dual personalities

Tag: Leave It to Beaver

March 7, 2016

Spare thou those who confess their faults*

by chuckofish

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Spring is in the air and this weekend I worked hard at home.

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I cleaned out the Florida room in preparation for it being painted this week.

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Meanwhile the new neighbors moved in across the street. They bought the house last summer and it has been in the throes of a gut-rehab ever since. Zut alors! I hope they got what they wanted. The house used to be a mirror image of ours, but now it has an “open” floor plan and all new everything. I’m sure our 1958 home is hideously old-fashioned, but I like it. I always think of it as our Leave It to Beaver home and that is comforting to me.

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I wish I could say I looked just like June, but these days I am much more in the Mrs. Mondello camp.

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Oh well, c’est la vie.

I went to church on Sunday morning but passed  up evensong. I just wasn’t inspired enough to get back in my “church” clothes and return. Not that anyone else really cares about that these days. No one would blink an eye if I showed up in my old University of Wyoming sweatshirt and mom jeans, but I just couldn’t do it.

I am beginning to sound like a grumpy old lady so I will sign off for now. It’s going to be another busy week at work, but I have Friday to look forward to and a trip east to see daughters #1 and #2!

*From the General Confession, BCP

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February 14, 2014

And life barrels on like a runaway train*

by chuckofish

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Sunday is the birthday of Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 – May 14, 1982) who you will recall was an American actor and television director. He was also an ordained Methodist minister. Hugh Beaumont is best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on one of my favorite TV series, Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963) which I watched for years after school when it was in syndication.

Ward was not perfect. He made mistakes and he tried too hard sometimes and he lost his patience with his sons when they didn’t act as he thought they should. But he loved them and he could laugh at himself. Ward was a role model, and I have to say, it was very comforting to watch that syndicated show after school every day.

It has been suggested that Hugh Beaumont felt that he had been type-cast as Ward Cleaver and that his career suffered. Maybe it did. But I hope he knew that besides entertaining generations of people, he probably touched a lot of kids out there whose parents were not perfect and whose family was not as “functional” as the Cleavers. He touched me. I still cannot watch the above clip without getting a little misty-eyed.

Rest in peace, Hugh.

And here’s hoping you all have a nice Valentine’s Day and that someone gives you a nice card like the one above.

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P.S. FYI One of the writers for the show was Joss Whedon’s grandfather. This does not surprise me in the least.

*Ben Folds

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