To Eke Out a Living, or a Name
So here's a fun bit of philology I learned today: "nickname" had the word eke in its forefront until people added the "n-" syllable because that happens with words that start with vowels sometimes. "Eke" means "to lengthen," but in contemporary English it's always used in the phrase "to eke out a living," so, to stretch. Well, people stretch names sometimes too, adding to them something of their own.
Glowing with Pride
Those of you who aren't fathers may not understand this, but bear with those of us who are. Today my son, in whom I am well pleased, was almost arrested on his college campus. This was because he was carrying a hatchet, which the campus police chose to interpret as a weapon instead of a tool. He stood his ground about it, made them apologize and give him back the axe. He was completely right about the law on this subject, which gives substantial leeway to the police but nevertheless does not forbid carrying a tool that might possibly be used as a weapon.
My wife doesn't get this, because in her mind if you were only a little more careful about obeying the rules -- staying clearly inside of the lines -- there wouldn't be any trouble, and peace and order would be maintained. I love her, but she's wrong. The only reason any of us are free at all is that someone held the line, right at the edge, and made the powers that be back off and respect the limits.
I've never been more proud. Not of anything I've ever done, nor anything at all. I doubt my father was ever this proud of me. I'm writing this down in the hope that someday he'll read it and know how proud he made me. I tried to tell him, but words are passing things.
Ulysses, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Happy Veteran's Day
It was a good ride when you were young enough to do it; best of luck to the kids doing it now.
Merit
From a history of Henry II. of England in a Gutenberg project:
[A]s king and chancellor [Beckett] were riding together through the streets of London one bitter winter's day, they saw a poor old man clad in rags. Turning to his friend the king said, "Would it not be a meritorious act to give that poor old man a warm cloak?" The chancellor agreeing that it would indeed, Henry exclaimed, "You shall have the merit of this worthy act!" and seizing Becket's magnificent fur-lined cloak, after a short struggle secured it and flung it to the beggar.In other news, eight Democratic Senators were assisted in performing a worthy act in agreeing to unfreeze SNAP benefits, after a short struggle.It reminds me of a report a few years ago of some Marines assisting an obstreperous fellow to regain his composure.
A packed season for Constitutional issues
This is an excellent list of the dozens of cases stacked up in front of the Supreme Court at present. Not an analysis of the issues and prospects, just a handy summary of the general topic.
Music Inspired by C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters"
So my son was headed to a concert tonight, and it turns out the album he was listening to by the group- The Oh Hellos- was inspired by C.S. Lewis "The Screwtape Letters". This piqued my interest, and turns out the music is pretty good!
A couple tracks from the album "Dear Wormwood"-
Soldier, Poet, King
Thus Always to Tyrants
Enjoy!
A new year
It is my birthday today--I am 69--and my expanding squad of dog helpers are spontaneously uniting in an aimable conspiracy to supply me with cakes of various sorts. My dear husband gifted me with flowers and dog paraphernalia, in addition to which he is preparing Chicken Marengo for dinner, a particular favorite. He also, bless him, continues to acquiesce gracefully in my impulsive undertaking to fund my neighbor's custody lawsuit, which I consider a substitute for anniversary, birthday, and Christmas gifts for the duration. I need to see that child safe and would be in a spot if he objected.
I am taking advantage of my birthday-girl status by lounging all afternoon with one of my dogs and doing a great many Gutenberg pages in the interesting survey of history that I mentioned earlier this week.
The day also marks the first time in a long while that a troublesome foot ailment has appeared well enough healed to allow me to resume long dog walks. The dogs have been well treated by my helper army in the meantime, but it was pleasant to get back to the routine, particularly since the cooler fall weather finally has arrived. It was good to join my husband again in his morning walk.
You Oughta Learn to Cook
I'm personally of the opinion that we shouldn't provide food stamps to anyone at all, nor health care, nor any government aid. People aren't going to starve to death in America; our problem with the poor is obesity. They'd adjust, and be freer for not being dependent.
But hey, you would benefit from learning to cook. Food will be heathier and better-tasting as well if you learn what to do with it.
This is what happens when we take these basic life skills out of schools. Cooking, gardening, food preservation, and basic butchery are, in fact, survival skills. Without this knowledge, is it any wonder people have this reaction to receiving a box of canned and dry goods?
Having seen its products, I'm not really in favor of public education either. I'd be happy to teach people how to cook, though, on a volunteer basis. I like cooking, and it is amazing how much better life gets when you're possessed of the skill to do it well.
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