There is a cherry tree in the back of the property where my office is located, which is in full bloom right now. The limbs of the tree hang over the parking spaces and one of the limbs of the tree is diseased and shows the ravages of time and weather and parasite. Nevertheless, the tree is now in full bloom with tiny white blossoms with a pink tinge and the bees and other flying things swim through the air around the blossoms. Today, Cindy and Kate drove up to pick up something to take to Dunwoody and say goodbye to me before they left. Kate parked right beneath the tree and I walked up to the passenger side of the car and found myself kissing Cindy beneath the blossoms and among the buzz of the bees. Spring was personified there in the shadows of the tree limbs. The tree is old and is suffering from time's ravages, but it also shows its life quite sweetly at the back of the property.
The blooms of the saucer magnolia are mostly fallen, and the pink and white of the blossoms are fading. For several weeks the saucer magnolia was the primary recipient of Spring's coming and showed the life bursting out on its branches even when it was cool and wet and more Winter-like in feel and impression. Now many, if not most, of the blossoms have fallen onto the concrete parking lot and have provided a thick, slick blanket beneath your feet when you walk to your car.
Today I noticed the blossoms coming out on the dogwood beside the port-cachere on the side of the house. They are early and light green and don't show the full beauty of their glory. On the other hand, there is something tender and sweet about the small green crosses opening on the thin branches. It is ironic that these little green crosses are so early in their development when tomorrow is Maundy Thursday and Sunday in Easter. It seems almost inapropriate that the blossoms are so early but I guess Easter is early this year.
It is time to start cutting the grass and raking the fallen leavings of Winter and early Spring.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Costly justice
I knew a man who harbored a dispute
With his next door neighbor,
Who fumed and spat upon the ground
In consideration of all that seemed so wrong
As a result of the selfishness and meanness
Of this unrepentant sinful neighbor
But fearing the cost
Of hiring an attorney
He sought Dame Justice
Without the assistance
Of learned counsel
And seeking his own counsel alone
In the end he suffered
The loss of everything for which he prayed
For want of the knowledge
He found a bit too expensive.
With his next door neighbor,
Who fumed and spat upon the ground
In consideration of all that seemed so wrong
As a result of the selfishness and meanness
Of this unrepentant sinful neighbor
But fearing the cost
Of hiring an attorney
He sought Dame Justice
Without the assistance
Of learned counsel
And seeking his own counsel alone
In the end he suffered
The loss of everything for which he prayed
For want of the knowledge
He found a bit too expensive.
Alexander Pope on justice
Once (says an Author; where, I need not say)
Two Trav’lers found an Oyster in their way;
Both fierce, both hungry; the dispute grew strong,
While Scale in hand Dame Justice pass’d along.
Before her each with clamour pleads the Laws.
Explain’d the matter, and would win the cause,
Dame Justice weighing long the doubtful Right,
Takes, open, swallows it, before their sight.
The cause of strife removed so rarely well,
“There take” (says Justice), “take ye each a shell.
We thrive at Westminster on Fools like you:
’Twas a fat oyster—live in peace—Adieu.”
Pope—Verbatim from Boileau.
This, perhaps, is the concern of most people, who, having a beef with another, are afraid to hire an attorney to represent them, lest they lose all they seek to their counsel.
I have a friend who was injured in playing a game he enjoyed. After his injury he was taken to a hospital nearby and the physicians operated on him in order to correct the damage he had suffered. Afterward, he continued to play and further exacerbated the damage he already had. As a result, he was permanently marred with an injury which remains today as a reminder of his youthful participation in games. I assume he is unable to participate in games these days for his desire to continue playing games in his youth. Thusly, his desire to play games, to his peril, took away his ability to play games. At least the ultimate result was ironic.
Whose fault is this? Like the hungry travelers, we cannot resolve the dispute ourselves, and in our anger, we continue the dispute in such a way which prevents our future attempts to continue the argument. It is perhaps easy to blame the law. However, it is justice that, given a situation in which both disputants sought the whole, neither got any of it to the detriment of the other. Equally, they both received an equal share of the dross: she shell. That was justice, I suppose.
Two Trav’lers found an Oyster in their way;
Both fierce, both hungry; the dispute grew strong,
While Scale in hand Dame Justice pass’d along.
Before her each with clamour pleads the Laws.
Explain’d the matter, and would win the cause,
Dame Justice weighing long the doubtful Right,
Takes, open, swallows it, before their sight.
The cause of strife removed so rarely well,
“There take” (says Justice), “take ye each a shell.
We thrive at Westminster on Fools like you:
’Twas a fat oyster—live in peace—Adieu.”
Pope—Verbatim from Boileau.
This, perhaps, is the concern of most people, who, having a beef with another, are afraid to hire an attorney to represent them, lest they lose all they seek to their counsel.
I have a friend who was injured in playing a game he enjoyed. After his injury he was taken to a hospital nearby and the physicians operated on him in order to correct the damage he had suffered. Afterward, he continued to play and further exacerbated the damage he already had. As a result, he was permanently marred with an injury which remains today as a reminder of his youthful participation in games. I assume he is unable to participate in games these days for his desire to continue playing games in his youth. Thusly, his desire to play games, to his peril, took away his ability to play games. At least the ultimate result was ironic.
Whose fault is this? Like the hungry travelers, we cannot resolve the dispute ourselves, and in our anger, we continue the dispute in such a way which prevents our future attempts to continue the argument. It is perhaps easy to blame the law. However, it is justice that, given a situation in which both disputants sought the whole, neither got any of it to the detriment of the other. Equally, they both received an equal share of the dross: she shell. That was justice, I suppose.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The end of the day
It was a beautiful day and Kate went to the grocery and made a Southwestern style salad with black beans and avacados for a congregational supper at church. We went to church and ate with a lot of folks and a few new people were there and no one seemed to be cleaning the kitchen afterward so Cindy and Kate and I pitched in and used the kitchen hardware to clean the dishes and silverware after the meal. That kitchen is amazing. I wish I had a kitchen like that. Man. It's not pretty but it has all the bells and whistles.
Afterward, Cindy and Kate decided to join me for choir practice and it was fun to have the girls with me in the choir room. We are all singing on Maundy Thursday and Easter. That was fun.
Tomorrow we will have community group and I am making shrimp and grits for the group. I am using Paula Dean's recipe which has two main things going for it: it is very simple and the combination is really excellent. I have had so many versions of shrimp and grits over the years and the best are so simple. Seafood needs to be simple. What is better than raw oysters? You just need a little hot sauce and a garbage can for the discarded shells. And a cold beer.
I think I am going to drive myself crazy here if I go on any further with this line of blogging. I think it is time to turn it off and finish for the evening.
Afterward, Cindy and Kate decided to join me for choir practice and it was fun to have the girls with me in the choir room. We are all singing on Maundy Thursday and Easter. That was fun.
Tomorrow we will have community group and I am making shrimp and grits for the group. I am using Paula Dean's recipe which has two main things going for it: it is very simple and the combination is really excellent. I have had so many versions of shrimp and grits over the years and the best are so simple. Seafood needs to be simple. What is better than raw oysters? You just need a little hot sauce and a garbage can for the discarded shells. And a cold beer.
I think I am going to drive myself crazy here if I go on any further with this line of blogging. I think it is time to turn it off and finish for the evening.
Last step turnaround
I just found out that this singer/musician had gone to music school and was working toward some degree or some certificate or other and he withdrew within one credit of graduating and getting his degree or certificate or whatever, and I know that Ashley Judd did the same thing at UK, even though she is quite smart and loves Kentucky and is constantly being seen at UK basketball games and such and the camera loves her and she couldn't be a better ambassador for the school and the team, because she is smart and pretty and talented and she smiles in the crowd and the camera loves her and she is all dressed in royal blue, as is some Kentucky royalty and I wonder what made her quit at the precipice and I realize that it is not like she needs the degree to get parts in Hollywood and this same musician doesn't need the degree or certificate or whatever to play the piano or drums or write the music and the lyrics but geez what is the deal why couldn't they just complete the task and get the paper to hang on the wall and please their parents a little bit, but I guess their parents are pleased but you've got to wonder if something in the back of their minds is just wishing they had finished the task just for the sake of it, but on the other hand its their lives, respectively, and whose to say what they should have done, but on the other hand it is kind of a waste to get that far and just stop.
Psalm 147
Psalm 147:1-11
1Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
6The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
7Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
8He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
9He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
10His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
11but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
This psalm was on the Presbyterian church devotional site for this morning and it spoke to me and I just wanted to include it here. We have suffered through so much rain and dreary skies over the past few months and we have received our share of snow and cold. I do understand that all of these differences in precipitation and temperature are necessary to the overall health of the planet, but at the same time when you are faced with a tree full of pink blossoms and a sky devoid of any clouds, compeletely dressed in baby blue, it is easy to consider the beneficence of God and the wonder of our world, His creation. At times like these we should stop and recognize His steadfast love for us.
1Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
6The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
7Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
8He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
9He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
10His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
11but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
This psalm was on the Presbyterian church devotional site for this morning and it spoke to me and I just wanted to include it here. We have suffered through so much rain and dreary skies over the past few months and we have received our share of snow and cold. I do understand that all of these differences in precipitation and temperature are necessary to the overall health of the planet, but at the same time when you are faced with a tree full of pink blossoms and a sky devoid of any clouds, compeletely dressed in baby blue, it is easy to consider the beneficence of God and the wonder of our world, His creation. At times like these we should stop and recognize His steadfast love for us.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Jefferson Davis Memorial, Fairview, Kentucky
I haven't visited this place for a very long time. Right now, I am planning on driving up to Clarksville around the middle of April for a fair. Perhaps, I will drive up to Fairview for a look when I go. I remember when I was a child driving along the two lane highway toward Bowling Green and coming across the obelisk along the road. It was impressive to a child. We usually had a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a picnic lunch when we went. I can only remember one time when we went up into the monument to look out the windows at the surrounding countryside. It is not much of a memorial, but it was historically significant since it marked the birthplace of Jefferson Davis, who was a hero of the Mexican War, Senator from Mississippi, Secretary of War under President Pierce, and President of the Confederacy.
The place where it sits is a small village on the edge of Christian County, but it was surrounded by quite pretty farmland. There was a Baptist church which sat on the site of the small inn operated by Davis's father, and which was donated to the Baptist church by Davis toward the end of his life. One time, when we were driving to Russellville, we stopped at an antique store on the corner where the state park sits and I found a collection of political buttons which included buttons for JFK, LBJ and Harry Truman. Obviously at Democratic collector. I do remember seeing a "Keep Cool with Coolidge" sign at the Morgan's house in Princeton. Other than Uncle David's mother, I didn't know too many Republicans back then, or at least it never came up in polite company. Now, most of the children and grandchildren of those old Democrats are Republicans. I don't think much changed other than the label.
Nevertheless, it is a sentimental little picture and reminds me of picnics and visits to the countryside from my grandmother's home in Hopkinsville.
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