On Sights & Smells; Thoughts & Prayers

Once again, Insty came through with what I needed yesterday by presenting a link to a post entitled: I Was In Manhattan 9/11/01, The Sights And Smells Are Still Fresh In My Mind, written by Jeff Dunetz.

At the close of that written recollection of memories and thoughts, Dunetz included a prayer (copied below), in which a blessing of intelligence, honor, compassion and love for the constitution is asked for on behalf of those who lead.  I was taken aback when I read it, unwilling at first to give up my belief in the impossibility of any of those traits showing up in those mentioned.  Not at this stage of the game. 

"The chance of that happening," I inwardly harrumphed (going back to the words at the start of the prayer), "would be as likely as a road in the sea or a path in mighty water!"  It then took another moment to connect Dunetz's mention of going to a synagogue with the dawning awareness the notion and improbability of a road in the sea was probably linked to the story of the parting of the Red Sea as recorded in the Torah.  (With that unusual save, as the story goes, followed by 40 years of wandering around before any promised land was reached!).  At which point I realized I've also seen, in almost 70 years of wandering around, enough unexpected moments of goodness showing up outside and beyond my control to affirm roads and paths can and do turn up in unlikely ways and places.  

One of the scenes that's stayed with me from 9/11/01 involved watching the live feed from a TV reporter who'd run into the studio breathless and covered in debris.  She was close to overwhelm as she took the mic and described running ahead of the dust cloud, and how as it was almost upon her, when a fireman pushed her into a doorway and covered her with his body and coat.  She didn't know who he was, but she believed he'd saved her life.  She was so moved (and in shock) she could hardly speak about it.  There in the midst of all that horror, one unknown person who'd dedicated himself to help and save others, had done so and made a difference.  It was an act of good that mattered and to this day serves as a touchstone and a reminder to me of the difference one person, one selfless act can make. 

Here's the prayer.  Though not my style, I appreciated the focus and opportunity for refocus it offered, and was willing to read it as a request.   

Lord who grants salvation to kings and dominion to rulers, Whose kingdom is a kingdom spanning the entire universe and all eternities; Who places a road in the sea and a path in the mighty waters – may you bless the President, the Vice President, and all the constituted officers of government of this land. May they execute their responsibilities with intelligence, honor, compassion and love for the constitution wonderfully crafted by our founding fathers. May you grant them the understanding that the threat of terrorism still exists, and the knowledge of how to eradicate it from the world you created. May you always bless these United States and provide our leaders with the comprehension of your role in making this republic the land of the free and the home of the brave.

On Unusual Images & Listening to Words

"Images have power, as do words, and while most of the world lives daily in a bath of distraction (social media and otherwise) just now people are paying attention. They’re taking in unusual images. They’re listening to the words. They are being subjected to rhetoric, and not the sort of bombastic, spittle-flecked, politically-motivated and agenda-driven ranting that has become part of our daily dyspeptic fare but a rhetoric of reassurance, offered in calm tones by well-modulated voices — the rhetoric of continuance that is uniquely British in character and pronouncement. Emotion, the cheap and inefficient fuel that drives so much in the 21st Century, is here capped and tucked away. The trumpeters breathe out a fanfare; the Lord Mayor makes a pronouncement; the Prime Minister signs a form in silence. The new King speaks clearly, directly and with a gravity few have expected from him. While his speech is widely praised as being “note-perfect”, its greatest eloquence comes from his blue, narrow-set eyes, which lower at times with a touching humility that catches us off-guard, exposing a controlled yet naked grief each time they are raised. We are reminded that this new-yet-elderly king (who once referred to himself as an anachronism), is after all a man, and one with faults like all of us. He is a man who had a mother and a father who very likely failed him in many ways (as all parents do), giving him acquaintance with the ache and confusion of a love that comes with lessons, and even with expectations.

It is the love that trips all of us up, whether we are parents or children — the love that gives all of us a soft underbelly of vulnerability to each other and (if we are lucky) keeps us human, and humane. One needn’t be a monarchist in order to be moved by the recognizable signs of grief that are common to all of us."

From the Anchoress, on The Power and Value of Words, received via a recent link on Insty.  

Boris also managed to sort-of control his hair and deliver with dignity another set of appropriate and powerful words, in which he acknowledged personal grief, recognized the sense of loss the British Nation was experiencing, and conferred honor as he expressed his regard for the character of the Queen and the historical role she served in their Constitutional Monarchy.  

From Hells Heart I Stab At Thee

 Stop starring at my tits!

On Big & Little Deals

Powerline came through with a set in their God Save the Queen Edition this week that made me smile and nod along until I reached the Close to Unbelievable photo at the bottom of this post which fell into the Wonders Never Cease category of Big and Little Deals.  It solicited a burst of outright laughter and left me with a lingering sense of OMG incredulity.   

"This week in tablecloth fashion: she’s either running again, or hiding the Lindberg baby."

On closer inspection, do those bursts bear a striking resemblance to Covid Balls???  How weird is that? Who you gonna believe?  Her, or the sick patterns surrounding her as she parades around looking like a walking symbol of toxicity and outright lies?   And the hat???  That alone warrants another chorus of Ding Dong when this sideshow posed as the main event come to an end.  

On Different Angles & Points of View

 

These are the two photos I saw used in online articles yesterday and today, with the second showing up in a memorial collection presented by a prominent British paper.  My favorite of this series, however, reveals something good in both of them, portraying a moment of what appears to be genuine delight and shared laughter. 

 

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

On Priorities & Strategy

 

House of the Dragon - Tourney Jousting

The first few episodes have been ok.

The jousting in the first episode was particularly well done. They spent a lot in the pilot which is not reflected in later episodes. But it is easier to follow than the original GOT. So, there's that.

I will keep watching for now. 

Abe Vigoda on ee cummings

 

mr youse needn't be so spry

concernin questions arty
each has his tastes but as for i
i likes a certain party
gimme the he-man's solid bliss
for youse ideas i'll match youse
a pretty girl who naked is
is worth a million statues

but i don't care

because i look like jim from the office

in my younger days.

Sailing

 This is what Gavin McInnis has been doing. Some thought he was under arrest. Only his development as a man has been arrested:

On Small & Large Realities from There to Here

 Sometimes it takes awhile for the humor to percolate and filter through the initial dismay, disbelief and sense of disempowerment I experience in the face of the political distortions, twists and gaslighting currently being used to deflect from reality these days.   Though I wasn't in the mood to do much laughing over the joke of the nonreducing Inflation Reduction Act when it was first approved, these two from Powerline's Week in Pictures: Leni Riefenstahl Edition, made it through today as hitting the mark, along with my appreciation of scale with regard to other small and large realities.

On Weapons, Wallpaper & Loose Cannons

 

Elsewhere, the word malevolent comes up as a descriptor:

Definition of malevolent

1: having, showing, or arising from intense often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred

2: productive of harm or evil

Breaking news

I hope Trooper can withstand the shock:

On Prepping for Prime Time & Unity, You Fascist