Drama on the prairie! How did Curious George end up on the ceiling fan? I-dah!
Well, there’s never a dull moment here on the prairie.
It has been raining most of the time, but we did manage to get our first swimming lesson in, so all is not lost.
Stay tuned for updates…
I made it to the prairie and the rain held off until I turned off the highway for the last 10 minutes into town. #grateful.
The speedwagon did me proud.
I left after church and Sunday School which was more on the subject of prayer–this week’s lesson led by a seminary student who was wonderful.
And here’s a little Billy Strings to start off your Monday right:
Hello good readers. As you may recall, the last time I blogged, I was watching Inspector Lewis and was kind of horrified by the number of fictional murders taking place in Oxford. Well, you’ll be glad to know that I am now in the final season (9) and I am still shocked. I don’t know how they stay in business. Plus they had not one, but TWO professors murdered in the Observatory. In totally separate and unrelated episodes. It is an impressive setting…but yikes.
Anyway, thought you’d appreciate that update. In other news, I started a “Statistics Bootcamp” this week because I am starting the MBA program at UMSL in the Fall and as an English Major, it is required.
This is how it’s going.
Pray for me.
In more exciting (fun) updates, I had my deck replaced with a patio. I found this in my backyard when I came home from work the night before they started.
Note the sad deck. They also brought a small excavator (that honestly looked like a toy compared the ones I see at work). Quite the endeavor but three days later, I had a pretty patio that is level and contains no holes or food for squirrels.
Mr. Smith did have to work up the courage to go up and down six stairs (we previously had four) but he has mastered it like a champ. And he’s a fan.
The yard is a work in progress, but it’ll get there. In the meantime, I’m very pleased with the patio and look forward to much outdoor wine time in the shady backyard.
And bonus content—look what I found at the Hill Antique Market!
I mean…
…so accurate.
Don’t judge the slipcover—it is to protect the chair. Mr. Smith has ruined several and I’ve just accepted that this is my life.
Count it all joy.
I had an entire blogpost written and then something happened and I lost it–poof. I did not have it in me to start over. C’est la vie.
So here’s a poem by Billy Collins, “Books”:
Last night I stayed up late finishing Craig Johnson’s latest mystery, The Brothers McKay. Not a masterpiece, but another solid entry in the Longmire Oeuvre. This one riffs on The Brothers Karamasov and that’s an interesting twist. Johnson’s formula is a winning one–Sherriff Walter Longmire spends a long time interviewing suspects while a forest fire rages in the background and then there are 30-40 pages nearing a denouement where Walt fights with natural forces to save his life and the life of one suspect. His sense of duty to the badge never lets him give in when a lesser man would etc. A few familiar characters reappear, as well, and, of course, there’s Dog. I have to admit that one of my favorite characters this time around was a big Mule named Borax.
I had lunch with one of my 90-year old friends at her assisted living residence. We had not seen each other for some time so it was quite a gabfest. I hope I am that sharp twenty years from now.
I also gabbed with my DP on the phone and caught up with her. We discussed how now that Ida got a haircut (“They’re called bangs!”) she looks even more like her great aunt…
And so it goes.
Life is good. Keep the faith. Call an old friend.
June is here and summer with it, and by that I mean it has really warmed up. But that’s par for the course in flyover country.
I am reading Tim Keller’s book on Prayer. Here is George Herbert’s poem Prayer (I), which I have shared before, but good things bear repeating:
Prayer the church’s banquet, angel’s age,
God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth
Engine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tow’r,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-days world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
The land of spices; something understood.
And here’s a word from Jorge Luis Borges:
I found America the friendliest, most forgiving, and most generous nation I had ever visited. We South Americans tend to think of things in terms of convenience, whereas people in the United States approach things ethically. This — amateur Protestant that I am — I admired above all. It even helped me overlook skyscrapers, paper bags, television, plastics, and the unholy jungle of gadgets.
–Autobiographical Notes (1970)
How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet and it was off-and-on rainy but c’est la vie. I did make it to my local electronics recycling event where I dropped off an old microwave and a printer. I felt such a sense of accomplishment! I stopped at the grocery store on the way back and made it home before 8:30 a.m.!
Later in the day I took a trip down to Ted Drewes (in the rain) for some frozen custard. Quelle treat! (I deserved it!)
As usual, I went to church with the boy and the twins, who are out of school and fourth graders now. We heard a good sermon on the end of the book of Joshua (Joshua 24: 1-33).
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)
There is nothing you can do to save yourself. Only God can do that. So put away the foreign gods, and serve the Lord. Excellent exegesis by our pastor and we sang good hymns including “It Is Well With My Soul”. Adult Sunday School is one big class on prayer in the fellowship hall for the next six weeks. It was so good! It is based on Tim Keller’s book Prayer, which I have and will now re-read. As a recovering Episcopalian, this is all so life-changing. Everything makes me want to cry.
In the afternoon daughter #1 and I went to Lottie’s dance recital which was, as always, very special.
Another highlight of my weekend was daughter #2 sending me a video of 3-year old Ida singing her rendition of Jamie MacDonald’s song “Left It In the River”, while accompanying herself on the xylophone. Here’s Jamie singing Ida’s new favorite song:
Glorify God and enjoy Him forever!
The week is almost over and so is the month of May. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, and all that.
I don’t have many plans for the weekend, which is kind of nice. I have the new Walt Longmire mystery, which was released on Tuesday, so I am already back in Absaroka County.
I am 70 pages in and Henry has not appeared, so I am a bit dubious, but we shall see.
I liked this post about “the beauty of the unnamed and the unnoticed…the glory of mundane faithfulness.”
And let’s not forget to toast Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), one of the most influential composers in Hollywood history, on his birthday. Winner of two Academy Awards–for Anthony Adverse (1936) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)–his scores were brilliant and influential (think Star Wars, entirely derivative).
Have a terrific weekend!
I had a very busy day yesterday, so I didn’t have much time to prepare a blogpost. But here is some Walt Whitman–his birthday is coming up on the 31st, so prepare yourselves…
Daughter #2 reminds me that baby Wes has been practicing his barbaric yawp recently, discovering his voice.
She says, “Oh, are you contributing a verse?”
Indeed.
I had to go to the doctor’s for an annual ‘well’ visit yesterday morning so I treated myself to a daytime John Wayne birthday screening of The Horse Soldiers (1959) in the afternoon. It was great, of course, a true tonic for what ails ya. At least for me. It is important to know what your tonic is. (Hopefully not drugs or alcohol.)
On the evening of Memorial Day, after my family had gone home, I watched Twelve O’Clock High (1949), which is Gregory Peck’s greatest film (except for To Kill a Mockingbird). He should have won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Brig. General Frank Savage.
As I have said before, it is incredible to me how the pilots and crews of those B-17s managed to do what they did over and over again. It is no wonder that many succumbed to battle fatigue, which is what this movie addresses. The film made use of actual combat footage during the battle scenes and the results are impressive. If you haven’t viewed it recently, treat yourself.
I also cleaned my closet and threw away/gave away a ton of old shoes that I will never wear again. That feels good.
And here’s another good one from Kevin DeYoung about What We Need Most. “Our main problem is not lack of time or resources or the annoying people in our lives. Your main problem and my main problem is that we do not see enough the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
(Prairie Peony)
And remember this:
“Only if your god can outrage and challenge you will you know that you worship the real God and not a figment of your imagination…If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshipping an idealized version of yourself.”
–Tim Keller
dual personalities 