Just a reminder that tomorrow is the National Day of the Cowboy. Unfortunately we will not be in the Fort Worth Stockyards or Oklahoma City where all sorts of family fun is planned. But that won’t stop us from celebrating! We’ll watch cowboy movies all weekend!
I recently read that the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum acquired the Sam Peckinpah archive, so we will watch Junior Bonner (1972) in his honor. I like this movie and, unlike most of the Peckinpah oeuvre, it is not a showcase of unnecessary violence. Also it stars Steve McQueen.
So here’s to cowboys past and present! Toast freely.
I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses And I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences Don’t fence me in
How was your weekend? I redeemed a gift card from Mother’s Day and had an hour-long spa pedicure, which had me walking on air for quite some time. Wow.
We had a guest preacher in church and he preached on Daniel 6–the lion’s den! I love Daniel so I was pleased. We need reminders of heroes like Daniel to keep us on track. We also had interesting musical accompaniment to all our hymns–a harmonica. Not the usual for A Mighty Fortress is Our God, but not bad. The OM and I stayed for a luncheon with our “fold” after the service. They acknowledged his birthday (today) but refrained from singing Happy Birthday.
We celebrated the OM’s birthday later on Sunday when everyone came over for a barbecue and party. (Even Mr. Smith)
Good times…and presents!
We watched McClintock! (1963), one of my favorite movies extolling the Patriarchy. It is loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew. (And Maureen O’Hara is one helluva shrew.) It has a smart script which moves along at a brisk clip. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It has nothing good to say about bureaucrats, the government or college boys, but is very sympathetic to Native Americans and free enterprise.
Anyway, when you have had enough of our modern day BS, I recommend a good dose of John Wayne at his most John Wayne-ish. “I know, I know. I’m gonna use good judgement. I haven’t lost my temper in forty years, but pilgrim you caused a lot of trouble this morning might have got somebody killed. Somebody oughta belt you in the mouth but I won’t, I wont…the hell I won’t.“
In other news baby Ida got her first taste of solid food…
It was a big hit.
And ol’ Ricky Skaggs is nominated for several Dove Awards this year, including this song which is a favorite of mine…
…as well as this banger version of Go Tell It on the Mountain with Crowder (for a little Christmas in July):
Daughter #1 has passed the blogging duties back to me today, so I will remind you (yet again) that today is John Wayne’s birthday. Time to celebrate Duke-style.
Now I should probably be preparing something from this…
…but it’s Friday, so the OM will be going to Chick-fil-a for our usual Friday night treat. Then we’ll watch El Dorado (1966) to celebrate. Life is good.
I can really relate to Harvey Keitel in this scene from Martin Scorsese’s first movie Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967):
And here’s a great scene with a great, great actor:
Have a good Friday. Break some glasses. And remember Memorial Day–lest we forget.
It is finally cooling off in flyover country–thank goodness. Fall is officially here by the way, so I am ready to switch to turtlenecks anytime soon.
Meanwhile I am immersed in bible study–both my daily reading and my weekly study of Hebrews. Phew. It is a lot. Currently in Ezekiel, The Lord is saying things like:
“Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you.”
–13:8
Things never change. Isn’t that oddly comforting? I think so too.
Also, in case you were interested, I am now a person who uses “Bible Safe Gel Highlighters”.
In other news, since Tuesday was Sophia Loren’s birthday, I watched Legend of the Lost (1956) starring John Wayne, Rossano Brazzi and Sophia. Even though it was beautifully filmed on location in Libya by Jack Cardiff, directed by Henry Hathaway and boasted big international stars, it was not a box office hit.
It has always been a favorite of mine. Sophia, who looks sensational even when hot and sweaty, and John Wayne make an appealing and believable pair. The duke is a match for Sophia any day and she seems to appreciate that.
Last week I watched Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)–another re-telling of the real-life mutiny of the HMS Bounty in 1789 by Fletcher Christian–when it was on TCM. Shot in widescreen Ultra Panavision on location at enormous cost, it nevertheless flopped at the box office and I can understand why. Most critics blamed its star Marlon Brando, who was mocked for his English accent and foppish airs. I was prepared to laugh as well, but I have to say I thought Marlon was pretty good. Sure, he was a pain on set and terrible to work with, but his acting was fine and he is really, really handsome.
He tried to play Fletcher Christian as a man who was changed by his experience aboard the ship and he does that rather well. He is not a hero at the beginning, but he is by the end. (Contrast this with Clark Gable’s 1935 portrayal in which he is a hero from the get-go.)
However, I found the movie to be slow, and despite all the sturm and drang of fighting the weather and the elements, boring. Also, Trevor Howard as Bligh left a lot to be desired. Anyway, I did watch the whole thing, so that says something–probably that Marlon Brando held my interest.
Truman Capote wrote an interesting profile of Marlon Brando for The New Yorker in 1957 called “The Duke in His Domain,” which I re-read after seeing this movie. He seems to prove the point he made another time when he said, “The better the actor, the more stupid he is.” Whatever. Brando was a good actor.
This truly is the big birthday week. Besides Walt Whitman and Bob Dylan, already duly noted, yesterday was the birthday of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Today, of course, is the 115th birthday of John Wayne.
To celebrate I have been watching movies all this week starring the Duke. Alleghany Uprising (1939) is a favorite of mine–it’s all about guys that might be considered domestic terrorists these days. But in the pre-revolutionary days, white men who dressed up as Indians to thwart the British (who were selling trade goods, i.e. guns, ammo, tomahawks manufactured in England, and rum to the Indians), were considered heroes. In 1939 it was assumed the viewer understood this.
Every time I see this movie I love Wilfrid Lawson as MacDougall even more.
Next I watched War of the Wildcats (1943) (also known as In Old Oklahoma) which is standard 1940s B&W Saturday matinee fare, but, hey, it was nominated for two Academy Awards. Of course, it also features the Duke uttering those immortal words: “I’ll build you a house at the bend in the river where the cottonwoods grow,” which famously caused Joan Didion to swoon along with millions of other American girls.
Did anyone in Oklahoma, much less a school marm, ever wear a dress like that?
I had not seen this movie for probably 50 years! The screenplay (by two women–Ethel Hill and Eleanore Griffin) was actually quite witty and the fast-moving plot held my interest as did the always appealing, swoon-worthy JW as a former Rough Rider.
Tonight I plan to watch one of my favorites, El Dorado (1967).
This weekend I’ll switch to war movies in honor of Memorial Day on Monday.
It’s good to have a plan.
P.S. If you are in the Fort Worth area, today is John Wayne Day at the Stockyards with special events including birthday cake with members of the Wayne family. Festivities will take place throughout the day—and all John Wayne Day activities held in the flagship John Wayne Stock & Supply store (inside the exhibit) are free! Entrance to the museum is free to veterans on Memorial Day.
…cast me not away from thee, let thy Spirit dwell in me…*
It was a quiet weekend…except for an earthquake on Friday evening!
The OM and I were watching the news when we thought we heard two loud booms and the house shook for a second. We thought it might be a) an earthquake, b) an explosion or c) a bad car crash. Daughter #1 texted a little while later that she had received a ‘push alert’ about an earthquake in Valley Park.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
–Psalm 46: 2-3
What next? Do we dare ask?
I cajoled the OM into accompanying me on Saturday to an open house held at the 1816 log house in Affton, MO, which will be disassembled and moved to the Thomas Sappington House Historic Site in Crestwood.
This is a great example of a small local group working tirelessly to preserve a small piece of history. They are still raising money so that the two Sappington cousins’ houses built in the early 1800s – Thomas’ brick house, now a museum, and Joseph’s log house (above)–can be preserved together. (The log cabin is currently located in a residential area, surrounded by small homes, and has been lived in by private owners all these years.)
There are lots of people who could just write a big check and make this happen but historic preservation is not high on most people’s priority lists these days. C’est la vie. It will happen, one small donation at a time.
On Sunday we met up with the boy and the wee twins at church per usual and then headed home afterwards for some brunch and driveway sittin’. (It was perfect weather for driveway sittin’ but I have no pictures of us just sittin’…)
Waitin’ for brunch with my old Tyrolean village…Practising that nice PGA swingWe hauled out the old shopping cart–always a fave
And we always have fun looking for the hidden animals in the yard…
…and seeing what’s about to bloom…Iris buds!
I was struck in church by the thought of how blessed I was to be sitting between my husband and my grown son. This, after decades of being the “Widow Compton” at my old Episcopal Church, is not a small thing. (One old lady even thought I had married the actual widower with whom I generally shared a pew!) But the menfolk in my family like the new church–and no wonder–it is full of men! (I like it for that reason too.) Discuss among yourselves.
I watched the Horse Soldiers (1959) in honor of Ulysses Grant and Bing Russell and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It is such a great movie. I don’t understand why it is so often considered to be one of John Ford’s lesser films. The stars are great together and the supporting cast is without parallel in my opinion. It was filmed on location in Mississippi and so has an authenticity a lot of Civil War dramas lack. (Compare the plantation Greenbriar in this movie to Tara.) Ford himself tended to dismiss the film, in large part I think because a stuntman was killed while filming. This greatly upset him and he ended filming the movie abruptly and returned to California.
Matthew Brady takes a picture.
Nevertheless, it is one of my favorites.
It is supposed to rain on and off again all week, but oh well. I’ll find something to do.
Mamu made it to Mecca! And she was not disappointed.
Heaven
Monday we spent in Oklahoma City where we visited the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum where we checked in with #TheCowboy…
and looked up our ancestor JWP…
Today we are venturing to Waco to see some Texas Rangers and Joanna Gaines. Then we’ll head up to Tulsa and be home on Friday. We’ll have lots to blog about next week!
It was so nice to worship in a full church on Sunday where everyone lustily sang the hymns (mask-free) and listened to the 45 minute sermon. Hallelujah!
In other news, daughter #1 came home on Thursday in order to attend my flyover university retirement event along with the OM and the boy. Because of COVID, events such as this are now limited to 30 people, must be held outside and food cannot be served. Let the festivities begin. There was a giant TV screen set up in the courtyard so a 30-minute video could be shown celebrating moi. However the sun was shining and so the video was unviewable. Everyone huddled under the spindly trees in order to catch a breeze in the humid 95-degree swelter and there was no water served. They gave me a cut crystal vase engraved with “Twenty Years”…
and I couldn’t help thinking of this:
Afterwards we went home and ate lunch and that was nice. The boy and the OM went back to work and daughter #1 and I headed to Club Taco to sit outside and drink Margaritas. It was still very hot though so after awhile we went home and sat in the air conditioning. Ah, summer in St. Louis.
On Friday I had to work (and will continue to do so for the next two weeks.) The boy and his family came over for pizza on Friday night for a frolic before they headed to Florida early on Saturday morning. They made it after an 18-hour drive (held up in Atlanta traffic I guess).
Jealous!
Daughter #1 and I went to an open house at Mudd’s Grove (1859) where our local historical society is housed. We ran into several acquaintances and we had actual conversations with them. It was kind of weird, I must say. No masks!
We went out to lunch (!) and to an estate sale and had what we used to think was just a normal Saturday. Delightful.
While we were out, the OM went to the hardware store and bought a pressure washer. Remember when I joked about that last year? Well, we have one now and, after church on Sunday, we washed our front walk and porch. I have to say, it was pretty fun.
Now I have another busy week. I will pray that I bring glory to God, in word, thought and deed. I will thank God that his mercies are new to me each morning and that his grace is sufficient for all situations I may encounter.
Tomorrow is the birthday of John Wayne (1907-1979), so I thought another Pop Quiz was in order. Can you name the movie from which each J.W. quotation below comes? List your answers in the Comments section and I’ll post the answers later today.
Well, I used to be a good cowhand. But, things happen.
You’re not quite “Army” yet, miss… or you’d know never to apologize… it’s a sign of weakness.
Pilgrim, hold it. I said you, Valance; *you* pick it up.
SADDLE UP.
Get a shovel and my Bible. I’ll read over him.
The Apaches, sir, are neither to the north nor the east. Nor are they in their encampment. But if you’da been watching the dust swirls to the south, like most of us, you’d see that they’re right there! [points to the Apaches coming over the rise]
–Always liked that poem too. Makes me wanna…
–Ride, boldly ride? Well, it don’t work out that way.
Listen Brick, for years I’ve been taking your fatherly advice, and it’s never been any good. So from now on, I’m strictly a one man band!
Injun will chase a thing till he thinks he’s chased it enough. Then he quits. Same way when he runs. Seems like he never learns there’s such a thing as a critter that’ll just keep comin’ on. So we’ll find ’em in the end, I promise you. We’ll find ’em. Just as sure as the turnin’ of the earth.
–You’re a rich man, Burdette… big ranch, pay a lot of people to do what you want ’em to do. And you got a brother. He’s no good but he’s your brother. He committed twenty murders you’d try and see he didn’t hang for ’em.
–I don’t like that kinda talk. Now you’re practically accusing me…
–Let’s get this straight. You don’t like? I don’t like a lot of things. I don’t like your men sittin’ on the road bottling up this town. I don’t like your men watching us, trying to catch us with our backs turned. And I don’t like it when a friend of mine offers to help and twenty minutes later he’s dead! And i don’t like you, Burdette, because you set it up.
If you say “three,” mister, you’ll never hear the man count “ten.”
Well, Perlie, you old hayshaker… looks like you got me…
I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.
P.S. In other news, yesterday was the 80th birthday of one of my other heroes, Bob Dylan.
God loves you and I love you, Bob. Happy birthday! Did you know that there is an Institute for Bob Dylan Studies at the University of Tulsa? Neither did I. Anyway, I feel a good long BD sing-a-long coming on. I contain multitudes.
Today, by the way, is the birthday of Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) and I will toast him tonight. Have a great day and “write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year…”
It is January 19 and time to note once again the birthday of our dear mother, Mary, born in 1926. She would be 95! She would not recognize much about our world today and I have no doubt she would feel even more of a pilgrim and a stranger than she did in 1988 when she died.
Be that as it may, I will toast her tonight and watch one of her favorite movies–something with Errol Flynn or John Wayne or possibly Shane. I will remember sitting in the darkened theater with her and how she would lean over and whisper to me to notice something special. I will think of her in that house by the bend in the river where the cottonwoods grow.
P.S. Happy Birthday to Dolly Parton, who as you know, celebrates her birthday on this date as well. Happy 75th!
dual personalities 