dual personalities

Tag: quotes

August 23, 2021

“In the tempests of life, on its wide heaving sea, thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in thee”*

by chuckofish

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.

Charles Spurgeon

*William O. Cushing, 1876

4 Comments
July 13, 2021

“And so the seasons went rolling on into summer”*

by chuckofish

Sorry I am late with Paul Zahls’ recommendations for TCM viewing in July. I don’t check the Mockingbird site as regularly as I used to, because a) I am no longer an Episcopalian and b) I am kinda done with their glib, never quite serious attitude which is so prevalent in hipster Christians. Why can’t they admit they are just a bunch of nerd believers (like me)? Anyway, PZ is great and I love him.

“Of all preaching in the world, (that speaks not stark lies,) I hate that preaching which tendeth to make the hearers laugh, or to move their mind with tickling levity, and affect them as stage-players use to do, instead of affecting them with a holy reverence of the name of God.”

–Richard Baxter, “The Reformed Pastor,” 1615-91

Erica Wilson: A Life in Stitches, a new exhibition at the Winterthur Museum, looks interesting. It delves into the life and work of the “Julia Child of needlework.” I remember Erica Wilson and her needlework kits back in the 1970s and 80s. Our mother appreciated her historically referenced work. She also had a successful 1970s television program that taught needlework and was one component of many business ventures that included embroidery kits, books, newspaper and magazine columns, public appearances, and a store bearing her name on New York’s Madison Avenue.

A belated happy birthday to Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817-May 6, 1862). I would toast him, but you know, he said, “”I would fain keep sober always. … I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor. … Of all ebriosity, who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes?” So I’ll take a walk instead.

And here’s Travis Tritt’s new song/video, “Set in Stone.”

*Henry David Thoreau, “Walden”

6 Comments
November 23, 2020

“Before the fiddlers have fled”*

by chuckofish

Well, it was a quiet weekend all around. It was gray and cold and rainy–the kind of weather when you feel justified in staying home and reading a Mitford book in bed. I also tidied up in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday. I wrapped some Christmas presents and also some birthday presents for upcoming family anniversaires. The boy stopped by to pick up some cookies I made for the wee babes.

It was a good weekend, if a quiet and uneventful one.

I have shared a lot of quotes about thankfulness over the years, but I have to say, I really like these words from straight-talkin’ John MacArthur:

“Don’t complain when you’re in bad circumstances; cultivate a heart of thankfulness instead. If you’re not a thankful person, it’s because you think you deserve better circumstances than those you currently have. But if you got what you deserved, you’d be in hell. That goes for all of us. So be thankful for whatever God gives you. That will take all the sourness out of your life.”

Now I am ready for my two-and-half-day work week. Let’s face the music and dance.

*Irving Berlin

4 Comments
October 9, 2020

Help of the helpless

by chuckofish

Truly, the last rose of summer

I read recently that one of our local scions, in his later years, did a three-minute plank exercise each morning, propping himself up on his elbows and toes while singing “Abide With Me,” reciting the Lord’s Prayer and praying for loved ones. I think this is just a great exercise plan and I have started doing it. So far, I am unable to maintain the plank for the full time, so I shift into a yoga pose taught to me by one of my daughters.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me

That “help of the helpless” seems particularly appropriate for an exercise descriptive.

Anyway, I am taking today off–no Zoom meetings, so it is possible–and I’m getting some ‘stuff’ done. I am going for my flu shot and I am having my hair cut. Woohoo!

In other news, I am forcing myself to continue reading Jack by Marilynne Robinson. Sad to say, Jack, as the NYT reviewer put it, is “the dullest bad boy in the history of bad boys.”  And he is not, in the long run, very likable. Worst of all, the book is kind of boring. If it were written by anybody else, I would not finish it. Sigh.

I enjoyed this article about scrubbing away one’s anxiety. “This is why I am so glad that my church’s lectionary is taking us through the book of Exodus right now. I’m reminded that we are not the first group of people to be led through hard times. We are not the first people to grumble and whine and not trust that God will provide. We aren’t even the first ones to do dumb things to distract ourselves from the problems that weigh us down.”

I confess that I have contemplated buying a power-washer.

Have you started your Christmas shopping? You know this year it’s going to creep up on us. It may feel like it’s still May, but it is not! It is mid-October. I mean, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but Christmas is, indeed, 77 days away.

This made me laugh:

So get out this weekend and enjoy the fine fall weather! Do some Christmas shopping! Shop local! And remember:

5 Comments
October 6, 2020

“Will you walk into my parlour?” said a spider to a fly”*

by chuckofish

As if things weren’t scary enough in the world, a Missouri Department of Conservation employee took a picture of this is southwest MO:

Allegedly the work of one orb weaver spider, an arachnid known for its intricate web designs, this spider web was constructed between two trees. What the heck was the spider hoping to catch?

Well, it is October and around here that means Halloween.

The limit of my Halloween decorations

And in my neck of the woods, that means house decorations–not just some vintage candles in your window. Some people go really overboard, I must say. But who am I to judge?

There are a variety of skeletons and giant spiders attacking this house…across the street from
us. Zut alors!

If decorating your yard to look like a graveyard makes you happy, so be it. And if you want to spend hundreds of dollars buying huge blow up inflatables, so be it.

I think you’re crazy, but that’s your choice.

A bargain at $199.00!

“All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken.” (Thomas Wolfe)

I doubt if old Thomas Wolfe ever dreamed of this.

*Mary Howitt (1799–1888)

6 Comments
September 18, 2020

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock*

by chuckofish

Me, oh my, it’s Friday at last. I’ve had a busy week and my mind is mush. I anticipate a quiet weekend.

I need to recharge this weekend, but I am at a loss as to quite how to do that. Sleep. John Wayne movies. Facials. Puttering. Baby exercises.

Estate sales…

Note: empty beer can collection

Well…as old Samuel Johnson (born September 18, 1709) said,

“Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought.
Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.”

Have a good weekend!

*James Whitcomb Riley

4 Comments
September 1, 2020

Tuesday musings

by chuckofish

Yesterday when I was working upstairs in my guest bedroom/office, I witnessed another amazing “tonic of wildness” event. A juvenile hawk of some kind was engaged in a spirited tussle with a squirrel.

Clearly the squirrel was messing with the hawk’s mind. He would hide under the Hosta and then dart out and up the tree. The hawk would fly around the tree and the squirrel would go back under the Hosta.

See the hawk on the left and the squirrel in the middle of the tree?

Hawks are not designed to fly around trees. The squirrel could have gotten away easily if it wanted, but it kept doing it and the hawk got more and more disoriented.

What’s happening?

Finally the hawk gave up and flew up in the tree. (I hope it didn’t have a vindictive parent.) I bet that squirrel was laughing it up big time with his buddies later.

All this happened in between Zoom calls. What a life.

In other news our powder room renovation was finally completed last week! We started it last year, but it was sidelined along with some other projects. Last week it was painted and the wallpaper went up. It looks great! I can’t take pictures in a bathroom, but this will give you an idea…

The wallpaper is Thibaut and it brings me joy! Elephants, camels, monkeys!

My old friend WWII Guy posted this quote on his Facebook page. We all know the line about an invincible summer from Albert Camus’ essay “Return to Tipasa,” but this enlarged quote seems to be a “fake” (misattributed) Camus quote:

“He said, ‘In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that in the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger—something better, pushing right back.’”

I like it anyway.

6 Comments
August 21, 2020

The tonic of wildness*

by chuckofish

This is the first time I have seen actual red toadstools growing in my yard!

They are not big enough for a bunny to hide under…

But still, kind of exciting. What’s next?

In other flora and fauna news, I nearly stepped on this guy as he blended smoothly onto my welcome mat.

Just a moth you say, but pretty darn cool. The world is more than we know.

“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”

–Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

A guy whose blog I follow writes:

In the last 5 months I have painted a bathroom, 2 doors and 3 windows. Refinished a countertop, 2 desks and a floor. Moved 7,000 pounds of river jacks into a dozen locations. Repaired 2 eaves. Reset a mailbox. Repaired and repainted 3 damaged walls. Recreated a magnetic catch for a large door. Used my plumbing snake, twice, for the first time in 20 years.

I am impressed and wish I could say I had done just a few of those things. I have sorted through stuff. I have played pentominoes with the contents of several closets. I have shredded paper. I have dusted bookshelves and thought about how I need more bookshelves. I have brought toys up from the basement.

And I have managed to keep doing my job. Big points for this!

This weekend will be another quiet one. Probably no wee babes, since they have started back at school, but I am hoping for a visit from the boy later today. Have a good weekend! Chin chin and all that.

*Henry David Thoreau

5 Comments
August 14, 2020

Another mish mosh

by chuckofish

Bookplate image via contentinacottage.blogspot.com

Friday at last! We have had a rainy (but cooler) week here in flyover country with trees down and unfortunately quite a bit of flooding.

Lots of detritus to pick up in our yard.

Weather does spice up our sad, isolated lives though. We have so few diversions, don’t we?

Today is the birthday of Steve Martin (born August 14, 1945) –American actor, comedian, author, filmmaker, and musician. I recently watched All of Me (1984) directed by Carl Reiner. It is pretty silly stuff, but I enjoyed it and there are several scenes that are masterfully done where Martin contends with his own body, which has been partially taken over by the Lily Tomlin character’s soul.

The OM was not amused, but when is he?

Sunday is the birthday of T.E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia (August 16, 1888 – May 19, 1935). Besides becoming famous for his role in the Arab Revolt, he was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer. 

Early Hittite artifact found by T. E. Lawrence and Leonard Woolley (right) in Carchemish.

Well, I am happy to raise a toast to Steve and T.E.

They kind of resemble each other, don’t they?

And I’ll raise another glass to the wee babes who are going back to school!

And to Marty Stuart who will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame!

There’s always something to celebrate! Have a good weekend.

“Grace is the celebration of life, relentlessly hounding all the non-celebrants in the world. It is a floating, cosmic bash shouting its way through the streets of the universe, flinging the sweetness of its cassations to every window, pounding at every door in a hilarity beyond all liking and happening, until the prodigals come out at last and dance, and the elder brothers finally take their fingers out of their ears.” –Robert Farrar Capon, Episcopal priest, Between Noon and Three: Romance, Law and the Outrage of Grace

2 Comments
August 4, 2020

Masters of the trivial

by chuckofish

The Things

When I walk in my house I see pictures,
bought long ago, framed and hanging
— de Kooning, Arp, Laurencin, Henry Moore —
that I’ve cherished and stared at for years,
yet my eyes keep returning to the masters
of the trivial — a white stone perfectly round,
tiny lead models of baseball players, a cowbell,
a broken great-grandmother’s rocker,
a dead dog’s toy — valueless, unforgettable
detritus that my children will throw away
as I did my mother’s souvenirs of trips
with my dead father. Kodaks of kittens,
and bundles of cards from her mother Kate.

by Donald Hall

Trivial, we all know, means “of little value or importance.” Yes, it is true, most of my things are of no monetary value. But trivial in any other sense is in the eye of the beholder. To each his own, I say. I love my trivial pursuits.

The OM and I watched a great movie the other night–Kes (1969), an English film directed by  Kenneth Loach and based on the novel A Kestral for a Knave by Barry Hines. It is ranked seventh in the British Film Institute’s Top Ten (British) Films.

The story is about Billy Casper, a neglected working-class 15-year-old who finds solace and meaning training a kestrel, and it packs quite a punch. It is not an easy film to watch–so dreary and sad and sometimes it’s like watching a movie in a foreign language, so hard to understand are the Yorkshire accents–but it is well worth the effort. A wonderful film. The boy is perfect. We had DVR’d it on TCM, but you can rent it on Amazon Prime.

The world is more than we know.

“He knew then what it was that Liz had given him; the thing that he would have to go back and find if ever he got home to England; it was the caring about little things–the faith in ordinary life; the simplicity that made you break up a bit of bread into a paper bag, walk down to the beach and throw it to the gulls. It was this respect for triviality which he had never been allowed to possess; whether it was bread of the seagulls or love.”
― John le Carré, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold

6 Comments