66 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 5-3-17”

  1. Good morning. That looks like a book on Napoleon, since he is generally depicted wearing that kind of hat. I always wondered what inspired the weird military hat shapes of that period.

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  5. Well, often the books of that era often had outer decorations that bore no relation to what was inside the book (we have an old copy of Ben Hur which has a cover bearing a flower design and a picture of a pretty girl) so it could well be Pilgrim’s Progress. But I can’t imagine two more opposite characters than Napoleon and John Bunyan.

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  6. Two things left over from yesterday.
    1. In 38 years of marriage, I’ve asked my Hubby to shop on the way home from work for a total of about three times, the third being yesterday. It was an epic fail.
    2. Two feral kitties that were born down in the woods have taken up residence on the side of our house. We put some dry cat food out for them yesterday and I observed a big old blue jay eating it.

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  7. Yes, “Pilgrim’s Progress” it is/was. There seems to have been a 2nd copy as well that I found. The bindings are not in good shape, obviously, and for now I’m packing them all in the acid-free archival boxes until I can examine them more closely later. Throughout this one, however, someone had torn out pages of Scripture and placed them inside in various places.

    Yesterday’s ‘finds’ included a Spike Jones album. But a lot of it now is all just starting to blur together as worker and I stagger toward the finish line battling the sun and heat and dirt and soreness of lifting, moving and (for him) crushing all of the cardboard boxes into flat piles for recycling. I picked up some aloe last night for my sunburned neck (I put sunscreen on but neglected that part of me & was wearing my hair up and a T-shirt with a generous neckline). He hauled off some of the big trash bags when he left last night.

    Today the Salvation Army comes and, aside from the already-prepared bags and boxes I have for them, I will try to convince them to take some of the bags of clothing I was holding for Carol (that she said she no longer can use anyway). I didn’t realize how many boxes of those were in there, and I didn’t wash anything — but the clothes were remarkably clean and seemed unharmed by their stay in my garage.

    I’m just waiting for some daylight to go out and corral some of those things in one place on the driveway.

    I’d love to finish all this up by noon today, but that’s probably overly optimistic. But maybe by 3 …

    I’ll send on some before and after pics as well of the garage after the new door is put on tomorrow. Worker did an exceptional job of organizing and cleaning inside the garage.

    But I am really tired …

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  8. Good morning everyone. I am going to be riveted to the headers now as we all discover the hidden treasures from Donna’s garage!

    I’ve moved so many times in my life there are very few treasures left. However, I have 2 old suitcases containing the children’s artwork and some grade school essays. And I also have a small 12″x12″x18″ trunk that Dad built when he was 10 or 12 yrs old (he’s 91 now). The trunk is filled with my own old essays and tidbits from days gone by—including some postcards Dad brought back from Algiers and Marseilles when he was in the Navy in WWII.

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  9. Oh, I forgot about the trunk with one of our ancestor’s names written on it. 🙂

    Papers, letters, etc. inside but I didn’t explore that at all. If worth keeping (and I’m sure they are), those will have to go into archive boxes, too. As for the trunk, I’d like to clean that up, get the musty smell out of it (it may need some professional rehab, I’ll ask the antique furniture repair guy about it when he brings my bed frame back) and use it inside the house.

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  16. Or I could fly out there and be brutal. What you want others to have go ahead and give it to them. Do you absolutely love it? No? Donate it.
    I talk a tough game. 😉

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  17. Ooooh. I want pictures when the trunk is all fixed and the bed is refinished. I love the antique-ish look, and all the more so when the objects have acquired personal history.

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  18. I think it would be very interesting to read through that old Pilgrim’s Progress and see how the scripture fits in. Was it put there to show where each part of the book fits within a biblical world view or the opposite, in the opinion of the person? Who was it who did that?

    I am sickened by one book, in particular, that was lost when my folk’s things were sold. I know it was one of only three in print. Sometimes I wish I would have been more insistent on waiting, but I really think it would not have mattered. That old book was filled with articles of various family members and things important to my mom. My sister could not care less, yet has all the rest of the memorabilia. My mom is still living, but has decided it is not worth worrying or fussing over.

    Donna, if you have older family members who could answer any of the questions you have on any of this, don’t wait until they are gone to really look at it. We, too often, do that.

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  19. It’s official.

    Not only are cats smarter than dogs, but cat owners are smarter than dog owners too. 🙂

    But us cat owners already knew this. Because we’re smarter. 😀

    http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/healthtrending/science-has-worked-out-who-is-smarter-dog-people-or-cat-people/ar-BBAFFrC?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U452DHP

    ” The results found dog lovers are typically more energetic and outgoing, but were also all about following rules whereas feline fanatics were non-conformists.

    “It makes sense that a dog person is going to be more lively, because they’re going to want to be out there, outside, talking to people, bringing their dog,” says Associate Professor Guastello. “Whereas, if you’re more introverted, and sensitive, maybe you’re more at home reading a book, and your cat doesn’t need to go outside for a walk.”

    But here’s where we get to the good part, what you came here for. The participants were also asked a range of questions to assess their smarts and, sorry to say dog lovers, but cat lovers came out on top when it came to intelligence. Now, before you demand a recount keep in mind this was only a small study so cat lovers, try not to gloat too hard because before you know it this theory might be disproved.”
    ——————–

    Only dog owners would believe that last sentence. 🙂

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  24. Never mind, I see a new photo is up. It wasn’t showing when I came back here since my browser was still open.

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  25. My mom Loved Spike Jones, I’ll take another look at that today 🙂

    And yes, my mom’s second cousin, now in her 90s, lives in Salinas and has done a lot of family research. I’ll be giving her a call once the dust settles.

    The Russells were us (from the note above). I can’t quite make out every word, however. Anyone able to translate?

    So I have a LOAD of bags and boxes stacked on the driveway’s right sight ready for the Salvation Army. And a LOAD of throw-away items all lined up (a larger group) on the left side.

    Actually, while I could/should have done this sooner, the time gap has made it much easier emotionally. It’s not nearly as hard to give or throw away things now as I suspect it would have been even 10 years ago, let alone 20. So there are advantages sometimes to a bit of procrastination. 🙂

    I tossed or gave away much of the Christmas stuff but did come across a box with some really cool wooden and metal ornaments I love, so I’m keeping several of those. Rule of thumb with those kinds of things: If I unwrap them and smile, they’re keepers. If not, out they go.

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  27. Now that was hysterical. I laughed out loud. There are a number of folk who will be receiving this in their email. Thanks, Phos.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. My guess

    Geoge Coatsworth June26th 1854

    Present by George Coasworth to his much esteemed friend Sam Q Russell as a token for his kindness and his (something) want- of appreciation of the Irish character.
    Chicago Dec 11th 1860

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  31. We have stacks and stacks of these family letters and post cards and notes and they are a challenge sometimes to decipher.

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  32. the Real AJ @ 9:57 AM
    “But us cat owners already knew this. Because we’re smarter. ”

    “But us cat owners…” Smarter, huh? And here I thought you were a school teacher.

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  35. I don’t think it’s “reciprocal” – the letters don’t quite compare to where they are used elsewhere. And could the next word be “work” not “want?”

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  36. Linda, I was trying to see the shaping of the letters in other words. The way the “p’s” are written as divided letters, the circle completely separate from the staff. And the “o’s” not being closed on top. The two different shapes used for “r” when at the beginning of a word and when in the middle of a word.

    I think you can see the crossing of the “t” in want though it is off to the right a bit.

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  39. OC weighs in today on intercessory prayer http://www.utmost.org)

    Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. — Ephesians 6:18

    As we go on in intercession we may find that our obedience to God is going to cost other people more than we thought.

    The danger then is to begin to intercede in sympathy with those whom God was gradually lifting to a totally different sphere in answer to our prayers.

    Whenever we step back from identification with God’s interest in others into sympathy with them, the vital connection with God has gone; we have put our sympathy, our consideration for them, in the way, and this is a deliberate rebuke to God.

    It is impossible to intercede vitally unless we are perfectly sure of God, and the greatest dissipator of our relationship to God is personal sympathy and personal prejudice.

    Identification is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with God, it is by sympathy, not by sin.

    It is not likely that sin will interfere with our relationship to God, but sympathy will, sympathy with ourselves or with others which makes us say — “I will not allow that thing to happen.” Instantly we are out of vital connection with God.

    Intercession leaves you neither time nor inclination to pray for your own “sad sweet self.” The thought of yourself is not kept out, because it is not there to keep out; you are completely and entirely identified with God’s interests in other lives.

    Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to fault finding.

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  41. My MIL Mary’s sister Peggy (who died in 1982) was an avid reader. (As for Mary, she almost bragged about never reading a book after graduating high school.) When we brought Mary’s stuff here, I had the pleasure of going through Peggy’s books, & kept quite a few of them. There were some volumes that were very old, apparently passed down to her from others in the family. At least a couple of them were from the late 1800s.

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  42. Roscuro, nine year old (who absolutely loves school) just informed me that she would be learning about “The Dictionary, the Writer’s Friend” in grammar tomorrow. I told her that was wonderful and let her watch the three little pigs video. She loved it. She laughed and laughed.

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  45. Mumsee, This is fun. I was torn about O’s because some are much more closed than that (to, token, Chicago). I agree about the one you think is a P, which is how I came up with reciprocal.

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  47. I download the photo and blew it up. Look at the word we all agree is Esteemed. Now look at the word we don’t know. That would could start with an E. Last letter is an L or a D

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  48. Most performers have a situation that gave them a start. e.g. “Blue Eyes Crying. in the Rain, Willie Nelson,
    If this works, “der Furrier’s Face” is he one that started Spike Jones. It was before we got into the war. I remember thinking it was so funny.

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  49. Oh, you guys are good. I have an entire interpretive team working on my behalf now.

    We are *almost* done.

    Salvation Army came and hauled away an incredible amount of “stuff.” Yay. Most everything is boxed and labeled. Worker — who is a bit methodical and is not super-fast — is still cutting down cardboard, neighbor said we could use their blue recycle bin since my 2 are stuffed, of course.

    I took some more “treasure” photos, will send them on since there’s an interest. Found a book on Christ and the Apostles (mid 1800s) w/ancestor’s name written inside (this one a Ewing, from the Scottish clan) and another book on the various Indian Wars; a couple of my mom’s scrapbooks with lots of pics of Arnold’s Park (the favorite playground where she grew up in Iowa) photos and some of me riding the rocking horse that I think I eventually broke; more sweet school readers from the early 1900s.

    I still have a tote-full of dishes to go through, I don’t think these are valuable — clear glass with star designs on them, my sense is that my mom just really liked them and picked them up at some point probably in the 1970s or so. But there are a lot of them so I should probably keep for now and check on them before giving them away.

    I’m looking forward to getting the new garage door tomorrow, it’ll look so much nicer with that. And just knowing things are cleared out (mostly) with the rest well-organized and labeled is such a good feeling.

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  50. One thing I’m not seeing today is the Spike Jones album, but I’m sure it’s there somewhere … will keep looking.

    Some of my record albums *may* be worth something, I have many from the mid- to later 1960s and 1970s — early Beatles, Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher (cover is autographed) — so I will check those out online as well.

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  51. After the war started, he came out with a song called “Leave the Dishes in the Sink”.
    (e.g. Johnny’s come marching home.)

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  54. It’s DONE

    Well, except for a couple minor odds and ends — I found a box of some of my old stuff (labeling it “early Donna”) from school pics to photos I took while in photography class in college, pics of me at a couple of my past jobs (speaking to the Optimist Club in one of them, posing with the bowling team from the Sears Snack Bar in the another) to photos from some trips to made to NM, Ill., Iowa, Kansas, NY ….

    My mom did have some old McGuffey readers but these aren’t them — I think they may be in a closet in the house; we’ll see when I tackle that job next. 🙂

    New garage door slated to come sometime between 9 a.m. and noon tomorrow.

    Just in time.

    Liked by 2 people

  55. Der Fuhrer’s Face was part of the soundtrack to the PowerPoint played at my father’s memorial service. It came right after the UCLA fight song and before Nat King Cole’s “Love.”

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  56. DJ – I forget if you said you were born after your parents moved to California, or while they were still in Iowa.

    As I’ve probably mentioned before, I was born in Connecticut, & have lived here again since I was 19, but most of my growing up was away from here. 5 1/2 – 8 in Tennessee, 8 to almost-16 in Ohio, & almost-16 to 19 in Wisconsin.

    When I look at those numbers, only fewer than eight were in Ohio, but those were formative years, & the ones I have the most childhood memories from. It seems like I lived there a lot longer than only not-quite-eight years.

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  57. I was born in Los Angeles, at St Vincent’s Hospital (doc who delivered me was Dennis Day’s brother who was married to actress Ann Blythe, I think that made my mom feel we were related to celebrity 🙂 )

    But we visited Iowa often and I learned an early appreciation of corn on the cob. Among the finds today were pictures of my grandmother’s house taken when I was last back there (in the late 1980s). Spent a couple summers in that house which had r/r tracks running right along side it and a dirt road that led to the little market. When I was younger, my grandmother would give me a list to hand to the grocer who then would go pick everything out and bag them for me. My grandmother would pay later.

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  58. I believe Kevin said he also was born at that same hospital (a “few” years later, to be sure 🙂 )

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  59. This was the place to go in our part of Iowa — my mom grew up going to “the lakes” (Lake Okoboji being the most famous) and I roller skated there through the years, getting to stay at the cabins for a special treat. My aunt and uncle (my dad’s brother) met and courted at the Roof Garden dance hall there. Big part of our family’s history.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnolds_Park,_Iowa

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  60. DJ, I wasn’t born at St Vincent’s, but I had my three childhood heart surgeries there. The first was in 1962 when I was five, so we definitely didn’t cross paths there.

    I was born at St Joseph’s in beautiful downtown Burbank, right across the street from NBC studios where Laugh-In made the phrase famous.

    Liked by 2 people

  63. I was able to watch “The Promise” tonight. I was interested because I had not heard of this particular history (as far as I remember anyway!) until we attended a grandparent’s day at a school. The students did a family history project and one of the students had a grandfather who had been enslaved during this time in history. I was surprised to hear such a thing. It is a sad thing to see and to know it happens over and over. Someday, though….Thanks be to Christ.

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  66. I would love to read the letters and b ledgers at Donna’s. The other stuff…
    Not so much.

    I used to love to go up to my grandparents attic and read old correspondence.

    Wonder how Peter L is doing with the flooding in Missouri ?

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