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Our Daily Thread 6-2-15

Good Morning!

On this day in 1793 Maximillian Robespierre initiated the “Reign of Terror”. It was an effort to purge those suspected of treason against the French Republic.

In 1851 Maine became the first U.S. state to enact a law prohibiting alcohol.

In 1930 Mrs. M. Niezes of Panama gave birth to the first baby to be born on a ship while passing through the Panama Canal.

And in 1954 U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy charged that there were communists working in the CIA and atomic weapons plants.

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Quote of the Day

“The director sent for me for Tarzan. I climbed the tree and walked out on a limb. The next day I was told I was an actor.”

Johnny Weissmuller

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Today is Sir Edward William Elgar’s birthday. From The Brioso Brass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UHlHmHiSwtA

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Anyone have a QoD?

53 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 6-2-15”

  1. When I was a kid, Johnny Weissmuller’s story was told as one for young boys to emulate. He was a weak kid, but took up swimming to strengthen himself. He became an Olympic athlete and, finally, Tarzan.
    “Me Tarzan, you Jane.” some of the guys would say to the girls. I never did.

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  3. Good morning. I think I am going to have to break down and go to the doctor today. While I like my doctor, I really hate going.
    I am going to work today. I cannot sit at home and read any more books although I had a good time doing just that yesterday.
    Have you ordered your copy of the 12 Brides yet? See, Michelle can’t harass you about her book, but I can.

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  5. So, where in Cali are Jo and Michelle? I’d so like to meet up next week.
    Donna, we can touch base next week when I know more about my scheduled, but I’d be happy to meet you half way.

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  6. Sometimes the most random things run through your brain. I was just ironing a pair of pants and a top to wear today. The on light went out and came back on a couple of times. I do have a back up iron that came here with Mr. P, but I was scanning back through the years and realized that I have never bought an iron. There was one at home when I was growing up. I inherited an old heavy silver and black monster when G and I got married. We received one for Christmas when that one died. I inherited another when my father died and I think it was the one I was using.
    Anything like that ever pop through your mind?

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  7. Kim, sometimes things pop into my mind that I wish would stay out.
    In the summertime, I often go out at night and sit on my back deck.
    Just sit there.
    And things from the past (I have lots of past) pop into my mind, things I did, said, that I wish I hadn’t.
    The dumb things I did. ” I never dated Muriel…..” “Silly things like that.
    Not all bad. Sometimes I reminisce about near-miraculous happenstances and how I got where I am.
    I have been immensely blessed. And I know that.

    But I fear that my wife is slowly dropping out. I’ve never told you that before.
    We went to the doctor last Thursday and she is diagnosed with “Mild Cognitive Impairment”.
    Nothing serious now. But I have to allow for things.
    When she goes out shopping or to church for a ladies meeting, I follow her on my iPhone.

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  8. Kim, when I moved to Nashville, one of the very first things I bought was an ironing board. Some of my friends thought that was weird. But the ironing board I had in Chicago was old, and they’re too heavy and too cheap to be worth the hassle of moving, so I left it behind and I wanted to replace it.

    But don’t tell anyone this: I haven’t ironed once since I’ve been married. OK, I did once, but just once. Few clothes really need it anymore, and a toss in the dryer is good for some. Most of the time, if it’s too wrinkled to wear, I grab something else instead. I used to iron several outfits at a time, at least weekly.

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  9. Chas, it’s a tough road. I haven’t traveled it with a spouse, but I have with dear friends, and for quite a while my father-in-law wasn’t doing well at all. (We were all shocked at his inability to answer “Name two colors.”) He seems to be doing better, since apparently the problem was related to kidney issues and the current treatment seems to be helping him. But it’s painful to watch it in anyone, and I can only imagine if it is one’s spouse.

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  10. This isn’t quite what Chas was referring to but similar, relating to the funeral I mentioned yesterday (which was Sunday night). Our sons went to elementary school at our church and to the local Lutheran middle-and-high school, where the deceased was also very (VERY) involved. So many of the folks who were at the funeral had been their teachers, school staff, fellow students, and church members, many from waaaay back. They commented that it was like one of those dreams you have where everybody you ever knew showed up.

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  11. I’m an hour north of the Golden Gate Bridge, Linda, and Jo is even further north and east. Fountain Valley is about 450 miles away, but I’d love to see if you if you’ve got time. 🙂

    Thank you, Kim. I was so wiped out yesterday–after not sleeping for the adrenaline Sunday night–I barely registered I had a book release!

    I may or may not do better today after yet another night of little sleep.

    In other horror news, the vintage cat went outside last evening and so I left the slider ajar. Squawking, chirping and basic bird screaming ensued.

    I figured the jays were attacking the nearly 20 year old cat, and didn’t pay attention.

    The cat streaked through the door, across the room and up the stairs. I registered that–it’s been a long time since she’s run anywhere. Most of the time she can barely raise her head to blink, though she’s extremely persistent with yowling at the most impossible times and demanding food.

    Birds continued shrieking, even as she was upstairs, and I shook my head they were so persistent.

    Some odd noises, but I continued reading.

    Later, I discovered a dead bird beside my bed.

    I hate it when cats kill birds but I don’t think mine had done so in 12 years.

    I’m not letting her out this morning. No matter how much she cries.

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  12. I’ve changed my gravatar to the completed 60th anniversary card. In my opinion, it isn’t nearly as pretty as the photo that illustrated how the pattern was supposed to look when complete. (In other words, there were several places I messed up or didn’t do it as well as I could.) I’ve done other pieces I like better, but it is finished and I’m content. If I ever do this one again, I’ll do my own pattern for the embossing and pricking of the “white” center heart (not the one in the very center, but the one between the other ones), since it was a “counted” pattern, and I simply cannot do those. My brain doesn’t work that way. It gave me eyestrain to work on that part, it took several sittings, and I made so many errors I finally decided it looks random and not like a pattern at all, and oh well, no one will see the pattern and they won’t know. And even the parts I did get “right” in there don’t look like the pattern I was copying (I had slightly different tools than the author did), so I’d rather just make up my own pattern that I know I’d be able to do. The rest of it seems OK. I’m criticizing it to you guys, but I won’t to them; I’ll just give it to them and they’ll say it’s pretty and that will be that.

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  15. Sorry to hear that, Chas. Perhaps it will stabilize and, with a few lifestyle adjustments to accommodate it, the condition won’t become any worse. Praying.

    I was thinking fox or coyote, but looks more fox-like.

    Michelle, I had to laugh at the cat-and-bird story. It probably gave her quite a boost in energy, confidence and a renewed purpose to live. She was no doubt proud of herself. My neighbors’ beloved cat Dewey caught a couple rats in their backyard shortly before he began to go downhill. Call of the wild. Cats will be cats.

    Meanwhile, my left rear brake light is out — I’ve had continual problems with the left lights (last time it was the running light & front yellow light that were out — and I’m not sure the running light isn’t also out again, but I can tell from looking in my side mirror that the brake light isn’t engaging on that side). So …. I’ll call the mechanic today. Last time he found a blown fuse that he thought would finally solve the problem (I’ve replaced bulbs a few times and he also replaced the gizmo that holds & connects all the bulbs). But this is seems now like it could be some sort of wiring glitch which I fear may be expensive. 😦 😦 Ugh.

    And from doing an online search a while back, I found that this apparently is something that is known to happen with Jeeps of my car’s era (2007).

    Always somethin’ …

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  16. Chas – I’m so sorry. Although many of us have experienced that kind of thing with parents, it must be especially difficult to go through with the love of your life. Praying for you & Elvera.

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  17. Too late to say good morning, so I’ll just say good day!

    I still have my original iron. I iron a lot less than I use to. I still have the same ironing board, too. I did receive a new ironing board cover from my friend. When I opened into it I could not figure out what it was. I thought it was suppose to be an appliance cover or something to keep food warm? I had to ask what it was!

    Sorry to hear about that challenge you are facing, Chas. Hopefully it will be a slow decline or else can be corrected.

    Glad you CA blog family members are able to meet up. A joyful reunion with known souls!

    I may show as Anon. I am Janice G who is currently enjoying Michelle’s story in the Summer Brides book!♡

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  19. I have no iron. Or wait, maybe I do, somewhere … ?

    In any case, my dryer suffices for my modest, casual clothing needs these days. Extra nice things (which I don’t wear much of anymore) go to the dry cleaners.

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  20. Donna, my brother has his first vehicle, a jeep he bought new while in highschool back around 1970. We were talking this past week about how he had much greater freedom since he had that vehicle to get around in but I did not get my Dodge Dart until I graduated from college in 1976. He said he loved my fire engine red with white vinyl top Dodge Dart. I had selected a dark green one, but it was sold when I went to get it. The red and white was available so I got it because I needed a car. It was a bit showy for my taste. I got the Dodge Dart because it was the Consumer Guide best buy for the year.

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  21. It’s a gray fox, in a zoo.

    If you look closely you’ll see the slightly blurred lines of the cage. But sometimes the camera manages to focus beyond the fence and capture what’s behind it. That’s what happened here. Sometimes you just get lucky I guess, because all the other pics I took of him the fence is obvious.

    I’ve got some shots of Mexican Grey Wolves too that are nice.

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  23. She is fine now. She just forgets things. She still drives locally. I check on her often. Chuck and Elvera’s sister worry a bit. I tell them that I will care for her.
    And I will.
    The doctor sais that this doesn’t always degenerate, but often does.
    But everything is fine now.
    I appreciate your prayers. Lots of us are praying abut this.

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  24. In those courses I did last year, I ended up doing a lot of research on Robespierre. I had to write an essay on him for History. I like to get as close to the source as possible, so I read several of his speeches. In the poetry section of my English course, I was told to write a narrative poem in dramatic monologue. I found Robespierre’s character, as displayed through his speeches, so intriguing that I decided to write the poem in blank verse, based on his biography and his speeches, as if he were speaking just before his own execution. At the beginning of his career, he spoke against the death penalty, but he was so fanatically devoted to the cause of liberty, that he was willing to sacrifice all his nearest ties to get it. He infamously sent his childhood friend, Desmoulins to the guillotine for daring to criticize the Reign of Terror, and let Desmoulins wife be sent to follow her husband.

    Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!
    I die at dawn, but night has come to France.
    I was not named a tyrant at Arras.
    The Incorruptible, they called me then.
    The advocate for poor, obscure, unknown.
    Elect to Third Estate, I went in hope
    That our complaints to General Estates,
    At last were given voice; but we were gagged,
    And given a mere one vote for all the Third.
    The First and Second ‘states outnumbered us.
    Nobility and clergy privileged
    To keep their word united, drowning ours.
    But we would not be silenced, then or since.
    Undaunted, in a tennis court, we met
    And swore an oath that we would not disperse
    Until the king would hear our voice combined:
    “We all are born, remaining equal, free.”
    He did not hear, he would not hear our cry.
    But Paris heard, and they replied with force
    Against that fort of silence, Bastille prison.
    The dawn had come and France arose.
    We wore a badge above our hearts
    Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
    Or Death, some said, but I would not agree.
    Was not the sentence ‘Die’ from tyranny?
    The Girondins would have us bring our dream
    To all of Europe, crying war on kings
    But, “No one loves an armed messenger”.
    In spite of all I said, the Gironde won
    And France’s soldiers turned and fled the foe.
    The king, he too, had tried to flee, from France.
    Inside our borders, royalists shared plots,
    With émigrés in foreign courts, and said
    “Restore the king.” Those enemies pressed hard.
    I led the Jacobins – the Mountaineers
    With Danton, Desmoulins, Marat, who cried
    That we should kill them all, before they fled.
    The Paris mob agreed, they seized the king.
    Nobility in chains were massacred.
    I knew the time had come for death,
    The fatal guillotine secured for France
    Republic free from king and royalist.
    We formed a Committee, which I led,
    Of Public Safety, as to guarantee
    Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.
    But then Marat was slain by one Corday.
    It wasn’t enough that “Widow Capet” died.
    The Girdondins, who compromised too much,
    Were, in necessity, removed and killed.
    Madame Roland, that witch, among the rest.
    “In peacetime, Virtue forms democracy.
    But, without Terror, it is powerless.”
    In joy, we Jacobins, joined with France,
    To celebrate Reason and Liberty.
    Our noonday sun might have forever shone,
    If Danton had not said we went too far.
    Then Desmoulins, my friend, he wrote critiques.
    Of our Committee’s safety policies.
    Then, when I asked, he would not burn the press
    Quoting Rousseau, “The flame is no reply.”
    He had to die, also his wife – friend Danton too.
    For he, Supreme Being, would have them all,
    The enemies of our Republic, cease.
    It is those foes who call me tyrant now.
    My sole devotion was the Republic!
    I covet nothing, not even my life.
    I would not watch the dusk that comes to France.
    The army which I helped to build will rise
    And from their ranks, create an emperor.
    I say the truth to him here, “Thou shalt die!”
    As I do now. I face the guillotine
    For Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity!

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  25. I am also sorry Chas.
    I have had a relative go through it, A friend brought her grandmother to live with her for as long as possible and used to keep us in stitches with Adventures With Golden Girl. That is until it became too much and too dangerous to keep her at home.
    So I am saying from my observations there will be sad times and a few humorous situations tossed in. Keep a journal so that when the doctor asks you questions about different situations you will know the answers.
    Isn’t technology great that you can follow her on your iPhone? That has to give some ease of mind..

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  26. It is still morning here…so good morning!! Beautiful photo AJ….but I’d wager that if I stuck my hand through the fence, that sweet thing would bite my hand off…or perhaps he would just run away 🙂
    Praying for TSWITW…. ❤ I still don't understand how to follow Paul on his phone…he did show me once…but I forgot where to go and what to click…just like passwords…I end up changing my passwords all the time because I just cannot for the life of me remember all those usersnames and passwords…and Paul insists you never ever write them down….how am I supposed to remember all that information?!

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  27. We have red foxes where I live. They mostly stay on the nature preserve, in the canyons & along the undeveloped areas along the coast, etc. But once in a while they’ll meander into a neighborhood. I’ve not seen one but someone posted a photo on FB a while back of one standing in their driveway.

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  28. We have foxes here in the forest too….they like to snack on the cats around here….and small dogs…and bunnies..we want them to stay away 😎
    I have an iron and ironing board….I rarely use them….if an extra go round in the dryer works…it works for me!

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  29. Our foxes are really small, although I suppose they could go after cats. Coyotes are more of a predator concern when it comes to pets here right now.

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  31. Worth reading on the Duggars:

    http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2015/06/02/the-duggars-and-the-evil-outside/

    ” … The problem for Christian parents isn’t in the desire to shelter children; it’s in the warped perspective that such sheltering can foster. … We begin to believe that sin and rebellion is a problem outside of our home, not inside.”Sin is not primarily something we need to be sheltered from, but delivered from.Trevin Wax offers some thoughts on parenting, wisdom, and the limits of ‘sheltering.’ “

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  33. Donna,

    Your Cali. foxes are small because they’re the more liberal, greener foxes. They stay small so that they use less natural resources and are more friendly to the environment. 😆

    I hear many are actually vegans as well. 😆

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  34. Donna – I’ve heard Christian parents say that they’d rather have their children rebel openly than rebel secretly. Open rebellion can be dealt with, but secret rebellion can go on unknown too long, causing more damage to the child’s spiritual health.

    My husband has said that he was a “good Catholic boy” on the outside, but not on the inside. His parents had no idea what he was up to.

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  37. A few weeks ago, on our walk, my mother and I saw a red fox. I caught sight of it first, running across the open field to a small thicket on the edge of the road. Two ducks came quacking up out of the thicket, and we wondered if the fox were after their nest. Next thing we knew, the fox had bolted across the road into the forest. A murder of crows followed after, cawing raucously. We weren’t sure if the crows were trying to drive the fox away, warn everything else of its approach, or hoped to pick the bones of the fox’s prey.

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  39. Michelle, that is very interesting. People accuse my generation of not leaving home soon enough, but how can you leave home if you have no work? I could have guessed that the Middle East and North Africa were bad – where I was in West Africa (not very far from North Africa) the employment situation wasn’t good, even for those who had got an education. I have been hearing reports about the near slave labour in places like Dubai and Qatar, where they prefer underpaid migrant workers from East Asia to employing their own people; but then the Middle East has always used slave labour. As for myself, I’m wondering if the world’s expectations for a responsible adult are not God’s expectations for me. I certainly couldn’t keep a job right now.

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  40. Laughing after the fact about nancyjill’s 2:17 comment — almost sounds like she goes after those foxes with an iron and ironing board (although a spin in the dryer usually does the job)

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  41. If you hate mowing the lawn — or paying someone to mow it for you — check out this from Amazon:

    This is really so awesome.

    “Once upon a time, Amazon was just a simple site selling books online. Then it expanded its offerings to include clothing and accessories, beauty and grooming products, hardware and electronics, movie streaming, grocery delivery, and virtually every product under the sun.

    “Now, you can add goats to that list. ..”

    http://www.kcet.org/living/homegarden/animals/looking-for-a-new-lawn-mowing-service-try-renting-goats-on-amazon.html

    Oh wait. We don’t have lawns out here anymore.

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  43. AJ, I’ve discovered that trick, too, with animals at the zoo behind bars. I zoom in and out until the bars visually disappear. Sometimes I just can’t get it to work, but usually I can.

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  46. And this: “Because of their size, their relation to dogs, and their somewhat exotic nature, foxes are sometimes sought out as companion animals. This is a bad idea. …”

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  48. I saw a fox this morning on the way to work! So cute – love them.

    I’ve also seen lots of black bears about 2 miles from our place this year – at least one a week. One was a mama bear with 2 adorable cubs. 🙂

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  50. Day 2 w/o a computer so I am using the Kindle. It doesn’t always want to connect to our wi-fi.

    Funny story: D3 wants a car so we went out yesterday. She was driving along and I reminded her that the speed limit was 30mph. So she speeds up and I see the speedometer getting up in the 50+ range. She was looking at the tachometer and wondered why I thought she was speeding.

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  51. And she’ll have fun, fun, fun, ’til her daddy takes the TBird awa-ay

    Annie happily brought a mouse in for a visit tonight so now it’s a live cat-and-mouse reality show in my living room. Annie’s stalking the space under the sofa where apparently the mouse has taken refuge.

    Fun times. No sleep for Annie tonight.

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  53. Ok, I’m locking myself in my room, leaving the cat to do her job in the living room for the night. There have been a few skirmishes (I’ve yelped out loud twice) but the mouse manages to escape Annie’s paws and jaws yet again and go into hiding. I feel sorry for him, the cat is obsessed and chases and stalks with great concentration. The mouse squeaks and I yelp, but I don’t think I can catch and save him at this point. 😦

    I wouldn’t feel bad for him if he’d come into the house on his own as an invader, but he didn’t ask for this, he was kidnapped by the cat who brought him inside surely against his will.

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