Five Quotes, vol. xxiii (and a France update)

 

It's been quite the week in France with terrorism and rising coronavirus cases causing the filling up of ICU beds.  And this Friday finds us once more under the second nation-wide lockdown of the year until at least December 1, but many expect it to be extended.  President Macron wants to get the number of new daily cases down to 5,000.  This past week they've hovered between 40,000-50,000, so the December 1 date seems unlikely; however, the government also really wants to keep the economy moving, so we shall see.

Lockdown in France means not leaving your house except for doctor visits, essential groceries, and an hour of daily exercise within one kilometer of your house, and when you do leave you have to have a form filled out with one of those stated reasons selected or risk a 135 euro fine.  People will be working from home if at all possible, with the main difference from the spring being that children will still be going to school.  Houses of worship will be open for people stopping by to pray or sit quietly, but no services will be allowed.

It all feels very sudden.  President Macron addressed the nation Wednesday night.  I don't think my mind has quite had time to wrap around it all yet and what it means for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Of course we already knew these holidays would look different, but now we have the official verification that for the first time in many years we won't be hosting a crowd for Thanksgiving.  We do still have Noreen, though, so that is good.

But on to this week's reading!  They are overwhelmingly about walking in Paris, which feels appropriate as I did a lot of that yesterday during the last day of freedom, taking pictures of the sites I never get tired of seeing, watching people crowd into cafes for one last meeting with friends.

"You feel at home in Paris because the things that you care about--strolling, thinking, loving, creating--are built into the fabric of the city."

- A Writer's Paris, Eric Maisel

"The flâneur is an observer who wanders the streets of a great city on a mission to notice with childlike enjoyment the smallest events and the obscurest sights he encounters."

- A Writer's Paris, Eric Maisel

"You can stroll in New York but the Tao of New York demands double time.  You can stroll in Los Angeles but the Zen of Los Angeles requires four wheels.  You can stroll in your small town, but you will run out of sights and strolling room in three minutes flat.  Most places are not designed or equipped to support two or three hours of ambling.  It is in Paris that the delicious dreamy strolling of the flâneur can be perfected."

- A Writer's Paris, Eric Maisel

"...a chilly Octoberish smell of cured leaves rose from the ground, the indescribable smell of fall and football weather and the new term that is the same almost everywhere in America."

- Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner

"There is nothing like a doorbell to precipitate the potential into the kinetic.  When you stand outside a door and push the button, something has to happen.  Someone must respond; whatever is inside must be revealed.  Questions will be answered, uncertainties or mysteries dispelled.  A situation will be started on its way through unknown complications to an unpredictable conclusion.  The answer to your summons may be a rush of tearful welcome, a suspicious eye at the crack of the door, a shot through the hardwood, anything."

- Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner

Five Quotes, vol. xxii

 

The Little Apple Bookshop, York, England

Three out of five quotations this week are from Amor Towles' masterpiece, A Gentleman in Moscow.  This was my favorite book of 2019, and I recently picked it up to re-read it.  But after hearing me sing its praises my husband picked it up and understood its genius and delight, and that made me so happy...except then I had to find another book to read.  

"Why do bookstores always make you do uncomfortable things with your neck?"

- Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloane

"He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."

- The Art of War, Sun Tzu

"By broadening your horizons," he ventured, "what I meant is that education will give you a sense of the world's scope, of its wonders, of its many and varied ways of life."

"Wouldn't travel achieve that more effectively?"

"Travel?"

"We are talking about horizons, aren't we?  That horizontal line at the limit of sight?  Rather than sitting in orderly rows in a schoolhouse, wouldn't one be better served by working her way toward an actual horizon, so that she could see what lay beyond it?"

- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

"For after all, if attentiveness should be measured in minutes and discipline measured in hours, then indomitability must be measured in years.  Or, if philosophical investigations are not to your taste, then let us simply agree that the wise man celebrates what he can."

- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

"After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we've just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel?  For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone?  Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli.  By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration--and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour."

- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

Walking on Water

For the past two Sundays K.J. and I have gathered with Noreen in her upstairs TV room to join a Zoom call, live at EIC Rueil, which has just resumed meeting with limited seating.  We sing and listen to the sermon and get to take part in a breakout group with other people watching online to discuss the message.  The first Sunday we did this Parker preached about trusting God in these uncertain times from Matthew 6.  In talking about faith at one point he made a reference to Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water toward Jesus, who was Himself walking on the water toward the boat carrying his disciples.  This reference immediately reminded me of a song I used to love that was on one of those WOW compilation CDs from the Christian music world of my teenage years.  I immediately opened the Spotify app on my phone and searched “Strolling on the Water.”

A song by Bryan Duncan came up, but since I didn’t want to disturb Noreen and K.J. as we listened to the sermon I couldn’t press play yet to confirm that was the song I was thinking of.  I forgot all about it until two days later. 

My song title search was still pulled up when I opened the app.  I pressed play, and I was immediately 19-years-old again, cruising down I-65 South, thrilled by the images the words of this song evoked in my soul.  Music has that effect on you.

Open up my eyes, I pray
Lord, for just a little glimpse of you
That's all I need, it's all I've ever needed
To see beyond myself, beyond this tiny, little world
All your hands have made
With beauty and strength alone
I can see you comin' to me now
Oh, like a shimmerin' light
Shimmerin' light on an open sea
Barefoot on the water
Laughin' at the ocean
Like you were old friends
Callin' out my name
Saying join me now

For some reason the combination of these words and the music paint such a clear mental picture of Jesus, Creator God clothed in flesh, walking on that stormy sea of Galilee with joy, confidence, and strength, because He made this water, created out of His own abundance this entire spinning globe, and He stepped out of eternity, took on our frail skin and bones, and this was it.  This was His time.  He lived and grew in obscurity, and now He was putting into motion His plan to save the world.  And it all started with revealing the power obscured by his humanity to this motley group of men, rowing against the wind on the Sea of Galilee. 

I imagine He loved the moments He could reveal who He really was.  He had great suffering to walk through at the end of His earthly journey, but in this moment, He walked in power atop water, defying the rules of buoyancy He’d created.  I love this picture of Jesus, and I love what He’s calling Peter to do.  He honors the desire that wells up in Peter to join Him, and says, “Come on!” 

Some may find it hard to believe in a happy God, but my mental picture of Jesus in this moment exudes happiness and joy.  He was happy despite the unimaginable suffering that awaited Him at the end of His life, because He owned all this.  This was all His Father’s plan.  History has been written, but He’s invited us to follow His example in stepping into it, in taking our part in the story.

Wouldn’t you be happy if you knew the end from the beginning, had planned it all out in intricate detail, from every sparrow to every king, to every good ruler and corrupt government, to planning where each person would live and when?  I would be happy if I was in charge, if I were big enough and good enough to manage this world.

But since I'm decidedly not either one of those things, it makes me happy to belong to the one who knows the whole story, planned it all out in intricate detail, knows every small, ordinary person, and put in place every leader we like and don’t like to accomplish His plan.  He knows where you are, all the places you’re afraid, and He invites you to trust Him, to believe what He says in His word about who He is and what He’s done.  He walks on the water and says, "Have courage!  It is I.  Don't be afraid."

Five Quotes, vol. xxi

 

No place like your own bookshelves...

Happy weekend! 😊

"Paris makes you feel different.  The ordinary you, the you that has to go to work every morning, the you that has to run a household, pay bills, do all of those things--that you is somehow changed into an exciting, artistic, FULLY ALIVE you.  That's what Paris does."

- Trains and Lovers, Alexander McCall Smith

"Of all the glorious enchantments of this world--spring, snow, laughter, red roses, dogs, books--love is by far the best."

- Harry's Trees, Jon Cohen

"Monty gasped.  No Israelite caught in a sudden manna-shower in mid-desert could have felt a greater mixture of surprise and gratification."

- Heavy Weather, P.G. Wodehouse

"For a moment she'd feared that Herminia Treaumont was one of those uncouth souls who didn't appreciate that a well-used copy of Little Women was essential to an education."

- The Awakening of Miss Prim, Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

"Whatever the benefits of the internet for information gathering it will rarely provide the serendipity of a library shelf."

- Reading Allowed, Chris Paling

October Travel: Hardwick Hall

October can be a stunning time of year to go exploring.  If you manage the right day, you get brilliant autumn sunshine reflecting off the changing leaves.  Everything feels golden.  My online photo storage reminded me last week of one October weekend that was decidedly not golden.  It included nonstop rain dripping down your back and leaving your jeans a trifle on the sopping side.  We remember you fondly, Northumberland.  

But that was not so on this little stop we took on a Fall Break road trip five years ago now.  We were driving south from North Yorkshire to Gloucestershire, and K.J. is the king of finding good places to stretch your legs.  No stop is ever wasted, especially when you're a member of The National Trust.  A year's membership gains you entrance to any property all year long, guaranteeing you beauty, history, and inspiration, as well as a clean restroom on road trips.  Win, win, win.

We didn't take time to walk around inside the house but walked around the gardens where we saw something we've never forgotten, one of the most ingenious ideas we've ever seen:

The park was full of gorgeous, mature trees changing color and dropping leaves.  Both large and small rakes placed all around next to big leaf bags insured every kid spent several minutes doing some work.  Pure genius, I tell you.

Hardwick Hall is in Derbyshire and was built between 1590-1597.  In addition to its splendid trees there are many delightful nooks and crannies to discover in the garden.  If I were Mr. Collins I could perhaps tell you how much the window casings cost.  I have no idea; however, I can tell you the windows are abundant and beautiful.

I don't think I knew this when we visited, but the hall is used as the location of Malfoy Manor in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film.  It was made to look a little more sinister by adding spiky tops to the towers.

The old hall is next door, its windows just as impressive, though they are now missing glass...and the rooms are open to the sky.  There are magnificent views of surrounding countryside to take in before you leave.

I hope you enjoyed a little armchair October traveling.  It made me happy to re-visit Derbyshire through pictures once more.

Five Quotes, vol. xx

  

Vintage Christie's in Hay-on-Wye, Wales

I've been missing sharing each week's compiled quotes lately.  The past two Fridays have been busy and full.  Today was pretty full, too, but my husband is still working downstairs (recording this week's sermon), so I figured I could write a blog post at 10 p.m.

This week I begin with a sentence that made me laugh, and I end with the thesis statement of a book I started today, which may be strange, but...I liked his thesis statement.

Happy reading.

"W.T. was seated in the far corner of the room looking offensively English, with a litter of tea-things on the table before him."
- The White Cottage Mystery, Margery Allingham

"The clang of the closing door came to Sue's ears as she dabbed at her eyes with the tiny fragment of lace which she called a handkerchief.  She was relieved that he had gone.  There are moments when a girl must be alone to wrestle single-handed with her own particular devils."

- Heavy Weather, P.G. Wodehouse

"...God often does not work with the most qualified, but with the most available."

- Own Your Life, Sally Clarkson

"Middle-earth," by the way, is not a name of a never-never land without relation to the world we live in."

- J.R.R. Tolkien, quoted in A Hobbit Journey by Matthew Dickerson

"The central question this book addresses is, What can we learn from hobbits and from their vision of the Good Life, and how does that apply to our own present situation?  In particular, we will look at the hobbitish pursuit and practice of peace, even in the midst of a world at war."

- A Hobbit Journey, Matthew Dickerson

September Days (and Sunsets)

What was September?  September was full of busy days, so it feels fitting that this post is a couple of days late.  That sounds about right.  

It began with E's birthday in the middle of full-on homeschooling with crisp days that felt just like what early September should be.  These days bled into a September heatwave and us following K.J. on a 250-mile bike ride through the middle of France to raise money for a special cause, followed by a few days of rest free-of-charge on a small island.  It was as lovely as it sounds.  It ended with a week of rain showers and preparation for J's birthday, and here we are, on another rainy day eating leftover birthday cake. 

There were many good gifts to enjoy in September, as well as a continued need for wisdom and endurance in a world complicated by a pandemic.  This combination of the delightful and the concerning brings to mind the faith-strengthening words of the hymn Day by Day by Swedish writer, Lina Sandell.

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,

Gives unto each day what He deems best,

Lovingly it's part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest. 

Let us walk into October with the expectation of pain and pleasure, toil and rest, and a good Father who dispenses them both in just the right amount for our good.

September 1 - Tea in the Garden

September 2 - Birthday Burgers in Paris!

September 4 - J starting a watercolor class

September 5 - Perfect Fall Scent

September 6 - True Love taking something off my plate

September 7 - Sunset over the Tracks

September 8 - Last Flowers of the Summer

September 9 - I saw more sunsets this month than I have all year in taking some after-dinner walks.

September 10 - Local Allotment Garden

September 11 - Another Sunset

September 12 - E found this letter from the 1950s in the attic.

September 13 - Church in the Park

September 14 -  Château de Chambord

September 15 -  Château de Chenonceau

September 16 - He's a warrior.

September 17 - 250-Mile Victory Cookie

September 18 - This pink sunset over the water thrilled my soul.

September 19 - A Sunset with my Man

September 20 - Sunday Afternoon Walk

September 21 - Trying to Fly a Kite

September 22 - Hobbit Day Celebration

September 23 - A Rainy-Day Leave-Taking

September 24 - Home Again

September 25 - It's been constant alternating rain and sun.

September 26 - A Walk in the Park when the Sun Returned

September 27 - Two Little Boys in Rain Jackets with Umbrellas (having the time of their lives throwing umbrellas in the air to catch the wind)

September 29 - Family Walk in Between Rain Showers