A GLASS OF WINE WITH YOU

Uncounted cups of coffee; one English muffin; one crumpet; small bowl of muselix; and one banana – so much for our startup on our first day ‘downstate’.

Dear Wife is off to the symphony with lady friends to be followed by lunch at the Detroit Yacht Club. One of the symphony ladies is a member.

Sometimes, even often, it is not what you know, but who you know!

And the news keeps rolling in over our various receivers: radio; TV; ‘net’:

North Korea has let off another one; declared the’53 armistice to be over; and perhaps has restarted plutonium plants.
We are witnessing major effort to force b.o. to the negotiation table – one-on-one.

Iran has deployed a naval flotilla and announced that nuclear program(s) are going forward.
Iranian sea power, nascent but symptomatic of Iranian attempts at hegemony.

Pakistan is suffering new terrorist attacks.
This will occur more and more frequently as the pressure mounts on the barbarians in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

GM bankruptcy appears more and more likely – with Government majority ownership more and more likely. The US Government will not make cars as well as GM can.

Queen Elizabeth II was not invited to the Normandy commemorations to take place shortly. No secret about the lack of love between the French and the Brits. But b.o. should have taken care of it.

b.o. apparently feels that Israel must ‘freeze’ Israeli population in the disputed territories in order to make possible Mid East peace.
If a baby is born in the territories, b.o. wants an Israeli to leave.

Non-tabloid British press is condemned by robbie gibbs as being excessively frugal with the truth.
More likely gibbs is reacting to a press which is not ‘in the tank’ with his boss.
Pathetic!!

I know, I have picked only negative items.

One more: careful observers should note that all of the above are not happening in some sort of isolation or vacuum.
The world is watching the bad guys do bad things – and it is watching the good guy, the United States of American, apparently doing little or nothing to deal with the bad dudes.

The world does not just watch.

It watches and eventually responds. If the US does not deal with the cretins, the world will do the best it can, and that best may not be in the best interests of the US.

In a nutshell, that is why the election of b.o. and his programs, or lack of effective programs, just might be most distressing.

It is one thing to have idiotic tax policies and to repay political cronies and to appoint mediocre or even worse people to important jobs.

It is quite another thing to cause international realignments; destabilizations; and changes in balances of power, alterations which might be nigh on impossible to rectify.

As the old British Naval toast said/says: “A glass of wine with you and…confusion to the enemy.”

ONCE AGAIN

It is just a few minutes after midnight.
Once again, it is late.

A disc of soft Irish music is playing - The Fairy Ring. It might not be Irish.
And rain is pattering on the roof.

Pitch black outside – almost total darkness.

We leave The North tomorrow.

We have reconnected.

We will return.

Today we visited places not seen since last fall and it was good.

We found a new restaurant.

We looked in at some old favorites.

We walked a favorite beach.

We bought salmon and odds and ends at a favorite market and visited with locals.

We forgot coffee.

And we drive past cottages we have admired for years.

And it was good.

The rain came down all day and it was cold.

But the air was fresh and clean and it was good to be puttering within and without.

Tomorrow we’ll pack up and head ‘downstate’ and take care of chores and do things that have to be done.

There will be a wedding shower and luncheons and lawns to mow and a symphony to attend and a walkway to work on and koi to restore to the pond in back.

It will be good and we will think of the last week and look forward to our next trip North.

WEDNESDAY IN THE NORTH

Yesterday was cloudy and cool and misty in The North.

But we achieved all the goals of the day: some repairs of equipment; visiting a garden center for a variety of plants for our pots and beds; saying fond farewells for a while to neighbors heading ‘downstate’ for the upcoming work week; gathering fire wood; visiting with remaining neighbors; the inevitable cocktail hour and a delightful dinner out in a newly smoke-free pub in town.

All in all, a splendid day.

Today the rain began ca. 5:00 or 6:00AM and came down most vigorously. No wind – a delightful soaking rainfall.

Dear Wife is still asleep – and the second cup of coffee is helping me think over the last day or so.

We awoke yesterday to the news that b.o. had chosen his nominee for the Supreme Court.

She is characterized as a summa cum laude; liberal; Hispanic; and a mediocre judge.

We shall see.

The pundits are suggesting that she is a relatively safe choice for b.o., that the Right will reserve the big fight for a decision changer.

Again, we’ll see.

And this AM we read/hear that N. Korea as assumed the mantle of primary tester of the new President of the US with missiles, bomb tests, threats, cancellation of treaties, and perhaps more of the like.

At The Study, we believe that ‘testing’ is ok, that it is the routine ritual of diplomatic relations.
But we also believe that the US must win the test, all the tests, and that the testers must not gain, must not irrevocably injure the hyper power. It is our hope that b.o. will continue his practice of violating his campaign pledge of ‘extending the open hand instead of the closed fist.’

The closed fist is at times necessary, especially when dealing with such as N. Korea and Iran.
Check that: is always necessary.

It is likely that current Korean and Iranian tests will result in some significant, some permanent changes in the balances of power.

From the experts we get the intelligence that the US just may decide to endorse and promote a nuclear weapons program for Japan in order to counter the emergent nuclear power of N. Korea.

This would be an historic change in US foreign policy.
Regrettable?
In some ways, but regrettable or not, probably necessary.

Ripple effect? Count on it. This step would be one of the irrevocable ones.

Surfing the news sites, we note that one commentator states that with the election of b.o. and the national dems, the libs finally have to wrestle with real problems.
So far, the conclusions of said wrestlings are very much in doubt, at least in the short run.

Maybe b.o. will surprise us.
Maybe he is not the piece of work he seems to be.

As Gramma used to say: “Hope springs eternal.”

THE LAST MONDAY IN MAY

Today was the day the boat poles went in on Pontoon Row, the dock where the pontoon boats of our community are secured.
The boats are tied to the poles.

The Kayla Elise, The Study’s pontoon boat, should go in the water tomorrow, barring strong winds or rain.

It was bright and sunny and windy and festive.

An opening rite of spring!

The birthday of Joel, owner of The Mole Hole, was celebrated today as well, with pizza for five of us at the local pub.
We buy our fishing licenses at the bar and today the house bought the birthday lad a drink and we loved the place even more than ever.

You can buy liscenses at the barber shop in town as well.

And tomorrow is Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, the day Americans are asked to honor those men and women who died whilst serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Wikipedia has a fine article explaining the history.

Check it out.

You will find some good ideas about how to “…honor those men and women….”

You can visit a cemetery; view a parade; attend or give a barbecue; observe a moment of silence at 3:00PM; or do whatever else seems appropriate to you.

Or you can do nothing special.

That’s the nice thing about the United States.

One custom that is particularly attractive to us at The Study is the selling of the red poppy by the American Veterans of Foreign Wars during the week before the holiday weekend.

It is an especially attractive custom to us because it is a practice common in the UK and the British Commonwealth as well to honor the military dead of those nations.

The poppy is the flower of choice, of course, because of the poem, In Flanders Fields, written by a military physician shortly after the death of a friend in WW1.

The poem:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

What shall we do tomorrow to honor the men and women who have ‘given the last full measure’?

We will pause at 3:00PM for moments of silence and prayer.

And we will thank God for the survival of the Nation made possible by the sacrifices of “those who gave their tomorrows for our todays”.

THE BIRD NEST AND A NICE GUY

Our camp is part of a community on the Lake.

It comes to life every spring, summer, and fall and then gradually subsides, kind of like Brigadoon, into a sleepy state, waiting reawakening the following year.
Lots of folks are launching boats and getting them ready to launch.
Yesterday a very particular neighbor hauled his pontoon into camp and was preparing it for the launch.
He discovered, on one of the pontoons, a robin nest with several bright blue eggs.

He told his wife.

They talked it over.

Today I asked him if he had put his boat in the water.

He said no, he had put it back in the staging area.

And the mother bird was sitting on the nest.
He said the Lake was still cold.
He didn’t need to be out there yet.

I thought to myself, we have nice people in our Community.

AN ATTEMPT AT FRENCH

Friday night.

It is late again – 11:12 PM.
Here I go again.
The late news is on and as I listen to it in our camp, I am struck by the ‘news’ being covered by the news folks UP NORTH:

There is a report on pasties (the cooked ones, not the other ones); camping reservations; State Police radar speed monitoring; holiday weekend shopping expectations; hopes for more $$ for sheriff patrols; forest fires in the UP and forest fire danger elsewhere; a charity run of 5K; boater safety concerns; a plane crash on a car dealership; a US soldier in boxer shorts and flip flops fighting barbarians; weather news; and yes, two items on burglaries.

Two items!

Now, there was some other news before I started recording, but you get the idea.
There were no assaults; no murders; no rapes; no empty or occupied houses burning; no state takeovers of this or that; and so on.

Think about the news one gets ‘downstate’.

Sure, there are the bad things that happen UP HERE.

But the frequency is soooooooo different!

An attempt at French: viva la difference!!!!! (Sp???)

RAINY NIGHT IN THE NORTH

Thursday night in the North.
It is late. I’ve written that a lot lately.
We tell the truth, most of the time.

It is raining, gently.

We biked to town for sandwich lunch and coffee.
Weather then was windy, bright, and hot.

We smelled things, good things, that we had not smelled in a long time.
And we saw things that we haven’t seen in a while.

The wind blew one of my notepapers out of my bike basket up and away and down into a cow pasture, over an electric fence and in amongst a small herd of cows.
A muddy field.

Mary Kay would not go in and get it for me.
I wouldn’t either.

Now it is rainy, no wind, cold and damp.
Things change.

Before setting out this AM, we listened to the Cheney speech given at the AEI, the American Enterprise Institute.

A performance, quite a performance.

We missed the opening remarks. We were busy into the Northern routines: get up; walk Sophie; put on coffee; network with returning neighbors; plan for the day; etc.

And Mary Kay said, let’s check Fox News.

And there he was, saying it like it was/is.
Mary Kay has good ideas.

I will not rehearse the statements now, but we will get the text of the talk and use it when necessary – whenever we have to discuss the merits of the two Administrations with regard to safeguarding our Nation.

Get the text.
Too many folks will not ever see or hear of it.
And tell them what you take away from it.

I know it is out of order, but I wonder what was on the paper that flew in amongst the cow patties.

I hope I will never know – will never need to know.

The Cheney statements were easily understood. They were plainly stated.
They made sense.

Perhaps a growing number of folks will come to terms with their accuracy.
Perhaps not.

God did not promise a rose garden.

Anyway, we are in the North. God is in His Heaven. And if there are some things not right with this world, then somehow we will deal with them.

God willin’.

GIVE THE DEVIL HIS DUE

On the one hand, you have to hand it to him.

He has changed his mind.

It is ok to change your mind when you find/see that you were not quite on the mark regarding whatever.
On the other hand, changing your mind means that you were wrong from the get go (sp?)

And it means that the person you disagreed with was right.

We are speaking here of b.o. on such matters as:

Closing Gitmo
The military commissions or tribunals
The necessity of wiretaps w/o warrants
Releasing the photos of EITs
The success of the Surge into Iraq
The extension of the Surge into Afghanistan

In these cases, b.o. reversing himself means that President Bush was right and that Dick Cheney was/is right.

And it is also true that b.o. has not had the whatevers to admit the fact.

He has not said, and never will, that President Bush was right and he himself was wrong.

So, it would appear that b.o. is again having it both ways, or at least trying to.

Is doing that….doing something that some of us refer to as being two-faced??

You think??

ARMED FORCES DAY – 16 MAY 2009

Saturday night and it is late and I have just remembered/found out/learned that it is once again Armed Forces Day, 2009.

We did know it was coming. There have been references here and there.

But it slipped our minds, even tho the military, things military, are often in our thoughts.

And so, at this late hour, the thought occurs, what to do, be it ever so humble and so inadequate? What to do to honor, in even a very small way, our Thin Red Line, if you will?

For those who may not know, Thin Red Line is a mid-19th Century reference to a thin line of British troops holding against Russian cavalry in the Crimean War. The phrase has become shorthand for a military formation holding back superior numbers of hostiles.
In the same way, Thin Blue Line has become synonymous for our police forces coping with the forces of anarchy in our society.

This is the spirit in which we refer to our American Military on this Armed Forces Day: our Thin Red Line v. the barbarians and hostiles to our nation and/or to civilization.

With this in mind, and thinking of the disregard and hostility with which our American Military is sometimes treated by certain segments of our society and our government, we at The Study offer a few lines of poetry, written a century ago to honor Tommy, representative of the military of Our Mother Country but used here to honor the Military of the United States:

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

- From Tommy by Rudyard Kipling.

When you see a Veteran, thank him or her for his or her service.

We owe our Veterans for what they have done for us in the past and for what they are doing for us today.

May they be wisely led and magnificently equipped.

Amen.

WORDS TO THE WISE comment

Mike was kind enough to comment regarding WORDS TO THE WISE:

...the "Eagle" carrying the remnants of Isrial to safety means that ...the influence and power of America must certainly wane. I think it will happen quickly and in the next few years.

Mike, do you care to comment further??

Some might argue that the Eagle reference connotes, suggests the victory of the US rather than the decline.

Thanks for the otherwise encouraging words.

RONALD REAGAN AT NOTRE DAME

President Reagan spoke at N.D. a number of years ago.

An important part of the speech is found at the link below.

Check it out as b.o.'s appearance at the University nears.


http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/05/023561.php

WORDS TO THE WISE

A number of websites are saying it - and I cannot resist.
There is a Biblical lesson to be learned by b.o.'s election to the Presidency:

Beware what you pray for when you pray for something like change.
You just might get it.

AND SO IT BEGINS – MAYBE

The Afghan War is ramping up.
That war is b.o.’s war.
Afghanistan is where he said we ought to be fighting.
Well, we are fighting there. We are not winning there.
He said he knows what to do.
We’ll see.

He said he was going to close Gitmo.
It is going to be hell finding a place to put the inmates.
He said he knows what to do.
We’ll see.

He said he was going to release the photos.
Now he says he is not going to do so.
He is on quite a learning curve.

He said he knows how to fix the economy.
Chrysler announced dealership closings today.
The UAW and the Government take greater control.
GM will announce dealer closings very soon.
The UAW and the Government will take greater control.
We’ll see what we’ll see, as my Gramma used to say.

We used to think the deficit was a big one.
The libs told us it was unsustainable.
And then came the spending of b.o.

He has renamed the War on Drugs.
He has renamed the War on Terror.
All will be well.
b.o. is in charge.

b.o. gets a degree from Notre Dame.
The invitation to speak is bad enough. But it can be defended.
The awarding of the degree is disgusting.
It cannot be defended.

The libs excoriate the Bush Administration for any number of lawless acts whilst condemning the former VP for speaking in defense of the policies he and the Administration followed.
There is no gag order in effect on VPs.
It is the tradition that former Presidents not criticize their successors, a tradition not followed, incidentally, by carter and clinton.
Dick Cheney is saying what should be said and he would be derelict to remain silent.

The lib left is a little less happy with their b.o.
Let's give 'em a few months and check how they feel then.

LONDON CALLING

The BBC is reporting that average, man/woman-in-the-street Britons are disillusioned with the EU of Continental Europe.

We think of the BBC as generally touting the lib line and it is good to occasionally hear a politically incorrect or at least an unbiased commentary issuing forth from Broadcast House or whatever they call it.

I know that sounds harsh but my goodness, such nonsense is often the rule.

At any rate, I have had misgivings about the viability of the EU since the early 1960’s and I must confess to a certain degree of satisfaction when I see a few of our humble reservations apparently being quite the thing.

We at The Study love the tongue-in-cheek newspaper headline:

CHANNEL FOG BOUND!
CONTINENT ISOLATED!

We believe that the day the Continentals [not the American Revolutionaries] find that they can really pull together will be the day that ice cubes do well in hell.

THE DONALD AND MISS CALIFORNIA

The Anchoress expresses a valuable, interesting perspective on the situation involving The Donald and Miss California and other folks who are quick to judge others.
Good stuff.

http://www.firstthings.com/theanchoress/2009/05/12/prejean-cautionary-tale-for-christians/

LOONS

Writing of loons the other day has caused me to consult the archives of The Study.

A few loon facts:

Loons can fly at speeds of 60-90 miles per hour.
Whew!

Flight altitude can be anywhere between a foot or two off the water to as much as 1500 feet.

Loons can remain under water for as long as three minutes.
They can dive as deep as 150 feet.

This last fact reminds me of a conversation I had with a diver some years ago in Copper Harbor, Michigan.
He told us that he was diving on a wreck off Isle Royale (sp?) and all of a sudden, looking up from his rummaging with whatever he was investigating, a diving loom swam rapidly by him.
Imagine!

One of our favorite pastimes in Copper H. was to pack our food and camp stools and binoculars and coffee out to a promontory on Lake Manganese in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and spend a few hours watching for the critters.

We were rarely disappointed.

But we never saw two pairs at once as we did a few days ago.

And that reminds me that a favorite store in town is The Laughing Loon, a delightful shop operated by a naturalist and his wife.

Have not been up there in years – too many years.

Perhaps this could be the year for a visit.

SUNDAY NIGHT

Sunday night of Mothers’ Day and it is late.
Once again it is late.
Late is becoming our favorite time to write.

I just realized that I am not sure where the ‘ goes in the adjective of the Day.

Today Daughter and Son-in-Law hosted a dinner for Dear Wife and Dear Mom of Son-in-Law, spouses included.
I hope that makes sense.

And in early afternoon, Gramma and Himself repeated what has become a tradition: attendance at the annual Detroit English Bulldog Puppy Show.

For a paltry sum, attendees and club members are treated to lunch and bulldog puppy show competition.

Lots of fun for all.

We go and help out with whatever needs to be done.

Our Sohpie Matilda participated when she was a puppy.

Saturday Gramma and Grandkids attended a theater performance of Charlotte’s Web.
The kids loved it.
So did Gramma.
Ice cream after.

It has been a good Mothers’ Day.

I hope all Moms have a child or children who think of them.

Moms deserve it.

IN CAMP – WEDNESDAY NIGHT

It is Wednesday night and it is late and I have been celebrating.
We have opened our Northern Camp over the course of the last few days and we have been busy.

And I am tired.

Our Northern Camp is opened, successfully as far as we can tell.
And today whilst looking over our little garden out back, a bird landed on my shoulder and looked right into my face.

And at lunch today Dear Wife and I were privileged to watch two pairs of loons swimming, diving, fishing, taking off and landing for the hour and a half we devoted to lunch on a bay off Lake Michigan just a short drive from our camp.

We have reconnected with neighbors; walked Sophie more than we ever do at home; and just breathed in the Northern Air.

But a few other things should be said, should be shared.

Firstly, sincerest thanks go to Cathy and Joel for most kind comments regarding my 50th Reunion. The event was superb!

There was nostalgia; joy; tears, unexpected and instant; floods of memories; and endless and rapid sharing of stories of past and present.

A faculty member who was very important to me 50 years ago was present, and the opportunity to share with him was an overwhelming experience.
Really, overwhelming and I am not ashamed to say one of the most moving moments of my life.
I said important to me fifty years ago.
I should have said important then and important now.
I think of him, if not weekly, then every week or so for the example he set for his students and football players, fifty years ago.

And the two aforementioned ‘comments’ by my two readers were most welcome as I rehearsed the day’s doings after the fact.

Thank you for contributing to the success of my Reunion.

But now it is early Thursday.
We return home tomorrow and I have Lenten Study reading to do for our workshop on Friday AM.

Life goes on.

Thank the Good Lord.

50th

What does one think about on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his graduation from high school?
What things?
How many things?

It is early morning on the day of most of the festivities and we have a lot to do.

May is a busy month at The Study anyway: getting ready to open the Northern Camp; yard work with the coming of spring; and all the birthdays and other anniversaries which take place annually.

And this year, a 50th.

Thoughts, memories, bits of poetry.

I once stood behind Robert Frost as he read his poetry. I think of that occasionally, and now his poem about the roads diverging in a yellow wood comes to mind.

Or that line in Saving Private Ryan, where the character, Private Ryan, says something like… “Was it worth it [saving him] ?

We like to think that our life has been worth it; that it may still ‘be worth it’; that we will have worthwhile contributions to make.

You get one 50th.

We won’t go around again, not this lifetime anyway.

50 years have gone by quickly.

It occurred to me two days ago that in 1959, as I was getting to graduate and go on to college, that if a 50-year ‘boy’ had returned to visit us at the school, that the old timer would have graduated in 1909.

And I remember thinking in my late teen years that the early 1900’s was one hell of a long time ago, dark ages even, compared to the enlightened 1950’s.

And now here we/I am… one of the ‘old boys’, emerging out of the dark ages as it were, for the current members of the Class of 2009.

50 years is a long time. But they go by so quickly – or seem to have done so as you look back.

Regrets?
Satisfactions?
Successes?
Failures?

Gotta go and fry up some eggs.

Life goes on and there is a lot to do.

As the prayer says:

This is the day the Lord hath made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.