The temps reached above freezing yesterday so the snow started to melt. We have some big snow banks though and they will be with us for some time. C’est la vie.
I spent a stressful and irritating day yesterday gathering tax information and digitally transferring it to my accountants. I couldn’t help thinking of Mary Tyler Moore and her shoe box full of receipts and how the accountant (or was it a tax auditor?) was so impressed with her organization. How times have changed.
(Isn’t it amazing how I can remember that show but can’t remember what I watched last night?)
This is super sad. “The attention-span crisis goes to the movies.” Why does anyone even bother to go to college anymore?
On that note I think I’ll watch a slow-moving, two-hour, old black-and-white movie.
Perfection.
So read an old book, watch an old movie, call an old friend.
I found this clipping in a box of my parent’s things. It seems like something my Boston grandmother would have cut out and shared with ANC III.
There is, of course, no Choister Cathedral in England. It must be a typo–Chester Cathedral? When you google ‘choister’ it defaults to Chorister. According to the Urban Dictionary choisters are “Asian women who follow the popular influencer, Michelle Choi. Most commonly, they follow her fashion style, habits, and dogs.” Well, who knew?
The world is more than we know.
And this was the moon on Sunday night…
P.S. Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter after seeing his shadow on Groundhog Day 2026. Oh goodie.
February is here, so can spring be (too) far behind?
How was your weekend? Mine was very quiet. Daughter #1 was out of town, laughing it up with the prairie girls…
…and the boy and his family were all down with the flu.
I had lunch with a friend on Friday, but otherwise I was on my own. So I was extra glad to go to church on Sunday–even when it was 8 degrees outside. I donned my vintage fur coat for the third week in a row and braved the elements. We had a hardy band of believers at the 8:30 service. I noted that there were more men than women in the choir! We also ordained and installed new elders and deacons.
But my reading glasses were not in my purse, so I had a challenging time. I managed, but I was definitely playing the trombone. Getting older is not for sissies.
This is a thoughtful post about doom-scrolling: “The internet gives us a false omniscience, presenting everything from everywhere to everyone at any time. But we are not God. We were not designed for omniscience. Not even the digital imitation. Yet here it is. Everything. All the time.”
And in memory of Catherine O’Hara, who died last week, here’s a classic scene from Best In Show (2000):
Well, I have good news. There are plenty of Gummy Nerd Clusters left. The bag was absurdly huge. And one of my favorite things about nerd clusters is that there is a limit to how many one can eat in a setting—because they are so tart.
Is this fascinating commentary or what?
I did survive the snow storm and actually really enjoyed my weekend. I crossed a number of things off my to do list—including using my steam shot to clean the grout in my bathroom. My only mistake was not adequately preparing by getting donuts for breakfast. Sigh.
Is this fascinating commentary or what?!
Mr. Smith has been enjoying the snow. In some places it was practically as deep as he is tall! He jumps around and tromps all over regardless. There are still plenty of smells to smell and neighborhood dogs to ward off from the confines of our fenced in yard. Of course, it has been too cold for me to venture to take cute pictures without getting all bundled up. Instead, I offer Mr. Smith cuddling up in the house.
Eat your heart out.
Anyway, I am off to visit my sister and her family this weekend. Hopefully, no one is going through a cranky growth spurt or gets that whopping cough while I’m there (both of these have happened). And hopefully, my back doesn’t decide it is 80 years old. I need to be able to crawl around on the floor!!
Today my women’s Bible Study group starts up again. We are reading I and II Thessalonians. Our study guide was written by Kathleen Buswell Nielson, with whom I went to school 50+ years ago. I am looking forward to it! (Not to mention the prospect of human interaction which I have missed over the last 5 days!)
I was very pleased when I heard that daughter #2 and DN had decided to name their baby after him.
“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” — Proverbs: 22:1
Usually I watch Red River (1948) or another cowboy movie in honor of JWP’s birthday. We’ll see how I feel tonight. It is a whole new world not having the OM to watch certain movies with.
Well, onward and upward. This article about how the two ‘wills’ of God profoundly shape how we should pray was quite thought-provoking. “May we all pray more and may the Lord bless our prayers.”
Happy Thursday! The weekend is just around the corner.
Yesterday was a beautiful day–cold, but beautiful. Blue sky, untouched white snow reflecting the sunlight. Very nice. I sat in my office and watched a huge red-tailed hawk cruise around.
Here’s a poem, “Shovelling Snow” by Harry Edward Mills, written around 1901:
And Don shared this lovely Dan Fogelberg piece with me:
More cold weather coming up, so I’ll be sitting by my window for the foreseeable future.
“Every bit we eat, and every drop we drink is mercy; every step we take, and every breath we draw, mercy. [These are] what we have reason to acknowledge with thankfulness to God’s praise.” (Matthew Henry, 1662-1713)
My driveway was plowed yesterday morning and the front walk cleared (with a leaf blower!) so I was free to move around the neighborhood. I went to the public library to return some books, including two murder mysteries written by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. in the 1970s, which I enjoyed. The library was closed, like a lot of other places. Officially we got 8.5 inches of snow in Kirkwood. Seems about right. Now we are adjusting to sub-zero temps and continuing to hunker down.
Today we toast two writers who both died on January 27–John Updike in 2009 and J.D. Salinger in 2010.
They are both writers I admire a lot.
In honor of the aforementioned birthdays, I re-read For Esmé–with Love and Squalor. I was pleased that I still regarded it with the same enthusiasm as I did years ago.
They sang without instrumental accompaniment–or, more accurately in their case, without any interference. Their voices were melodious and unsentimental, almost to the point where a somewhat more denominational man than myself might, without straining, have experienced levitation. A couple of the very youngest children dragged the tempo a trifle, but in a way that only the composer’s mother could have found fault with. I had never heard the hymn, but I kept hoping it was one with a dozen or more verses.
Well, I got a few things done on Friday before the storm hit–like everyone else who was out and about buying bread and milk and salt/ice melt. I went to Trader Joe’s early and bought flowers and then went to church where I arranged them for Sunday, which I knew might be cancelled, but what the heck, I did my duty.
I will note that as I drove around and made my various stops, people were very nice and polite, even cheerful. Part of this is because I have gray hair and look like an old lady, so people are usually quick to assist me when they think I need help. I am always a little taken aback by this because I feel like a completely capable woman, but again, what the heck–if someone wants to take my grocery cart back to the cart corral for me in the single digit weather, have at it.
The boy came over in the afternoon to pick up some stuff and to have wine time with me since daughter #1 had many errands to run after work. Everyone was in a tizzy about whether various events would be cancelled. Well, I had no plans to worry about so I just concentrated on hunkering down…
Church was cancelled after all–I certainly couldn’t get out of my driveway. And this was the scene in Wildwood…
While admittedly there is no substitute for worshiping together in person, we were encouraged to watch a previously recorded service on our YouTube channel or watch the recorded adult ed classes.
Daughter #1’s church was also closed as was daughter #2’s. Central had already recorded their sermon to be viewed…
So Mr. Smith heard the word of God on Sunday morning.
All Souls suggested reading a book of the Bible and praying or watching a previous sermon. So many options. I listened to an old sermon given at Central by Dr. Dan Doriani last October on James 3:1-12, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
In the afternoon the twins had fun frolicking in the snow…
And so did the prairie girls…
Now it is Monday and I am waiting for the yard guys to come plow my driveway.
All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well…
Yes, you may have heard, it’s going to snow and ice and be cold. With this in mind, I decided to stop at my local Costco on the way home from pilates to get some Diet Pepsi because I’m down to my last two cans. Can’t have me going all The Shining this weekend.
Anyway, it was a madhouse. The parking lot was insane. There were no carts. Like, I had to go back outside and bring one in. And the checkout lines stretched practically to the prepared food department. It was like shopping at Trader Joe’s on the Upper West Side.
I survived and got what I needed. And also a Party Size bag of Gummy Nerd Clusters.
Tomorrow, I have to work and then run a few more errands–including going to Trader Joe’s in Brentwood Commons. My mother is hoping to squeeze some Wine Time with me before the storm hits. Let’s pray for the electric grid, those who are (hopefully) treating our roads, and all of our sanity as we deal with winter weather.
Hopefully, when I write again next week, there will still be some Gummy Nerd Clusters left. As the old Magic 8 Ball used to say, “Very doubtful.”
I was going through some boxes yesterday and I found this photo taken in 1927 (nearly 100 years ago!) of my mother and her older sister and it reminded me so much of daughter #2’s two girls. I mean really. I hope their Mom gets their portrait taken together so that 100 years from now someone can find it and put it in a frame.
I also found letters my brother wrote to us in the fall of his freshman year in college (1969)–“Don’t worry I’m not turning into a hippie.” (Um, oh yes you were.) I am sending those letters to him so he can share them with his children.
I found clippings from 19th century newspapers and magazines, cut out by ancestors to keep.
I will keep those along with various ancient Valentines…
(Recognize the Peanuts gang from 1967?)
I found a lot of stuff from my Mother’s years at Middlebury College, including the bills. It cost about $500 a semester in 1946-47. Also lots of letters, sometimes with illustrations:
Quite a treasure trove…and I admit I threw away very little. The best I can do is get it all a little better organized/labeled for my children.
dual personalities 