Saturday, October 31, 2009

40+ YEARS LATER - THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Hard to believe, but it has been over 40 years since I was working on an M.A. Degree - in British History.

I have not lifted my copy out of the files, but my subject was Roman Catholic plots against Elizabeth, Elizabeth I of England, and I remember bits and pieces of it.

The focus was on the work of Sir Francis Walsingham, her minister in charge of countering the death plots against her.

Yes, that word was/is death.

And I remember my astonishment those many years ago at the ignorance of the Spanish agents who were in the employ of the King of Spain and His Holiness in Rome.

I have forgotten the name of His Holiness.

But the point is the blindness, the ignorance, the criminal refusal to admit the reality of the English position on matters of State and Religion in the Sixteenth Century.

And I fear that I am witnessing a 21st Century version of the same thing right now.

The Vatican is apparently suffering under the delusion that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Episcopalians/Anglicans just champing (or is it chomping?) at the bit to return to Rome, if only the gate should be opened unto them.

The prevailing Roman belief apparently is that the original reasons for the reformation in England were all a mistake; that what was then perceived to have been intolerable innovations in the Christianity of the day are these days matters of no consequence.

This was the blindness that called Elizabeth I an ignorant b..ch; a tyrant hated by her subjects; illegitimate; and destined for the fires of hell.
This was the blindness that believed that the English of that far-off time were pining away for a return to the Roman Church, the only way to salvation.
This was the blindness that launched the Great Armada into the lunacy of the effort to invade and ‘save’ England from the devil.

I know, I have not referenced the political matters of State. So be it. I am aware of them. But it is the religious factors that are important to day, not the matters of diplomacy and related matters.

Thus far, we have heard nothing form the Vatican regarding the matters of Papal Infallibility; the role of women in the Church; the matter of celibacy; the details of the invitation: or of a host of other issues which are important to Anglicans and Episcopalians, and, may I add, to many practicing Roman Catholics who defy their own church in their day-to-day independence.

Talk about hubris and about failure to understand the facts of life regarding important issues.
We at The Study are concerned about what is going on in the Episcopal Church of the USA, ECUSA or TEC, and the Anglican Communion.

We are concerned about the wellbeing of the Anglican Communion.
And we have real and long lasting reservations about the Roman Catholic Church, reservations which have come down to us over the centuries.

We have great respect of that Church as well.

But are we lusting after a chance to return to Rome??

We have never been there and we have no desire to go there.

We will work out our issues in the Church of our birth.

As a Dear departed Cousin was wont to say, "Thank you very much."

RETREAT SHOULD NOT BE THE OPTION

The Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota will vote today on a new bishop. One of the candidates is an ‘openly partnered lesbian’.

The Vatican has withheld the release of the details of the newly-announced welcome to the Anglican/Episcopalian folks who are unhappy with this or that (these or those) feature(s) of their denomination.

Having read the ruminations re these and similar matters on the net and having talked about them in church meetings and over an adult beverage or coffee at home or in restaurants, pubs, etc., I offer the following observation:

I am thinking of Churchill again as he contemplated the successful withdrawal of British and French forces from Dunkirk during the last War.
He thanked God for the deliverance and led the national and international thanksgivings and praises for all that had ensued – and then he offered something of the following: he said, in so many words, that we should remember that wars are not finally won by retreats. To win, we must attack and defeat the enemy.
The goal is not merely to survive, but to win by achieving victory.

Potential Anglo-Catholics will not win anything for anyone if they merely retreat from their churches.

Folks who are thinking of crossing the Tiber, as it were, and going to Rome, should be careful NOT to be running away from something. To do it right, they should be going TO something, to a ‘broader, sunlit upland’, not fleeing from what they see as unacceptable and going to something that seems to be less unacceptable.

Another way of saying it, folks thinking of crossing over should be going for the gold, or even for the platinum and not for something merely less imperfect.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A NEW ANGLE ON HOW TO WIN AND WHY WE LOST

A Mr. Matt latimer has a newly released book out, Speech*Less.
I have not read the book, but I read of it in Powerline and was impressed, especially by the following quotation from Mr. Latimer:

As a longtime friend of William F. Buckley recently told me, "Republicans win when they are conservatives. And Democrats win when they are conservatives." That, he assured me, was all the political advice one needs.

Check out the whole article via the link below, Mr. Latimer’s response to some of his critics, especially to those referred to as 'Republican elites' rather than as conservatives.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/10/024799.php

Monday, October 26, 2009

UNITED FRONT?

The 'new' older-generation [awkward phrase] Pope has once again created quite a stir.

The link below from the NYT suggests an arguable take on the Papal initiative which you may not have thought of.
So many issues!
So many interpretations are credible.

So many problems!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/opinion/26douthat.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print

Saturday, October 24, 2009

THE ROMAN OVERTURE

The offer has been made.
It has been received.

Details, many, many details have yet to be made public.

They will be announced and they will be dissected.

There will be reactions.

It is fascinating to watch major parts of Christendom shake off the dust of centuries and attempt to alter historic configurations.
It is as though endless minor earth tremors have suddenly morphed into a major earthquake.
I know, the above is a negative happening – and yet it is a natural happening and there are those who would have it that it is normal for separated parts of Christendom to attempt realignment.

We are struck by the sheer bureaucratic complexity of what is organized religion today, not to mention other salient and hugely important concerns, many of which I doubtless do not even know about.

I came across a site yesterday which dealt at some length with the problem of the overlapping hierarchical lines of authority which will result from the creation of the Anglo-Catholic dioceses existing within the geographical boundaries of already existing Catholic dioceses.
I have spent an hour trying to find that excellent essay and have failed and now I am not even sure I used the correct words in describing the problem.

Anyway, it will be fascinating to watch things play out.

I am wondering if Rome has waited a bit too long to make this offer. A couple of years ago, the breakaway Anglican groups in North American were no way as well developed as they are today.

I wonder if disaffected American Anglicans would prefer their own, non-Roman version of Catholicity to the Roman variety.

The world is a strange and wonderful place, sometimes.

THOSE DAYS

The tv world of the 1950’s – and a bit before…

The death of Soupy has started the thinking – no research now…just off the top of the head.
Am thinking of those old shows – I bet film does not even exist for many of them.

I am thinking of such characters as Tom Corbett, Space Cadet; Mike Barnett, detective; Buz Corey, Space Patrol; Captain Video, who had the most ridiculous sets and costumes imaginable; and, more recently, 77 Sunset Strip.

And in the other medium, such shows as Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons; The Great Gildersleeve; Gangbusters; the Shadow, and countless others.

Again, no research here – just recollectin’.

Time flies when you are having fun.

SOUPY SALES - R.I.P.

Soupy died this week.
Soupy as in Soupy Sales.

No details of his passing here. You can google (capital G?) for details if you want to.
My comments are more personal.
I watched Soup – we called him Soup – at noon when I could and at 11:00pm when I could.

He entertained us when we were children.
Now we are adults – and he has died.
He is not the first to do so.
He will not be the last.

And then, one day, we will die too.

The bell is still tolling.
It always has.
It is.
It always will.

World without end.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

THE LAST FLAG

Fans of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin naval chronicles and Antique Road Show should take note:
A Union Jack, the last British Naval flag to have flown at the Battle of Trafalgar, has just been sold at auction to an American for a total price of 330,000 British pounds [I don't know how to make the symbol].
This was ten times the hoped for price.
The 'priceless' gem is torn as one would expect, probably from 'shot and shell' and 'fragments'.

We at The Study are fans of both the O'Brian series and the Road Show.

Congratulations to the buyer - and may the battle flag eventually be given to the British nation.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

COMMENTS ON THE COMMENTS

Just a note to inform any readers commenting to this modest forum that I intend to respond to comments in the comment area itself whenever possible.
Thanks for whatever you contribute.

ACTION - REACTION

[Episcopal News Service] His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has announced his plans to allow provisions that would accept groups of former Anglicans who wish to convert to the Roman Catholic Church, according to an Oct. 20 press release from The Vatican.
[from episcopalife online]

In science classes a lifetime ago we learned that there is no action without an equal and opposite reaction.
And so it is, apparently, with regard to the actions of ECUSA, the Anglican Communion, and the Roman Catholic Church.

A few of the news sites we visit are all abuzz with releases regarding this news out of London and Rome.

For those of us who are concerned members of ECUSA, a lot is going on in this old world in which we live.

ECUSA should be concerned.

Perhaps interested is the better word, for the Pope is really providing a nuanced way for a significant segment of the disenchanted members of ECUSA to leave, a development which would strengthen the hands of the liberals now in charge of the national church.

And Roman Catholics should be interested, as the option will allow a new class of Christians to enter their ranks, and again, the old rule would again hold true, that action begets reaction.

The steadyasyougoers of ECUSA [I know, not a word] should be interested too, for even though perhaps uncomfortable with trends in ECUSA, they will find themselves further marginalized if they opt to stay the course while compatriots are leaving the fold.

Interesting stuff!!

Monday, October 19, 2009

THE METERS ARE RUNNING

Are the strengths of the United States so unassailable that significant features of it can be discarded or degraded without jeopardizing the whole?

This thought occurred to me this day whilst thinking about the national and international news of the last few days.

It is easy for one to get the impression that our leadership is dithering while our enemies are busily going about the business of finally achieving the goals they have sought after for many years, even for many decades.

The open hand remains extended to Iran and Russia and North Korea and Venezuela, and meanwhile the meters continue to run on uranium enrichment; new missile development; new anti-American treaty systems; greater energy dependence; combat operations not going well; impossible expenditures of funds and debt creation; and what increasingly appears to be an inevitable attack by one or more nations on the nuclear doings of Iran, to name just a few ‘meters’.

And all the while our national leadership seems preoccupied with health care revolution; Olympic games; climate change; and warring with cable news programs, to name just a few preoccupations.

Should the informed citizen be alarmed?

Is our Republic strong enough to stand all of this whatever it is?

In all my years, I have never heard of a great power successfully providing for its security by extending the open hand to enemies and asking for nothing in return.

I think it has never been done successfully.
I think it will never be done.

I have the impression that the leaders of the world, both the friendlies and the unfriendlies, are laughing at the leadership of the United States at this time, that the only people who take our President and his policies seriously are the poor fools who voted for him in this country and the citizens of foreign nations who just don’t know any better.

I suggest that the United States can make some mistakes and still be ok.
We are not just a major power.

The United States is a hyper-power, the likes of which the world has never seen, ever.

But there has to be a limit to what damage our own leadership can do to our great strength without making us vulnerable to significant threats.

THE MORNING RITUAL

We filled some of the bird and squirrel feeders today, another marker in the endless change of seasons.

Making coffee tomorrow will be more interesting than usual inasmuch as our kitchen windows look out on the bird and squirrel ‘dining hall’.

The morning routine will now have an added element of interest, as if it needed one.

How absolutely heavenly to start the coffee makers; to pour the juices; to activate the radio and TV stations of choice; to toast the English muffins to just the right color and crispness; and to open the morning papers to favorite pages knowing all the while that the feathered and furry little devils are enjoying their repasts as well.

Heaven of sorts on earth!

And amongst all of the above usually occurs a call from Dear Daughter on her way to work just to network with the ‘seasoned citizens’, as someone calls us.

And then - what to prepare for breakfast –

And then, if things are really going supremely well, several hours of uninterrupted work in The Study before worldly chores have to be undertaken.

If we are lucky, there will be occasional exclamations throughout the day of this or that remarkable bird at the suet or seed – or a call to quickly look out and see what the squirrels are up to.

Once again a line from Lonesome Dove comes to mind: “The finer things: the smile of a pretty woman; a sunrise or sunset; or the taste of fine whisky.”

I would add the joys of our kitchen and backyard dining hall to that excellent sentiment of Gus McCrae.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

OUR LOCAL

We are blessed in our neighborhood with what the British would call a ‘local’.
Brits define ‘local’ as a pub close to one's home or place of work.

Other terms come to mind: inn; tavern; canteen; public house; watering hole; or taproom.

Funny how words can have so many meanings.

Over fifty years ago Dear Grandmother in Toronto asked a policeman if he could direct us to where she could find a ‘canteen’, meaning a container to hold water.
I was playing soldier and needed a canteen to complete my 'kit'.

He directed us to an eatery known then as the Honey Dew, a popular fast food restaurant of the time.

I love it.

Anyway, three of us visited our ‘local’ last Monday night.

Dear Wife was at an aerobic swim class.

People smoke at the ‘local’ and Dear Wife has a problem with that – something to do with headaches, a cough, stuff like that.
Smokers don’t mind if their habit causes such to happen to other folks around them.

But enough of that.

I put up with it on occasional Monday nights.
The fellowship is good and it is a ‘guys’ night out’.

We ‘feasted’ on lively conversation; wholesome, low-cost food; and very reasonably priced adult beverages.

Wait staff is personable, efficient, and welcoming.
We met folks we knew there.

We were comfortable; unhurried. We were made welcome.
News of families: news of births; of deaths; of jobs found and jobs lost; of vacations taken; of goingson at churches, etc., are all given equal air time.
Congratulations and sympathies are exchanged.

A community is maintained.

There is a 50-50 drawing: participants chip in $$ for raffle tickets. At a particular time, a drawing is made and the winner gets half the accumulated money. The other half goes to the house.

Good fun. Small town.

This was the first time since last spring that we had convened the Monday night group.
Our trips North make it hard to visit the local on a regular basis during late spring to early fall.
We play a lot Up North and enough is enough. When we are ‘downstate’ we tend to eat our less and do a few more chores than normal.

But now the ‘night out’ part of the ‘downstate’ routine has resumed.

Bottom line, I think the nicest thing about our local is the welcome that is extended to such a wide variety of people:
There are the Boy Scouts; Veterans; students; the handicapped; children at Halloween and Christmas parties; family picnics; car shows; travel opportunities; families which have lost loved ones; and on and on.

Our city, our nation, our world, could use more locals.

THE WEIRD NEWS

When it gets late and when happy hour has gotten long and dinner was large and good, it becomes difficult to write.
At such times we/I tend to surf my news sites instead of writing and jot down whatever seems of interest, grist for future items, if you will.

Lately, all of the above have been happening a lot.
How sweet it is!

And here are some of the ‘grists’ [is that the correct use of that term?]:

chris matthews on msnbc announced that it would be ok if Rush Limbaugh was blown up.

Rush Limbaugh is not welcome as an NFL owner because of rumors/unsubstantiated lies spread about him.

Journalists silence a fellow journalist whilst the former is questioning algore closely about his claims regarding climate change.

b.o.&co. announce that the Taliban is not a major threat to the security of the US while it, the Taliban, gives every appearance of successful destabilization of Pakistan and that entire region of the world.

U.S. Federal authorities have ordered a southwest sheriff to stop arresting illegal immigrants in his jurisdiction.

CNN is fact-checking comedy routines which are critical of b.o.

A five or six year-old is suspended from school and faces 40+ days of ‘special education’ or something called ‘reform school’ for bringing a cub scout camping tool (combination knife, fork, and spoon)to the school lunch room.

The President of the United States, b.o., still in his first year in office, is worshipped by his followers, his congregants (his voters) and wins the Nobel Peace Prize in spite of the fact that he has achieved NONE of his goals to date and in spite of the fact that all the wars he ‘inherited’ are raging ever more violently as this post is being written.

Well, there you are.
Such is the state of the weird news that is floating around us these days.
And these are just a few examples!

Thank God there is lots of ‘normal’ news as well.

Monday, October 12, 2009

A REFLECTION

Funny how seemingly or actually disparate things can get you to thinking.

In the last few days, I have been sorting and reading some biography and reading some poetry.

And then came some insights, some conclusions, and some regrets.

First, the sorting.
Rearranging my workroom is a major task and there are papers therein that have not seen the light of day or lamp for ten years.

I came across an email from an individual we drifted away from over an incident which at the time seemed worth the drifting.
Nine years ago!
The email had been sent during the period of high emotion and I guess had been largely ignored by yours truly at the time.
It was an apology and an appeal to maintain what had been for years a most congenial relationship.

It was ignored.

Second, the biography.

I have been reading lately an unusual bio of C.S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs, The Narnian. Midway through the text, Jacobs describes the difference for Lewis of individuality and eccentricity and the importance, for the good of the community, of recognizing, accepting and valuing the latter over the former.

For Lewis, “The English love their eccentrics not because the eccentricities themselves are necessarily delightful but because the mere presence of such odd folks among them is a testimony to the community’s gentleness, tolerance, and humor.”

In other words, “…healthy communities (including families and churches) characteristically produce highly differentiated individuals, even the sorts of persons we call ‘characters’.”

For me, , this means it is not so much the individual that is the most important in this context, but rather the toleration, even the appreciation of the individual, that is the most important.

Third, the poetry.

The Study is not located in a bell-ringing neighborhood. But I have lived in such.
And the Kayla Elise routinely sails The Narrows, a delightful strip of water between two parts of our Lake in The North where the bells of nearby St. Mary’s Parish frequently are loud and clear for all to hear.

At any rate, what with illness and deaths of close friends and acquaintances this year, I got to thinking of bells and that led me to look again at a verse by John Donne, originally in the form of prose:

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

So, there they were: the sorting and finding of the email; the value of tolerating and appreciating eccentricity; and the importance of avoiding loss of community whenever possible.

It is easy to imagine that one is an island and that he or she does not need anyone.

It is also a false imagination.

Two conclusions of this brief essay:
First, we should respect the individual member of society not because society revolves around that individual, but rather because such respect in itself is a noble feature of any healthy society.

To exalt the individual at the expense of the community is a perversion to be avoided.

Second, we need to treasure our acquaintances and to make every reasonable effort to maintain them.

As John Donne so artfully says,

Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

THE PRIZE

It is at a time like this that this amateur historian, this retired professional history teacher, etc., etc., wishes especially that he knew more and had forgotten less.

I/we read, see, and hear that b.o. has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Questions at once present themselves: historically, what are the requirements for the prize; what are the purposes of the founder and the foundation that administers the prize; what changes have occurred in those purposes; and what has the current recipient done to deserve the prize?
Doubtless, there are other questions.

I could Google the questions.
I am not going to do so.
We are too involved with other things.

But a few observations may still be made.
A few impressions of yonder days when we knew more of such details survive:

the founder was an explosives manufacturer. At least, he had something to do with such stuff and there was a connection to war materiel’ [French word?].
He founded his prize to ameliorate the horrors of war, to promote the cause of peace by rewarding achievements in said pursuit.

Operate word here is achievements – not expressions of hope.

Over the years, very wise awards, consistent with the promotion of peace have been made.
Again, without research, we recall that Teddy Roosevelt was granted the honor in recognition of his work in halting the Russo-Japanese War.

jimmy carter received it, we think, honoring his work in the Camp David Accords [again, no research done].

Now, we don’t regard jimmy as really worthy of much, but at least he had done something. His prize was not awarded in advance.

So, b.o. has the prize.
He has done nothing.
He has won the prize for something else than that for which it was intended.

The Nobel Foundation is become a prostitute, selling/granting its charms for purposes other than that for which they were intended.

Adjectives come to mind: pathetic; obscene; and dishonest.

And finally, those who participate in such prostitution, those who bestow and those who receive, are in turn pathetic, obscene, and dishonest.

The Nobel Foundation and our President are all of those things.

WHEN ONE IS TIRED OF LONDON

Saturday morning – brisk but sunny.
The ‘downstate’ year is starting up.

May it be a good one. May it be a fruitful one. May we make as few mistakes as possible and do as much good as possible.

As that character Willie Wonka (sp?) said in The Chocolate Factory , at least I think he said, “So little time; so much to do!”

Young people generally have no idea how important their youth is.

Anyway, the downstate year is starting up.

New study group has begun at Church: as of Saturday, ten or twelve of us gather weekly for two hours to examine the past week in light of certain questions and perspectives and to discuss our new book: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.
One of the goals of the book study component of our meetings is to see God at work in the world, in our lives.
Each participant shares as much or as little of the input opportunities as he or she wishes.

Dear Wife has collected the Grandkids and they will stay overnight, going to Church with us tomorrow and then home before Dear Daughter and her husband and his Mom and Dad arrive for his Mom’s birthday party. Is that clear? Sounds too complicated.

New firewood has not arrived yet – but enough is left over for couple of weeks yet.
This afternoon will clear the back deck and cut/split some wood for tonight and tomorrow.
We look forward to buying corn-on-cob for squirrel feeder and peanuts for same little creatures.
Will perhaps add a thistle feeder to the seed feeder.
Had lots of luck last winter with the winter feedings.

And then second car has to be allowed back into garage. Camp gear needs to be stored, moved from its spring/summer billeting in one half the garage.

The seasons cycle – we must look a bit more inward as the temps decline.

And so much going on in the world – the nation – the community.

I have written the following before, but I cannot resist: in the words of Samuel Johnson, “When one is tired of London [or of the world, the nation, the community], one is tired of life.”

So true, so true.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

TESTS

8:30pm Thursday night.
It has been a good day.
Temperature in the low 50’s, mix of clouds and sun, and then light rain.

In came the koi before the rain started. Drained the pond and filled the tank in the bowels of The Study.

Netted the three big fellows (don’t really know the genders) and deposited them below, lovingly.

Stored away the pump and hoses and so on and refilled the pond, tossing in the requisite logs to prevent ice damage.

Breakfast had been a bit hasty, but lunch was better and dinner was superb.

Martinis and a glass of wine and a fine steak - perhaps not the best recipe for coherent writing, but there it is and here we are at just about 8:30pm.

Firstly, while mucking and cleaning the pond, it occurred that the country is probably not more culturally or politically divided now than it was under President Bush.
b.o. is not the cause of current disunity and animosity and cynicism and ignorance and confusion and on and on and on.
It started before him – before President Bush – it was developing before Ronald Reagan, that Dear Fella who did a lot to get rid of some of it. Emphasize some.
He too was the butt of jokes and insults and stupid criticism.
But no matter.

b.o. did not start it.
His crime, if you will, is that he is unable, perhaps incapable of doing anything about it.

He is the product of machine politics and is subject to the attentions of very active interest groups, groups which are not loved by much of moderate or mainstream America.

He is too much a part of one side of the cultural/political divide to be able to do any bridging.
He has grown up in it and has wallowed in it.
He is tainted by it. To this day.
He will have a devil of a time ever escaping it.

Too bad.
Too bad that he promised to be able to bring the nation together.

But then, that is what politicians do – they, or many of them, say whatever it takes to get elected.

Secondly, how about the ‘elite’ folks who are defending roman polanski (sp?)?
Elites in several walks of life they are doing it.

And to think that once there was a day, not too many years ago, when so-called educated folks denied that there were really liberals or conservatives, that everyone was really just about the same as everyone else.

I know, the definitions of lib and conservative have changed over the decades – but still.

The nature of the crime, or rather crimes, is so shocking – and the willingness to forget –
You just gotta shake your head.

Thirdly, we read this morning about the thousands, the tens of thousands of folks who turned out in Detroit for government $$ handouts to help them stay in their homes – and about how they deported themselves during the melee’.
Which brings to mind the recent Time Mag article on Detroit.
We have not read it yet – but apparently it has been discussed in the Senate of the United States and in our local papers and around many water coolers, in suburbs and urbs.
Are there still water coolers in offices??

Dear Wife asked this day what happened to Detroit.

Quick attempt at an answer [albeit incomplete]:

In the 1920’s, poor blacks moved North to work in the factories of Detroit.
Industry, especially automotive, boomed, and employment of all types flourished.

The Depression came and went, and more poor folk migrated north to work in the war plants.

The War ended.
Things seemed to be ok, but war work went away and industrial growth began to lag.

Foreign competition grew, especially in the automotive areas. And mechanical inventions encouraged southern black agricultural workers to head north as their jobs were displaced in the south.

And then the judicial system forced school bussing [sp?] on the city and middle class and affluent whites left the city in droves, leaving behind an impoverished and ever poorer population base unable to flee, unable to provide for itself.

A city with a population of millions is now reduced to 700 + thousand – no one really knows how many. Detroit has the poorest census accuracy of any major city in the United States.
No attempt to quote figures here, but the average family income of half the population of the city is – not enough to do the job.

Dear Wife asked what is to be done??

We suspect that there is no solution that can fix the problem.

We suspect that the best that can be hoped for is to suppress the most destructive factors and support the most positive, the most needy, the most helpless.
The city is beyond helping itself.

It has become a client entity, requiring control and funding and protecting from outside – and most of the citizens act as though they have no clue.

Pathetic.
As in medicine, not every illness has a cure.
Sometimes, the best we can hope for is maintenance.
Let’s here it for maintenance.
Even that would be a kind of win for Detroit.

Fourthly, the war in Afghanistan is not going well.
The Commander-in-Chief, b.o., has appointed a commander whom he apparently trusts, since he, b.o., appointed him.
b.o.’s problem is that he, b.o., is beholden to so many liberals, so many ignorant interest groups, that he cannot act on the advice of the commander without dithering and pretending to think and rethink and discuss.

It is our hope that when the rethinking charade is over that b.o. will do as his chosen commander has requested.
We are encouraged that virtually all of the Bush/Cheney national security measures loudly condemned by b.o. during the campaign have been largely validated and preserved by b.o. and company.

We are a resilient people, but we are being tested.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

HOME FROM THE NORTH – UNTIL NEXT TIME

Tuesday morning, just a little after noon.
We rolled into The Study late, ca. 9:00pm with an impossibly overloaded car, two tired humans, and one four legged hairy dog person.

Thank God for a safe trip home.

The Kayla Elise is out of the water; the four boat poles are carefully stacked in camp; and the Northern Camp is winterized and put to bed.

Few neighbors were left in our end of things and we bid farewell to those that were available throughout yesterday.
We’re home a couple of days early, but the weather forecast made the move a good one.

We shopped the area villages day before yesterday for family items and for Dear Wife’s DKG (teacher professional society) auction which will take place in November, just after Thanksgiving.
The sky was alternately partly cloudy, cloudy, and then full of rain.

It was like late fall and it was fun.

And we were saying goodbye for awhile to all our fav stores and storekeepers and streets and parking places and bay fronts and ambience and atmosphere and stuff like that.

And then back to camp to start packing up for the departure yesterday.

Breakfast and lunch were eaten at camp, but dinner was in an eatery in Cedar, Michigan, in which the waitstaff knows us and provides favorite drinks and even suggests fav menu items they think Dear Wife would like to eat.
And they check on Sophie Matilda for us during the meal!!

Now, that is really above and beyond the call of duty.

A highlight during drive home was a brilliant, immense full moon, yellow, high in the sky – we stopped a couple of times and tried for pictures of it.

Not sure how they will come out.
At any rate, home safe and tired and partially unpacked.

Today, bacon/egg breakfast - catching up on what is happening in world and family for the last two days – then off for a hike and then down to Dear Daughter’s home for hello dinner, giving of a few tiny gifts, and the watching of a TV show Daughter recorded for Dear Wife.

How sweet it is!!

A new load of firewood is expected any day – and there is plenty to do around here to get ready for the changing seasons.

Thank the Good Lord for all blessings.

Friday, October 2, 2009

A RAINY DAY IN THE NORTH

Friday night in The North.
It has rained all day.
It is cold.
And it has been a good day.

A few things:
Watched the final episode of the Ken Burns special on the national parks. Of especial interest to us was this last segment in which a significant part concerned Alaska.

We missed the opening editions. Will catch them later.

A sports writer the other day opined that one of the good things about sports is that you can vent all you want about favorite teams and scores and who is or who is not the best at this or that and no one cares a darn – no real good or bad results can come from what is said regarding this or that.

In the Ken Burns special, one especially poignant statement goes something like this [paraphrased] : The wildness of Alaska is neither for you nor against you. Rather, it is unforgiving of mistakes.

Now why would I decide to write of these two back to back? I don’t know. There is a thread there. If it wasn’t so late, and if lots of good things hadn’t happened, I might have the answer.
Will think on it.

b.o. failed to get the games for his city.
He did manage 25 minutes with our commander in Afghanistan.

What a guy!

And how about david letterman!

And whoopy [I know, wrong spelling] goldberg : It is not rape rape.

But then again, how about Sarah Palin? She has a new book coming out pretty soon, ahead of schedule.

We intend to buy it.
As one writer urges, consider the purchase a political contribution, a poke in the eye to the libs.

Read the article re the publication in the American Thinker:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/palins_revenge_whos_laughing_n.html

As one website wrote: Go girl!!

Speaking of Alaska, one of our guides in that awesome state, during an especially long and heavy rainfall, remarked that she loves the rain, that in Alaska it is sometimes referred to as Liquid Sunshine.