dual personalities

Tag: Weekend

June 10, 2024

Like a tree planted by streams of water*

by chuckofish

My weekend was a quiet one, especially compared with last weekend. Since I was still recovering from a cold (or whatever), I didn’t do much. Daughter #1 came over while Mr. Smith was being groomed on Friday and we went to Hobby Lobby. After we picked him up we enjoyed Happy Hour at my house, which has become somewhat of a routine (a good one.)

I did very little on Saturday, but watched the PGA tour on TV. I’m so happy to see Scottie back on top. The OM and I watched The Boys in the Boat (2023) on Prime and enjoyed it. It is based on the fantastic (true) story of the University of Washington J.V. crew team that beat the Ivy League elite teams for a spot on the 1936 US Olympic team. I read the book back in 2015.

(The blond kid really reminded me of my nephew Foster throughout the movie.)

The film, directed by George Clooney, is well done, but lacks a certain spark that would have made it a great movie. I know I sound like a broken record but back in the day Michael Curtiz or Howard Hawks or John Ford would have known how to supply that spark. For one thing, you don’t learn much about any of the guys on the crew team except for the hero Joe Rantz (Callum Turner). In a sport where all eight members of the team must move in unison, it is a mistake to make them all invisible except for 2 or 3. Also, the coxswain was an integral part of the team and you don’t get to know that really until the end. It just fell a little flat to me. Too bad, because it is such a great story! Read the book!

It was good to be back in church after a week away when we were out of town. We had a guest preacher, a church member who is on the faculty at Covenant Theological Seminary up the road. Our pastor introduced him by reciting his impressive CV and also by mentioning that once in a meeting J.I. Packer had conceded a point to him. Everyone laughed–Presbyterian humor. Anyway, it was a good sermon on Psalm One.

After church there was a meeting for VBS volunteers–zut alors!

They had me with the first graders, and I was, like, no way, José ! They switched me to 4/5th graders. Okay, then. They can at least go to the bathroom by themselves.

Well, I have a week to get my head straight with this.

*Psalm 1

3 Comments
June 3, 2024

Postcards from the Land o’ Lincoln

by chuckofish

Well, the whole family converged on Champaign County to celebrate sweet Katie’s 4th birthday. It was quite a gala event. It would have been nice if it hadn’t rained all day on Saturday, but we count it all joy and DN managed to grill!

The birthday girl was delighted with her presents and with her cousins who are more fun than a veritable barrel of monkeys.

We will all, no doubt, need a few days to recover.

We gave Katie the Little Tikes Cape Cottage Playhouse and she was quite taken with it. It will move outside but the kids were entertained in it for hours on a rainy Saturday afternoon after DN was kind enough to put it together. (And he did it without swearing once!)

Lottie drew a picture of the girls excluding the bud from the house–girls only! (Some things never change, do they?)

That didn’t last long.

We took very few pictures of any grown ups but we were all there. Quite a treat!

God bless America!

4 Comments
May 20, 2024

Ultimate lacrosse and more

by chuckofish

After getting up early and going to buy flowers at Trader Joe’s and taking them to church where I arranged them for Sunday services, I went with daughter #1 to watch Lottie play lacrosse…

It was quite hot as you can see!

The young bud found a friend while he cooled off under a tree…

After that early start to the day, I took it easy! I read another D.E. Stevenson book (published in 1957)…

…and enjoyed it very much!

On Sunday I went to the early service so I could go to the bud’s last lacrosse game. We had a good sermon on Titus 3:1-8 and another really good Sunday School class. Then it was back to the lacrosse field to sit in the almost 90-degree heat! The bud (and most of the players) was less than enthused.

Summer in STL is upon us I’m afraid.

Meanwhile Katie and Ida were introduced to Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood–they were spellbound.

I will spare you a rant about Scottie Scheffler and the Louisville PD, but this about says it all. And this is perfect:

Absolutely insane! #freescottie

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

–Horatio G. Spafford, 1873

    Have a good week!

    5 Comments
    May 13, 2024

    Ahoy, hoy

    by chuckofish

    Such a busy weekend! Now I will have to recover–and it’s raining again. Well, maybe the cicadas will be washed away (I wish).

    I won an auction for a dresser for daughter #2…

    …so I had to figure out how to pick it up and transport it home. I traded cars with the OM and met daughter #1 at the house on Friday afternoon. We manhandled it into the SUV–we are women, hear us roar!–and made it home where we got it into the garage. Phew! We celebrated by going to happy hour. Later the OM went to Chick-fil-a and brought home dinner. We deserved it.

    I know I sound like a broken record, but it amazes me how no one wants dressers anymore. Is this because everyone has custom closets? (I doubt it.) Or that bedrooms in new-build houses are too small? Anyway, it is possible to find a nice mid-century, made-in-North Carolina, wooden dresser for a song–I paid $40. There may be a few scratches, but nothing that a Tibet Almond Stick won’t fix. Certainly better than anything you can find at IKEA or really anywhere these days.

    On Saturday I got up early and went to daughter #1’s DAR chapter meeting where she was installed as the new Regent…

    …and awards were given to talented high school students…

    (My photos are the worst, but you get the idea.) It was very nice and I am proud of daughter #1 for taking on this big responsibility.

    I went to the early service at church on Sunday so that I could get an early start on the day. Our new young pastor was on fire and gave a really good sermon on Titus 2:11-15. Once again I am inspired to give up irreverent babble and pursue a self-controlled, upright and godly life in the present in-between age. The church was full and the singing was enthusiastic. I was content.

    It was a beautiful day, so in the afternoon daughter #1 drove us to our favorite winery in Jefferson County. We sat in the sun and sipped wine while listening to the musical stylings of a jazz/rock (?) quartet. Listening to live music outside in the fresh air is always fun, even if it does all sound the same.

    Daughter #2 and DN had the same idea…

    The boy and his family watched the bud play lacrosse and then worked in their yard because that’s what daughter #3 wanted and Moms rule on Mother’s Day. I am certainly cool with that. We all had a fun Mother’s Day.

    Earlier in the week daughter #2 went to a Mother’s Day tea at Katie’s pre-school where they went flyover all-out to make their Moms feel special.

    Ya gotta love it!

    P.S. The OM and I also went to a party for a young church friend who is graduating from WashU law school today. He is from Oklahoma and a fine young man. He gives me hope for the future.

    3 Comments
    May 6, 2024

    Auld lang syne

    by chuckofish

    It was a rainy, busy weekend. I went to two of the five (!) scheduled reunion events and I enjoyed myself. However, I reached my level of introvert overload very quickly and baled pretty early both times.

    The highlight of my weekend was when my two oldest friends…

    …came over to my house for lunch on Saturday and we gabbed away for three hours and laughed til we cried. I’m not sure if we lived up to Saint Paul’s direction to “older women” to be “reverent in behavior” and “not slanderers”, but at least we were not drinking. (Titus 2:3) We did not talk about the distant past, but about other more important things. We agreed that it is, indeed, the small things that bring us joy. We are happy to be alive and kickin’ and do not worry about being skinny and wearing false eyelashes. We’re glad to have the same husbands we started out with and children that still talk to us.

    At church on Sunday we had another really wonderful class on Stories as Apologetics–this week on J.R.R. Tolkien and the problem of evil in the LOTR trilogy. Our leader talked about Boethian’s view of Evil vs. The Manichaean (Gnostic) view of Evil and how Good seems to be to be absent in LOTR but isn’t. It is like being back in college for an hour a week. Our sermon was on Titus 2:1-10 and I felt convicted (see above) of my sin and lack of self control, which I readily admit is a good thing.

    Daughter #1 came over on Sunday afternoon and we drank a margarita in honor of Cinco de Mayo and ate the guacamole that the OM had made for the church Pig Roast on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Pig Roast had to be moved inside because of rain. (We skipped it.)

    I watched Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) with the Rock, Kevin Hart and Jack Black. It is hilarious. No bad language, minimal vulgarity, a clever plot, and good lessons about teamwork and using your gifts–what more can you ask for?

    Also, I love these pics of little Lottie playing against 10-year olds! You go, girl!

    …and the bud too…

    What a badass.

    Have a good Monday!

    4 Comments
    April 29, 2024

    Where the (water) lilies bloom

    by chuckofish

    I was very happy to see that the water lily is blooming in daughter #2’s fish pond!

    Very exciting indeed. Almost as exciting as going to Costco for the first time where “We can buy anything we’d ever want here!”

    The weekend here started off cold and rainy and then turned warm and rainy and that always means severe weather. We dodged another bullet, but it was an unsettled weekend. Par for the course.

    On Saturday the OM and I went to a secular “Celebration of Life” of an old friend who died suddenly in an accident at home. He was one of the first people we met when me moved to Kirkwood 28 years ago. He was the father of three boys, one who was our son’s best friend in elementary school. He was the coach of the soccer team and the basketball team and a scouter. He always reminded me of Henry Fonda. His family went to our old church, but over the years they had drifted away from the Episcopal Church and from organized religion. It was a sad gathering on many levels and yet another reminder that we are all mortal and that our number can come up any day.

    So put your house in order. And by that I mean your spiritual house as well. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

    “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

    –Luke 12:35-40

    On Sunday we had a good sermon on Church Discipline based on Titus 1:10-16. We also had an excellent Sunday School class about the Epic of Gilgamesh, which pre-dates the Bible. I love that the adult Sunday School classes are always full and people are interested in learning new/old things.

    Meanwhile Mr. Smith spent the night last night because daughter #1 had to get up early and fly to Wyoming.

    So I am taking him to the kennel today. (This is the same kennel where we boarded our dog back in the 1960s! They have been in business since 1935. Isn’t that something?) He will have a nice spa vacay while daughter #1 works hard to keep him supplied with Newman’s Own dog treats.

    Enjoy your Monday!

    5 Comments
    April 22, 2024

    While the nearer waters roll

    by chuckofish

    How was your weekend? Mine was quiet, but there were donuts on my birthday.

    It was good to be back in church after missing last weekend. We had a really good sermon from a guest preacher on John 21:1-17 and we started a new Sunday School class on stories as apologetics.

    Daughter #1 returned from a quick trip to Florida and she hosted the family for my birthday on Sunday afternoon for happy hour and ice cream cake.

    We walked to the neighborhood park where the twins frolicked and Mr. Smith kept watch.

    He conked out early after his busy day…

    …and so did I.

    This is a good article about losing loved ones and having regrets, in which the author includes this wonderful quote from Jonathan Edwards:

    In every heart in heaven, love dwells and reigns. The heart of God is the original seat or subject of love. Divine love is in him…from God, love flows out toward all the inhabitants of heaven…the angels and saints all love each other. All the members of the glorious society of heaven are sincerely united. There is not a single secret or open enemy among them all. Not a heart is there that is not full of love, and not a solitary inhabitant that is not beloved by all the others. And as all are lovely, so all see each other’s loveliness with full complacence and delight. Every soul goes out in love to every other; and among all the blessed inhabitants, love is mutual, and full, and eternal.

    Enjoy your Monday!

    4 Comments
    April 15, 2024

    A few postcards from the weekend

    by chuckofish

    The OM and I made it Mahomet and back again–an easy peasy drive across the Illinois prairie.

    We had absolutely fabulous weather–beautiful blue skies and not too windy.

    We celebrated a couple of birthdays and walked around the neighborhood. We drove through the lovely Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve along the corridor of the Sangamon River, which is practically next door to daughter #1’s house. I am looking forward to visiting the Museum of the Grand Prairie on a future visit. We had dinner in Champaign, but mostly we did a lot of sitting outside, soaking up and frolicking in the sun.

    Say cheese! Photogenic ladies

    Unfortunately the boy was not around to take wonderful blog photos, so this is the best I can do. I didn’t even get a picture of the birthday girl. C’est la vie.

    We had a wonderful time, but you know I’m always happy to cross the river and see the Arch and come home.

    I watched the Masters Sunday afternoon. Scottie won! (And Ida got a popsicle!)

    And here’s this to start your week off right:

    My Shepherd will supply my need:
    Jehovah is His Name;
    In pastures fresh He makes me feed,
    Beside the living stream.
    He brings my wandering spirit back
    When I forsake His ways,
    And leads me, for His mercy’s sake,
    In paths of truth and grace.

    When I walk through the shades of death
    His presence is my stay;
    One word of His supporting grace
    Drives all my fears away.
    His hand, in sight of all my foes,
    Doth still my table spread;
    My cup with blessings overflows,
    His oil anoints my head.

    The sure provisions of my God
    Attend me all my days;
    O may Thy house be my abode,
    And all my work be praise.
    There would I find a settled rest,
    While others go and come;
    No more a stranger, nor a guest,
    But like a child at home.

    Isaac Watts, 1719
    3 Comments
    April 8, 2024

    “Civil War skeletons in their graves”*

    by chuckofish

    How was your weekend? Mine was a quiet one, mostly spent hanging out at home. Although it was chilly, we could sit out on the patio and soak up some vitamin D on Saturday.

    I went to a few estate sales and picked up two books.

    I am reading the Keegan now and really enjoying it. I am no scholar, but I find it accessible and readable. And I love reading about all those guys, especially my heroes: Grant and Sherman.

    There is much to be learned from them.

    Church was held outside on Sunday morning and luckily it was not raining, although it was chilly, overcast and windy. I dressed appropriately and I enjoyed it. We started a new sermon series on Paul’s letter to Titus, having finished the gospel of Mark, and our new young (29 years old) lead pastor gave a good sermon. He does not cut and paste from the internet, but gives a good exegesis of the text, in this case Titus 1:1-4. Stonewall Jackson would have approved–it was all about the doctrine of election.

    Meanwhile Anne “enjoyed the astonishing delight of getting to see my name in Not the Bee underneath the Andrew Walker tweet that went viral.” Take heart, not all the news is terrible. As the Bee says:

    We’re here, and we’re fine.

    Growing up Baptist and going to VBS didn’t hurt anyone.

    There’s no book because this is how normal, well-adjusted, salt-of-the-earth Christian men and women are raised. Nothing is extraordinary about this story. And that’s the point – God uses the weak and mundane and insignificant things in the world’s eyes to shame the things that the world considers #StunningAndBrave.

    Amen, brother.

    The young bud played in his first lacrosse game and was, by all accounts, a scrappy competitor.

    *And here’s a blast from the past which has new meaning for us since Decatur is just up the road now from daughter # 2 et famille.

    I am told it is Katie’s favorite song right now and she always sings along to the line, “Sangamon river it overflowed.”

    Now go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

    5 Comments
    April 1, 2024

    With grace in the heart

    by chuckofish

    How was your Easter weekend? We had our whole family together so it was joyous, if not sometimes a bit overwhelming. I mean seven adults, four children under seven, and a small dog. I am very grateful.

    On Saturday daughter #2 and famille arrived and we hung out with daughter #1 and Mr. Smith.

    On Easter we all met at church. Lottie and the bud set an excellent example of non-depraved behavior for Katie and Ida in their first visit to church. On their way out of town, daughter #2 texted me Katie’s comment about church:

    The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear, (Act 15:21; Rev 1:3); the sound preaching, (2Ti 4:2); and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith, and reverence, (Jam 1:22; Act 10:33; Mat 13:19; Hbr 4:2; Isa 66:2); singing of psalms with grace in the heart, (Col 3:16; Eph 5:19; Jam 5:13); as also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ, are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God, (Mat 28:19; 1Co 11:23-29; Act 2:42):

    –The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXI. 0f religious worship, and the sabbath day

    She’s got it, man.

    We all reconvened back at our house for pork tenderloin, Presbyterian souffle, salad, and crescent rolls. I prepared them ahead of time and daughter #1, who went to the early service at her church, came over and put everything in the oven, so it was ready when we came home. Teamwork.

    No fuss, not much muss. If a menu works, I stick to it.

    And, of course, we had an Easter egg hunt.

    I washed dishes after everyone went home. And I felt like Ida who practically fell asleep going down the driveway.

    Happy Monday! Happy April!

    And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 

    –Mark 16:4-7
    3 Comments