The Horse Soldiers over the weekend? I did and it was as excellent as I remembered.

I also watched a bad Woody Allen movie and caught up with Longmire, finishing season two. Longmire is the A&E show that takes place in Wyoming (but is mostly filmed in New Mexico) about a 21st century sheriff (named Walt Longmire) in a small town and his deputies and Native American friends and enemies. It is pretty good and I like everyone in it. Season three has just started.

Some of you will remember Bailey Chase (far right) from Buffy, season four. How could you forget him?

On Saturday I went to the annual book sale at the Ethical Society, which I have blogged about before. It is such a good sale! I bought two bags of books! What is wrong with me? One of the volunteers brought me a cart from the kitchen to pull around with me, so I wouldn’t have to carry them around. This was nice, but I could tell he wanted to engage me in a conversation, and I wanted none of that. It is bad enough having to overhear/listen to those Prius-driving ethical humanists while they engage in conversation with themselves. Oy.

Just a sample of my $23 purchase–but you can never have too many copies of Leaves of Grass, right?

I also went to a used bookstore where I cashed in a gift certificate a friend gave me for my birthday. I had never been to this store and I have to admit that it always looked vaguely sinister to me from the outside–but I was wrong. They had a lot of good books for sale besides science fiction. And the proprietor did not look (too much) like this guy:

I will definitely go back! You really can’t judge a book (store) by its cover! Haha.

On Sunday I was back at church for Trinity Sunday. The Old Testament lesson was the creation story from the Book of Genesis–the whole story–Genesis 1:1-2:4–which is a long reading, but, boy, is it good. Luckily it was Shirley from the Lay Reader A-Team who read it. High fives all around. If you were not in church on Sunday, I suggest you go read it on your own. Brilliant.

Hope you fathers had a nice day. The OM took several naps.

In honor of Father’s Day, here is a picture from an article in the old Globe Democrat circa 1965 of our pater doing what he loved best–playing war games in our dining room back in the day.

and surveying his vast collection of painted soldiers.

Good times. You can see that the collecting gene prevails in the family. Have a good week!

9 Comments

June 9, 2014

So bye, bye, Miss American Pie

by chuckofish

[At Pentecost Peter] intendeth to prove…that the Church can be repaired by no other means, saving only by the giving of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, forasmuch as they did all hope that the restoring drew near, he accuseth them of sluggishness, because they do not once think upon the way and means thereof. And when the prophet saith, “I will pour out,” it is, without all question, that he meant by this word to note the great abundance of the Spirit….when God will briefly promise salvation to his people, he affirmeth that he will give them his Spirit. Hereupon it followeth that we can obtain no good things until we have the Spirit given us.

–John Calvin, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles

Sunday was Pentecost, but I stayed home and got busy cleaning. It is how I deal with the feeling that comes over me when one of my children leaves again.

Daughter #2 left for Chicago on Saturday and is there now. Then in a few days she will head back to Maryland for the summer. She has a long drive ahead but she is in good company, so it will be fun.

Aforementioned Good Company

Meanwhile I keep busy dusting, vacuuming etc. It works for me. Onward and upward.

I also worked in the yard.

FYI: the pumpkin plants appear to be thriving, although only time will tell.

Also I have lots of good books to read

and good movies to watch, such as this one, which I watched Sunday night.

This guy always cheers me up.

And now I am back at work with lots of catching up to do! Have a good week!

4 Comments

June 4, 2014

“You give such charming parties, Mr. Charles.”*

by chuckofish

Oh boy, quelle weekend! Never have I been to such a multi-day nuptial event. It was so well organized and perfect and, at the same time, unpretentious. But I shouldn’t be surprised. That sort of describes my friend whose daughter got married.

[Let me interject here that I did not spend my time taking pictures. A few times I hauled out my iPhone to snap something when I remembered my blog, but mostly I forgot. I took my good camera to the Botanical Garden and that was it. Mea culpa.]

My two daughters and I rendesvous-ed in College Park, spending one night at daughter #1’s cool pad where we toasted the weekend with custom cocktails by Nate, which was appropriate, because we proceeded to toast everything all weekend. It was that kind of weekend. Daughter #2 cooked and that is always a reason to celebrate as well.

We shoved off bright and early on Friday morning in order to reach Norfolk in time for the 2nd party (we missed the first one on Thursday night) which was a luncheon and cruise onboard a three-masted schooner.

Yes, amazing, right? We reacquainted ourselves with old friends.

After tooling around Norfolk Harbor for a couple of hours, we headed back to our waterside hotel and all fell deeply asleep. (I dreamed that the old man–who, by the way, was at a conference and not the wedding–held an estate sale and sold all my stuff, but that’s another story.)

We awoke in time to get dressed to go out to dinner before changing again for party #3 at a private club down the street. Sorry, I only recorded the view out the window.

The next day we headed to the Norfolk Botanical Garden which was fabulous. We walked all around and then hopped on the tram for a second time around.

See the turtle?

Adorable that we packed the same outfit, right?

After departing the Garden we found a great place to have lunch and drank a pitcher of Sangria. Then we proceeded to get ready for the main event.

Don’t worry–we were hydrating.

We boarded a double decker tour bus for the church and the lovely ceremony. Do I have a picture of the bride and groom? Of course not. (But there was no picture taking in the church anyway.) Oh well, take my word for it–they were like the couple on the top of the cake.

We got back on the bus and headed to the reception at the Yacht Club. Picture perfect and a band that played everything from Motown to Pharrell. The guests danced for hours. I think I did too.

There was an after party, but I did not attend. I bid adieu to the young folks who have more stamina than I. The next day we packed our bags

and headed over to party #4–brunch at the lovely home of the bride’s parents.

The bride’s mother was planning to go to work the next day. Hello.

Thankfully we are a bit out of focus.

We hopped in the car and hit the road again. Sigh.

The Thin Man (1934) of course

6 Comments

May 29, 2014

Gaily bedight*

by chuckofish

Today I am on the road to College Park, by way of Baltimore, to meet up with my lovely daughters. We are road-tripping together to Virginia to attend a wedding this weekend, so I will be off the radar for a few days. I hope my dual personality will fill in the blanks while I am incognito.