Another two months have rolled by and here are the recent haiku. All of them were written as comments on comments or on status notes or on photographs or on blog posts or in responses to emails. If you are really curious as to what caused me to write one of these, send me a note and I'll let you know.
Change indicates time --
our minds sort dreams, spaces, thoughts --
make chronologies.
-- Saturday, 5 September 2009
Too much tomorrow
and still lost in yesterday,
too little today.
-- Tuesday, 8 September 2009
The longer our life
the more we look back and see
our escapes from death.
-- Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Only the next cell,
nothing else matters to life,
thinking hastens death.
-- Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Extreme to extreme
Listening is extreme autism
Talking vanity.
-- Saturday, 12 September 2009
Read my mind and found
nothing worth noting in there.
Try reading my eyes!
-- Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Life will not hold still.
You must think about next moves
or be left behind.
-- Wednesday, 16 September 2009
All those images
even in mind imperfect
a will but no way.
-- Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Not always looking,
not always thinking weird thoughts,
not always eye bright.
-- Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Unending wonder
each revelation reveals
mystery again.
-- Wednesday, 7 October 2009
When I see myself
in the lives of those I love,
I can say nothing.
-- Monday, 12 October 2009
Recalling the past --
the good likely not so good,
the bad likely worse.
-- Thursday, 15 October 2009
If dreams are wishes,
what sort of monsters are we
to have such wishes
-- Saturday, 17 October 2009
Years put rings in trees.
Kind words put hope in the heart.
Let love overflow.
-- Sunday, 18 October 2009
True caring occurs
when the gift and the giver
are one and the same.
-- Thursday, 22 October 2009
Masks help us unface
Gory Daze and Glory Days
but we cannot hide.
-- Friday, 30 October 2009
According to some
so many ways lead to hell
maps are not needed.
-- Friday, 30 October 2009
Awake from the night
from unbeing from defeat
to add one more day.
-- Friday, 30 October 2009
Old clothes broken-in
for plain days but for spooking
costumes broken-out.
-- Saturday, 31 October 2009
Halloween sailors
take note that heaven and hell
are almost touching.
-- Saturday, 31 October 2009
Be yourself tonight
to blind those who see you masked
the rest of the year.
-- Saturday, 31 October 2009
Thousands of acorns
give hope for a few new trees,
thousands of words, thoughts.
-- Saturday, 31 October 2009
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood:
calm
I got home from Horse Cave about 6:30 pm Saturday and finished up my poem (yesterday's post).
My home computer is overwhelmed with a scam program trying to sell me a virus remover that I don't need. I don't know when I will get things back to normal there. Probably it will be a new normal as all the programs on the hard drive are ancient and no longer available.
I played for Suggs Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church this morning. I went by my sister's for a bite to eat. Now I am at my friend Bill's to catch up on email.
I think it is time for a simpler life.
- Location:at my friend's in the Cedar City
- Mood:
aggravated
a sonnet
by Robert Stone
The autumn leaves in windy gentle sway
are drifting down upon my head and then
a walnut falls a body length away.
Another nearer comes I know not when.
The music notes in pleasant melody
are lulling all the other sounds and yet
a spoken word breaks up the harmony.
Another louder comes with certain fret.
Unknown companions only sharing shade
are showing neither fear nor hope yet I
Above see lines of phantoms on parade
displaying truth: the end is always nigh.
A warning unexpected takes control
of hidden fears of body, mind, and soul.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood:
melancholy
I got Tom's column Of Writers And Their Books sent off. I have my pills for my New Hampshire visit in a priority mail box ready to mail in a few minutes. I am about to leave for the Heritage Festival in Horse Cave, Kentucky.
Here are a few lines from recent messages sent.
September 16 to Gage:
Be careful when breaking a bad habit. If you don't have a good one to replace the old one, some unknown replacement may show up and it may be something you wish you never heard of.
September 17 to DeeDee:
I just got a poster about Woofstock in Glasgow, Kentucky, this Saturday. It sounds sort like what you are planning for Macon County.
September 17 to Wilmoth:
We never know which of our words will be the ones that people pay most attention to.
September 17 to David:
We are having a very rainy week in Middle Tennessee, especially here in Wilson County where I live. My next door neighbor used to do the reporting for Lebanon to the weather bureau so he knows what he is doing. I asked him a couple of hours ago and he said we had had 7.75 inches of rain in the last couple of days.
September 17 to Ed:
I went to the Lindsey Wilson College website and found that there are more than forty members of the Cycling Team. When I looked at where they were from, I was amazed. That coach must be really doing something right.
September 17 to Ruth:
I don't use sprinklers and I don't have an ice maker. If my water bill went over twenty-five dollars, I would be shocked.
September 18 to Wendell:
I looked up the official Autumnal Equinox which is Tuesday, September 22, 2009 5:18 PM EDT. So if you have an early flight, you will get to see fall arrive in New England. I am glad you can spend a full two weeks. There are lots of things you can do.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood:accomplished
Psalm 89 : 19 - 29
tune: Wer nur den lieben (9,8 beginning only)
You are my Savior and Protector,
You are my Father and my God.
Once I spoke in a vision to my faithful servants.
Indeed long ago you revealed your plan.
I shall make a lad king in preference to a warrior.
A youth shall be exalted above a hero.
I shall make my servant king.
With your holy oil he will be anointed.
My strength will always sustain him.
Your power will surely keep him strong.
He will call to me:
You are my Savior and Protector,
You are my Father and my God.
His enemies will never outwit him.
The wicked will not overcome him.
I will strike down those who hate him.
His foes will be crushed before him.
I will love him faithfully and be loyal to him.
Through your holy name he will be victorious.
I will set his left hand over the seas.
You will put his right hand over the rivers.
He will cry to me:
You are my Savior and Protector,
You are my Father and my God.
I will make him my first-born son.
He will be the most exalted of earthly kings.
I will keep my promise to him forever.
Your covenant with him will never fail.
I will maintain his dynasty permanently.
His throne will endure as long as the sky.
He will say to me:
You are my Savior and Protector,
You are my Father and my God.
© 1993 Robert H. Stone The Cedar City Psalter
The tune Wer nur den lieben (9,8 beginning only) is commonly associated with the words:
If thou but suffer God to guide thee
and hope in him through all thy ways.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: restless
Tuesday and today have been different. One difference has been that I have not sent many messages. In fact I will only mention putting up this comment on a Facebook Status Note by Gage:
Being a friend of Death's probably will keep away people who want to be your friend who you really don't want. -- September 15
When I left for exercise class Tuesday morning it was raining. When I came home there was water in the ditches and low places along all the streets. After doing so much Monday and not sleeping well, I thought I might be really tired but I felt better than I expected.
All went well until a computer program called Advanced Virus Remover managed to hit my hard drive. Pop-ups are coming apace, saying that I have a virus. But I don't have a virus. I ran Norton AntiVirus against the entire hard drive and it found nothing. I ran Ad-Aware which only found two minor things and removed them. This is one of those scams which hopes you will send them money to clean up a problem you don't have. I haven't found a way to get rid of the pop-ups but the other programs are still running. I don't think there will be any problem with my sending email because I still use a program that is so old that it hasn't been updated in years and only a small percentage of emailers use it. I also still have an old version of Internet Explorer so any malware looking for the latest improvements will be looking in vain when it looks at my computer.
Tuesday night was the second rehearsal of the Bert Coble Singers and things went pretty well.
This morning my friend Jay came by. I rode with him to Dunlap, Tennessee. He wanted to find the gravesite of a friend and I wanted to visit my Aunt Minnie and Uncle Avery. We found the marker which was about two miles from my aunt's house.
We left Lebanon about 7:30 am, traveling east on Highway 70 -- Watertown, Liberty, Smithville -- and then along Highway 56 to McMinnville. From there we took Highway 8 which used to be known as the Rifle Range Road to Highway 111 and then into Dunlap. On the way home we went through Whitwell, up the mountain on I-24 and then through Tracey City, Altamont, and Beersheba Springs back to McMinnville and Smithville.
It was raining when we left Lebanon and it was raining when we got home. There were spots where it was not raining. It was not raining while we were looking for the gravesite. On the way home it was obvious that very significant amounts of rain had fallen in Watertown and Cherry Valley, a little community just west. In addition to water in all the ditches, it was standing in all the low places. On about five miles further west the creek was out of banks and the water under the bridge was as high as one would want to see it.
The road going up to Smithville, up Snow Hill, is now five lanes wide. The road going down the mountain from Beersheba Springs is very much like most roads were when I was a small child -- narrow, crooked, and rising and fall with the terrain. Old times revisited!
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood:
anxious
Psalm 89 : 1 - 4, 14 - 18
tune: Dennis
When all the things we do
have justice and fairness as roots,
we shall have lives with steadfast love
and faithfulness as fruits.
You Lord have made a covenant with us.
You have sworn this to your chosen ones.
How steadfast is your love
is our song for all time.
You Lord have joined forces with our leaders.
You have pledged your word to your chosen ones.
How faithful you are
is our proclamation to all generations.
You will establish our offspring forever.
Your steadfast love is our foundation.
You will build up our leaders through all generations.
Your faithfulness is our protection.
Let us never forget your guarantees.
When all the things we do
have justice and fairness as roots,
we shall have lives with steadfast love
and faithfulness as fruits.
Happy are we
who know the joyful shout.
In your love, Lord, we are triumphant.
Happy are we
who walk in the light of your presence.
In your strength beauty is alive inside us.
In your Name we rejoice all day long.
You are the Holy God,
the One who chose us and guides us.
We know who you are -- we know what you do --
in your righteousness we are exalted.
All that we are -- all that we have --
We owe everything to you Lord.
Let us never forget your guarantees.
When all the things we do
have justice and fairness as roots,
we shall have lives with steadfast love
and faithfulness as fruits.
© 1996 Robert H. Stone The Cedar City Psalter
The tune Dennis is commonly associated with the words:
Bless be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: annoyed
Sunday morning I played for the service at Suggs Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Things have changed but no one said anything about the changes. Then I went to the Stone family reunion at Cedars of Lebanon State Park. This was the fifteenth year that George Stone has been organizing the event and he said he was giving it up. I have my doubts about any younger cousin taking on the task.
This morning I saw my neurologist just after 8 am. I planned on getting up early and getting on into Nashville before the morning traffic. His office is near the Green Hills Y so I could stop there and shower and change clothes. I did get away from home very early but unfortunately I woke up even earlier and couldn't go back to sleep.
About 9 am I stopped by the office of my financial advisor who pointed out that one of my mutual funds had gone up 69 percent in the last twelve months. He didn't say what it did the previous three months and I didn't ask. My neurologist's assistant had made an appointment for me with my dermatologist next Monday morning so I am having lunch with my advisor that same day.
I decided to go by Demos' Hendersonville for lunch. Tammie, the manager, was out front and gave me a big hug. On the way home I stopped by Kroger in Lebanon to buy gas -- without discounts they had it at 2.279, the cheapest I have seen in along time. The seasonal flu shots were available in the pharmacy so I got mine.
I wanted to lie down for a while when I got home but I have been doing things.
Not too many emails to browse through.
September 12 to Nancy:
Jean Richardson was the art teacher I took classes from in the 1960s. There is nothing personal about the Cracker Barrel anymore. It is a shame that they felt such a compelling drive to only have commercial items. I think my cousin Sarah used to paint old saws as gift shop items.
In grades one through four at Shop Spring School I had Mary Florence Williams McDonald. Her mother was my first music teacher.
Any physician who thinks he can predict the situation ten years in advance must be claiming some psycho powers as well as medical knowledge.
September 13 to Mark:
I was at a family reunion today and had some "old country" cooking and a piece of apple cake with caramel icing -- made from scratch! I made every effort to appreciate it for I fear that sort of cake may not come my way again.
September 13 to Jessejames:
The present is the one place one realizes that one cannot handle the past and the future.
September 13 to Michel:
I read where the Houston area is having bad weather-related problems due to the drought following hurricane Ike. Here in Middle Tennessee we have had a summer much cooler and wetter than usual.
As always, looking forward to seeing your new artwork.
September 13 to Jason:
Lebanon is so much at hand that I don't pay much attention to it except when something happens. At the family reunion I did chat with a cousin who is only 22 years old. He runs David's pizza about three blocks north of the public square. He was telling me how he makes the sausage topping -- quite a process the way he does it, a lot of work that most places would never trouble themselves with.
I was in Dublin for two days in 1997. I loved it and I am glad that I was there. But I was younger then and I had a wonderful roommate who has since died. I am looking forward to being in New Hampshire but I am not looking forward to the flying up and back.
I have the Coulthart blog in my Google Reader account and I glance through every post. Every once in a while something catches my attention and I do further click throughs. I sent my note about the Schuiten post to a Belgian engineer in Houston. He said that he thought he had some of Schuiten comics stashed away somewhere.
I just sent you my latest blog post (Psalm 82). I think I have put up about 400 posts since I started. I have only missed a few days. I don't really think anyone pays any attention to them.
I am unhappy that you don't blog more, not because I personally need to see things, but because in later years you will wish you had a more complete record of what you were doing and thinking. I think that way now about myself. There are pieces of paper scattered around the house from which one could reconstruct a lot about me but who would go to all that trouble.
Don't say or think that you have to prove anything -- at least not to me. The sermon this morning was: first the vision, then the plan, finally the action. Sounds like creating art just as much as living life -- at least to me. Unfortunately it is a judgment on me who never had much of a vision, never had much of a plan, and whose actions were scattered about, many wasted but a few making important connections.
I don't recall seeing the title "The Balloon Dance" on any of your pieces. Is it Number Seven of the Twelve Day Digital Project? For some reason that seems one of the most difficult of your pieces for me to understand (I don't understand it yet!) but I liked it as soon as I saw it.
At the moment I am much better off than most people. I joke that when you get to be famous and your paintings are selling for tens of thousands of dollars apiece, those two I have will go a long way toward helping take care of me. Of course I believe that my joke will come true and that your work will command high prices.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: exhausted
Psalm 82
tune: Duke Street (8,.,.,8 : first and last lines only)
Arise, arise, O God Most High,
come judge the nations of the earth.
I, the Most High, am the presiding god.
All you divine beings, come now into court.
O God, make them answer for their actions.
I, the Most High, am asking --
How long will you give unjust judgments?
How much longer will this be, O God?
Do what is right for the weak and the orphan.
I, the Most High, am asking --
How long will you show favor to the wicked?
How much longer will this be, O God?
Protect the lowly and the poor.
Knowing little --, understanding less --,
you are only wandering about in darkness.
Arise, arise, O God Most High,
come judge the nations of the earth.
I, the Most High, pronounce judgment.
Are you divine beings at all?
O God, let them fall and die as we do.
I, the Most High, am asking --
Are you ignorant of my creation?
How much longer will this be, O God?
Rescue the week and the needy.
I, the Most High, am asking --
Are you uncomprehending of my order?
How much longer will this be, O God?
Save us from the power of the wicked.
Knowing little --, understanding less --,
you are only wandering about in darkness.
Arise, arise, O God Most High,
come judge the nations of the earth.
© 1995 Robert H. Stone The Cedar City Psalter
The tune Duke Street (8,.,.,8 : first and last lines only) is commonly associated with the words:
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
. . . . .
till moons shall wax and wane no more.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood:
listless
Friday I decided that I had to get a haircut. My previous cut was on July 31 when my barber told me that was his last day in Lebanon and that he was setting up shop in Smithville which is about thirty-five miles away. I decided to go to Bruce Winfree who has a new shop on West Gay Street which is less than two miles from the house. Bruce cut my hair a few times a good many years ago.
Today I have again done not nearly enough.
This afternoon I went to Publix and got potato salad, pickles, and cookies for the indoor picnic at Beverly and Melvin Sloan's at 4:30. I am very happy that it is less than three miles from the house. Melvin's brother Ralph formed a group of square dancers who were on the Grand Ole Opry beginning in 1952. After Ralph's death in 1980, Melvin took over leadership until 2002. Dozens and dozens of photographs of the dancers and of Opry members are on the walls of their house. There were about thirty people there. There was twice as much food as needed.
I brought home pickles which will keep and potato salad which needs to be eaten soon but tomorrow is a family reunion. I guess I can have it for breakfast in the morning.
Again take a look through messages sent:
September 10 to Nancy:
Made up names and stories can never equal true ones. From my days of proofreading names on checks, a few names stand out: Mr. and Mrs. Bucket Tubbs and Mud Lick Food Processors in Kentucky. And Whisper Soft Cattery in Knoxville. Even Charles Dickens didn't outdo those.
My first chiropractor and his wife used to disagree -- he said women gave the best massages and his wife said men gave the best massages.
September 11 to Brian:
I am looking forward to seeing Ace and Idgie and the people I have met in New Hampshire and Vermont. The leaves may be doing their thing when I get there. I have been in New Hampshire on almost every day from September 25 through October 25 at one time or the other. The foliage color change has been different every time.
Yes, everyone has said that I was out of my mind to believe that young artist and I would ever have any kind of relationship and he has been exceedingly uncommunicative. But I never give up when I really want something and waiting two years is no problem... except, when you are nearing seventy, you don't have so many years available to wait.
September 11 to Nancy:
I think that just before Enron collapsed I was worth a quarter million dollars "on paper" but now noticeably less.
You know that I like to see people and I like to talk to them. My mother grew up in a large extended family and I suppose I have learned that from her. I have difficulty with the notion that some people want to set themselves apart and not be sociable. When one is young and beautiful and rich, one can always have the things that appear to be pleasing. When one is older and less attractive and poorer, one probably wishes that more attention had been paid to lasting relationships.
I did some oil paintings about forty years ago. One is a portrait of a lady holding her violin. It is unfinished. I said, it looks like a lady holding a violin and I am quitting while I am ahead.
It is very difficult to critique another's writing because most of us like our own viewpoints and our own techniques so well that we don't easily comprehend something different. I do a little of that sort of thing but only point out obvious mistakes and ask questions and perhaps suggest another point of view.
I don't send poetry off to magazines and such. My poems are now appearing on ColumbiaMagazine but it is at the request of the editor.
The advantage of writing haiku is that they are short. And if the reader doesn't like those seventeen syllables, the reader has not wasted much time.
September 12 to Don:
I told Bert that I was not going on the choir tour to Ireland because I decided that I had rather spend the money commissioning paintings by young artists. It was much easier to tell him "no" when I could tell him something positive that I intended to do instead.
I have always been unhappy with the way most people responded to 9/11 -- acting as if it were the most terrible thing that ever happened. No, the most terrible thing is that we ignore all the little but important things right around us. If we don't smile, if we don't say a kind word, if we don't offer a meal, if we don't pay attention, then we are denying that the image of God is within us.
When the Bible says, Lord, let your face shine upon us, it means, God, smile at us. Our ability to smile at others is part of the image of the creator that is within the created.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: calm
by Robert Stone
There are no terrorists but only those
who hope their victims will be terrified.
The motives prompting those who struck the blows
are never known by those who quickly died.
When many lives are lost so jumbled close,
it seems that Death has come in triumph grand
but Death is pouring out its daily dose
both far and wide and near and narrow planned.
One here one there another down the way
the count is mounting but it stays unknown.
There is no place in charity's survey
for those who die unhomed, unloved, alone.
Remember thousands lost in easy view
but grieve as well those gone without a clue.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood:creative
Supper Tuesday at the Peking Chinese Restaurant was good and the price was right since Bert picked up the tab. Then it was on to the church for the first rehearsal for the Christmas dinner shows.
Wednesday and today have been quiet. I went to the post office for the first time since Friday. There were lots of newspapers, more advertisements than usual, a few things I expected, and a statement from my medical insurance about my last physician visit. I didn't understand anything about what they did or didn't do.
This afternoon there was a short but hard shower just after 3 pm. When I went to my sister's for supper, I discovered that there was less and less rain the more miles I went west.
And now for a look through messages sent.
September 8 to Johnathan:
We used to call that sort of thing "doing a good deed" but I guess good deeds cost money these days.
September 8 to Vance:
Nashville Playhouse was the name of a theater on Harding Road back about 1990 and I suspect the name is still tied up.
If the word copyright was used, the user doesn't know much about the law. One cannot copyright names and titles. I believe the correct term would be Trade Mark.
It probably would be hard to find a name which includes the word Nashville that hasn't already been used -- unless you came up with something very unusual.
September 8 to Keith:
A trip to Horse Cave without seeing you is not complete. I had not heard about movies at the bakery. Every business needs to come up with ways to draw people into its space.
A damp house is a real problem. Thankfully the one I live in has never had that problem. The yard slopes very noticeably from front to back so any water has always drained right down to the back fence which is well over a hundred feet from the house.
September 8 to Sally:
I am home from the first Christmas choir rehearsal. These dinner shows for years now have raised money for the American Cancer Society although for the last few years you could designate the Bert Coble Scholarship Fund at Cumberland if you wanted.
I am interested in too many things and too many people. Life must be easy for people who are only interested in a few things.
September 9 to Sally:
I had a long day Tuesday and everything went well but now I am tired. At least there is nothing that I have to do today or if there was, I have forgotten about it.
Next Sunday there is the unknown of what will happen at church. What will the congregation say about my becoming treasurer? When the new preacher does come, I am afraid it will again be "he can take care of everything." That attitude is what leads to trouble.
Next Sunday afternoon is the Stone family reunion. It is at Cedars of Lebanon State Park, only about seven or eight miles from the house. Aunt Ada, who was 90 last January, called Monday and asked if I were going to be there. I'm glad I got some reminders. The reunion was in October for many years and the first time it was moved up to September, I forgot all about it.
September 9 to Mary Margaret:
I have mailed you another check for Kentucky Repertory Theatre, this one from Vermont. This contributor I first met through MySpace. He runs the Main Street Museum. It reminds me of The Bookstore in Horse Cave except it is not books, except for a few. I think its focus is on discategorizing as a response to our general notion of putting everything in its place. One of my friends doesn't like it but he is really big on his routines and doesn't like them disturbed.
September 9 to Ruth:
Chuck Hinman called today. I had told him "Old Yeller" could not have been the film he saw as a youth. He said he had checked through a diary he kept back then and that he had seen "The Call of the Wild," a 1935 film with Clark Gable, Loretta Young, and Jack Oakie.
I happen to like okra all ways and I don't mind the slick part. I do prefer okra to be small. Okra and turnips generally are much better before they get so large.
I remember when Aunt Minnie came over with spaghetti squash. It was never a big thing at my house. Mother never cooked the old fashioned pasta spaghetti. She only fixed macaroni, elbow or shell. I still prefer other kinds of pasta over spaghetti.
Mother would put tomato in macaroni. Come to think of it, tomato and okra in macaroni sounds pretty good.
September 9 to Mark:
Thanks for the note about the new arts learning center: The Space, Danny and Wendi Dalby's school for arts education on the Historic Square in downtown Lebanon.
That's two miles from my house and I have only heard about it (or maybe only paid any attention to it) in your Facebook comments.
September 9 to Mandy:
You say: "Never argue with an idiot, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. Jeeez, you'd think I'd have learned by now."
I say, "Why do you think my eyes are shut in all those photographs DeeDee took of me?"
September 10 to Nancy:
I don't know why people think you should have music all the time. All those massage therapists want to play music while they work. I say, just talk to me.
September 10 to Paul:
I love having Jason's paintings where I can see them anytime I look up but really they should be somewhere where a lot of people could see them.
September 10 to Jay:
Unless you are planning a very long day (it is a lot of miles to drive to Louisville), visiting Kentucky Kingdom and the Speed Art Museum and a little food at Third Avenue Cafe could take up all the time you will have.
September 10 to Louis:
Your poem "The Ballad of Jack The Lad" made me think of my friends' dog Ace who is a Jack Russell, especially the lines:
He's always on a mission
urgent paws go pitter patter
chasing anything that moves....
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: lethargic
Psalm 80
tune: Lobe den Herren
Will you return to us,
will you uncover your face, Lord,
so that your light is upon us
and gives us new vigor,
that we may grow,
that we may thrive in this place,
that we may praise you as Savior.
Lord, enthroned on high, reveal yourself to us.
Hear us, our Leader.
Awaken your might and save us.
Lord, seated in heaven, shine forth upon us.
Listen to us, our Protector.
Come to our help and save us.
Will you return to us,
will you uncover your face, Lord,
so that your light is upon us
and gives us new vigor,
that we may grow,
that we may thrive in this place,
that we may praise you as Savior.
Lord God Almighty, how long
will your anger smolder against us?
How much longer
will you let our enemies mock us?
How long, Lord? How much longer
will you give us sorrow to eat?
Lord God Almighty, how long
will your anger flare up at us?
How much longer
will you let those around us quarrel with us.
How long, Lord? How much longer
will you give us tears to drink.
Will you return to us,
will you uncover your face, Lord,
so that your light is upon us
and gives us new vigor,
that we may grow,
that we may thrive in this place,
that we may praise you as Savior.
You brought a vine out of captivity.
You cleared the ground
and made a place for it to grow.
You drove out others and planted it in their place.
Its roots went deep
and it spread out over the whole country.
The hills were covered with its shade.
To the east
it sent out its shoots as far as the river.
The mighty cedars were overshadowed by its branches.
To the west
it extended its boughs as far as the sea.
Why did you let its fences be broken down?
Beasts from the forest tear at it.
Why do you let every passer-by steal its fruit?
Creatures of the field feed on it.
Will you return to us,
will you uncover your face, Lord,
so that your light is upon us
and gives us new vigor,
that we may grow,
that we may thrive in this place,
that we may praise you as Savior.
Our enemies cut down your vine
and set it on fire.
Look down from heaven and see us.
Watch over this vine,
come and save us.
Look at them in anger
that the frown of your rebuke may destroy them.
Almighty God, return to us.
Protect this root
that your own hand planted.
Protect us,
the children you raised up to be your delight.
Never again will we turn away from you.
Keep us alive, Lord God Almighty,
that we may call upon your Name.
Preserve us,
the people you chose to be your companions.
Never again will we turn away from us.
Give us new life, Lord God Almighty,
that we may praise you.
Will you return to us,
will you uncover your face, Lord,
so that your light is upon us
and gives us new vigor,
that we may grow,
that we may thrive in this place,
that we may praise you as Savior.
© 1993 Robert H. Stone The Cedar City Psalter
The tune Lobe den Herren is commonly associated with the words:
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
now to his temple draw near;
praise him in glad adoration.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: hopeful
It's been a quiet two days at my house in the Cedar City. I have actually been in the house all the time except to walk next door once and to go do my exercise this morning at the hospital. I noticed something for the first time. The elevator I now take only goes between two floors which are named G and 1 but the buttons on the elevator say 1 and 2. That could be confusing to someone who has no idea about how the hospital is laid out.
My friend Timothy and I had a chat last night. We did not use any of these words but it was really all about true security being tied up in loving one's neighbor as oneself and true happiness being tied up in being satisfied with one's daily bread. Fences cannot keep out fear and needs cannot subvert happiness.
Tonight Bert Coble is treating the members of his Christmas choir to supper at Peking Chinese Restaurant. Then it is first rehearsal at West Hills Baptist Church.
And now for the messages sent.
September 6 Facebook Status:
Robert is thinking of bed and of all the things that he didn't get done this past day, week, month, year, lifetime.... But tomorrow is another day ... probably like today!
September 6 to Alex:
It is too easy for enemies to do bad things to you on the internet. I think your best way of persuading people not to believe lies about you, is just what you are doing -- being open and detailed about what you really are doing, about what you are thinking, about your wishes and hopes for the future. The more complete your picture of yourself is, the more incongruous information will be ignored.
September 7 to Steve:
This is a powerful bit of writing. It is very important that you write out all this personal history even if it is never published as such. It will be the basis for characters who populate the stories you write for publication.
September 7 to Wendell:
Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo, Norway, is one of the places where I have been that I definitely think you should see someday.
Your comment "so many things to do, and no one . . . to do it with?" reminds me that when I was your age I would sometimes just not eat lunch because I would have had to eat alone.
September 7 to Jane-Elise:
You say, "my teenage son wants to go back to see again The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged."
I say, "There is no compliment higher than a desire to see a show again."
September 7 to Joel:
You say, "I am planning to drive over 3000 miles, visit twelve states and two separate provinces in Canada, all in nine days and wants to know if he is out-of-his-mind?
I say, "So what is new? Haven't you always been out of your mind?"
Ginny says, "You know something? I am always known as the queen of sarcasm and I am the one supporting you. Hell must have frozen over. I'd rather think that than maybe that I may be crazy too."
I say, "Ginny, how often that happens. The most supportive is the one whom others think might most be reluctant. I have this story about being 42 years old. Joel is one year past that and it will get harder and harder to take off on trips like this as the years go on. Now is the time!"
September 7 to Tom:
The sun is shining here but the sky is dark toward the east and there is thunder and lightning.
September 7 to Fran:
I am glad you went to Gulf Shores and glad you are safely home. I know you had a wonderful time because you intended to have a wonderful time. Attitude makes all the difference.
September 7 to Barrett:
I am so glad to hear from you. I got a message from Logan yesterday in which he says he has a job by day and is taking dance classes by night.
Oh yes, you wanted some advice. There is too much emphasis on answers. Learn the right questions.
September 7 to Bert:
I don't have any strong feeling either way about Obama. I guess that I am waiting and watching. I just wish those folks in Washington would quit talking so much. Now if you can get a constitutional amendment going which would limit every elected official to only saying 500 words a day, things might be a lot quieter.
People want to come to America because traditions, rules, and regulations in their own countries limit their opportunities. So if we want to stop them from coming, all we have to do is create so many rules and regulations of our own -- supposedly for our own good -- that we will begin to want to leave. I have a few friends who actual say that but so far it is just words and they haven't seriously considered what it would mean to leave.
If I got rid of every friend who disagreed with me on any subject, no one would be left.
September 8 to Brian:
There was a guy I used to work with who was born on 6/6/66, a date very easy to remember. Now if I could remember his name....?
My 52nd birthday is one of the few I actually remember. A lady at work asked how old I was and I said, I'm celebrating the tenth anniversary of my 42nd birthday. She said, What?? I said, Yes, 42 was the last time I could really persuade myself that I was young. In a few years I will be 72 and I am already being forcefully persuaded that I may be about to be old.
September 8 to Logan:
I'm glad that you are my friend and that I can be your friend.
A lot of the places we work look much better looking back after we no longer work there.
September 8 to Kathryn:
When our bus crossed from Norway into Sweden, the only boundary marker to be seen was a small sign with the word SWEDEN set right on the ground. I don't recall anything looking different.
I have received several comments about One Day Left. Maybe this haiku will turn out to be my most famous poem.
http://www.columbiamagazine.com/photoarc
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: calm
Psalm 78 : 9 -32 with 4b, 7
Your glorious deeds and
your triumph, O Lord,
as told to us, we to
our children shall tell
that, never forgetting
your miracles, they
in you, you alone Lord,
shall put all their hope.
Your bowmen failed to keep your covenant, O Lord.
They forgot the wonders that you had done.
On the day of battle they turned back.
Your archers refused to live according to your law.
They forgot the miracles that you had shown them.
In the hour of battle they turned tail.
In the land of their captivity
our ancestors saw you work marvels.
In the plain of their oppression
they witnessed your wonderful deeds.
The sea you split open --
its waters you heaped up as though dikes stood on either side.
Through it
you brought them by your saving power.
Through the day you led them by a cloud.
At night you guided them by a glowing fire.
You split open the hard rock in the wilderness
and water gushed out in torrents, flowing down like rivers.
You brought streams out of the craig
and watered the vast wasteland itself.
Your glorious deeds and
your triumph, O Lord,
as told to us, we to
our children shall tell
that, never forgetting
your miracles, they
in you, you alone Lord,
shall put all their hope.
Yet they continued to sin against you, Lord,
defying you, the Most High, in the desert.
They railed against you, Lord.
They tested you, Lord, in their heart
by asking food for their gullet.
"Can God spread a table in the wilderness?"
They tried your patience, O Lord, willfully
by demanding the food that they craved.
"True, when the rock was struck,
water gushed out
and the gullies overflowed, but --
Can he give bread as well?
Can he provide meat for his people?"
When you, Lord, heard them say: Can he give bread?,
you were infuriated.
Your wrath raged against them
because they had no faith in you, Lord.
When you, Lord, heard them say: Can he provide meat?,
you were infuriated.
Your anger rose against them
because they put no trust
in your power to save.
Your glorious deeds and
your triumph, O Lord,
as told to us, we to
our children shall tell
that, never forgetting
your miracles, they
in you, you alone Lord,
shall put all their hope.
Yet you gave orders to the clouds above.
You rained down upon them manna to eat.
They received food in abundance.
Indeed you threw open your doors in the skies.
You gave them grain from heaven.
Mere mortals ate the bread of angels.
You let loose the east wind from heaven.
You rained down upon them flesh.
Like the dust of a storm
meat fell within their camp.
You led forth the south wind from your fortress.
You rained down upon them winged fowl.
Like the sands of the seashore
meat fell all around their tents.
The people ate and had their fill.
You had brought them what they craved.
But they did not stop their complaining,
even while the food was in their mouths.
They craved still more.
Your anger, Lord, mounted against them.
You spread death among their strongest.
In spite of this
they persisted in their sin and
had no faith in your wonderful works.
Your anger, Lord, rose against them.
You laid low their youth.
In spite of all this
they went on sinning and
did not believe in your wonders.
Your glorious deeds and
your triumph, O Lord,
as told to us, we to
our children shall tell
that, never forgetting
your miracles, they
in you, you alone Lord,
shall put all their hope.
© 1993 Robert H. Stone The Cedar City Psalter
The tune St. Denio (Welsh melody) is commonly associated with the words:
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: blah
Saturday night I went to see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, the Nashville Shakespeare Festival production in Centennial Park. The weather was nice and there was a large crowd. The three actors were energetic and entertaining but I just was not in the right mood to get really excited. Although I had seen this play I had forgotten the ending.
This morning I went to Suggs Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church which has been without a pastor for several months. Lee has been arranging for preachers to show up. Once last month no preacher made himself available. Today there were two. There are differences of opinion on how things should have been run in the last few years and these are magnified because there are so few members. I once said that I would never again be an officer of an organization but I agreed to be treasurer of the church for a while. I am not a member of the church so that will help keep things separated.
After church I went to the Nashville Theaterworks production of Smoke on the Mountain in the Fellowship Hall of Donelson Christian Church. I have seen this show several times and I thought I was tired of it but this staging engaged my attention and it was twice as nice as I had expected. The only member of the cast that I know much about is Vance Nichols who played Dennis Sanders. Vance as Dennis giving his sermonette was riveting. This was a more relaxed approach to the show and I liked it.
The price of gas in Donelson is cheaper than anywhere else I have been lately. I came home on Highway 70 and saw two gas stations within a thousand feet or so of each other with prices twenty cents a gallon apart.
I stopped in Hermitage at the graves of the parents of a close friend and said a prayer for his grandson and others in the family.
And now to the few messages sent these past two days.
September 5 to Kathryn:
No one who travels just to do it, can say that he is helping the environment but that is one statement never promoted in the global warming debate.
I have been to Texas, maybe Oklahoma, Kansas, and South Dakota but no states west except California. I have not been in Virginia although it touches Tennessee.
I did once walk across the bridge from Laredo to Nuevo Laredo. All I remember is all those chess sets for sale to tourists and finally one checkerboard set.
September 5 to Sally:
I have only received one email from Tom this week, his column for tomorrow on Fenton Johnson. It mentions four books, three of which I have read and the other I have started. Most of his columns are about books that I have not read. I sent it to forty people not on the mailing list.
I looked it up: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo -- BPPV -- and read a little about it -- really big effects from really small causes. I'm sure Tom will be telling stories about how it was all in his head.
I found the Glasgow Times article about Kentucky Repertory Theatre and I got their Reach for the Stars letter. I would be in a better mood if I had heard from KRT what was in the newspaper story before it appeared. Another check made out to KRT was in my mail yesterday. And I have a couple of dollars cash.
Your note about those who at first helped now falling away from supporting the meal project is typical. It's hard to keep on doing the right thing week after week after week.
September 5 to Todd:
A friend said that I was unindividuated. I have no idea what that really means. I read your words:
The second stage the individual enters into is individuation.
This generally causes the child to have conflicts with their environment, especially with parent.
These conflicts often result in defiance and then a feeling of powerlessness which leads to anxiety.
It is therefore necessary for one to go through anxiety in order to achieve individuation.
and I think, I don't remember much about my childhood, I don't remember conflicts with my environment, I don't remember being defiant, I don't remember being powerless. After all these almost seventy years, I still don't feel powerless even though I know that there are relatively few things that I can bring forth compared with all the possibilities in the world.
I never claimed or claim to have deep knowledge of subjects but I have an exceeding wide range of interests and acquaintance.
September 5 to Eric:
You say, "It's amazing to still realize that the only sport I give a shit about is still the red-headed step child in this country. Or at least to espn."
I say, "I'm pretty dumb about sports. Is there a game that only red-headed people play? LOL"
September 5 to Wendell:
I like this photograph of you standing in front of a sign that says, "So Many Things To Do." That's you!
September 5 to Michel:
Now that you are back from the cruise I trust you are inspired to create some new art. I am missing seeing new creations -- visual art pieces -- from the man who has photographed a 1001 great looking food creations.
September 6 to Mark:
I have spent a great deal of my life befriending people who were written off by many others. The greatest problem we have now is over-emphasis on testing. Testing only shows that one has an aptitude for taking tests and that one knows at least temporarily the "right" answer. What we need is education to develop more questions. Without the right questions, answers mean nothing.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood:
tired
NOTE: This arrangement is quite different. There are 3 different refrains. The leader's lines may be sung to the last 9 notes of the tune.
Psalm 70
tune: Wondrous Love (beginning: 12,9)
Make haste to help us, Lord.
Be our help. Be our help.
Make haste to help us, Lord.
Be our help.
Those who seek our lives --
let them be put to shame and confusion.
Deliver us, O Lord. Hear our cry:
Make haste to help us, Lord.
Be our help. Be our help.
Make haste to help us, Lord.
Be our help.
Those who desire our ruin,
taking pleasure in our misfortune --
let them be turned back in disgrace
and brought to dishonor.
Deliver us, O Lord. Hear our cry:
Make haste to help us, Lord.
Be our help. Be our help.
Make haste to help us, Lord.
Be our help.
Those who slander us,
gloating over us, crying: Aha! Aha! --
let them withdraw
because of their shame.
Deliver us, O Lord. Hear our cry:
Make haste to help us, Lord.
Be our help. Be our help.
Make haste to help us, Lord.
Be our help.
All who seek you, Lord --
let them rejoice
and be glad in your love.
May they forever cry: Great are you!
All glory to you, Lord.
Great are you. Great are you.
All glory to you, Lord.
Great are you.
All who long for your saving aid, O Lord --
let them rejoice
and be jubilant in your salvation.
May they forever cry: Great are you!
All glory to you, Lord.
Great are you. Great are you.
All glory to you, Lord.
Great are you.
We are oppressed and afflicted.
You, Lord, are our deliverer.
Do not tarry.
Come quickly to our help. Hear our cry:
Lord, our deliverer,
quickly come, quickly come.
Lord, our deliverer,
quickly come.
We are poor and needy.
You, Lord, are our helper.
Do not delay.
Come quickly to our help. Hear our cry:
Lord, our deliverer,
quickly come, quickly come.
Lord, our deliverer,
quickly come.
© 1993 Robert H. Stone The Cedar City Psalter
The tune Wondrous Love is commonly associated with the words:
What wondrous love is this,
O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this,
O my soul!
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: calm
Wednesday night I went to Publix and to Kroger. They were giving out samples of a meal at Publix and I had coupons for all the things on sale that I wanted. The Senior Citizens had really cleaned Kroger out. There were empty shelves.
Thursday was a quiet day. I went to exercise class (it seemed harder than usual), to the post office, and to my sister's for supper.
Today James and Joyce came by. They treated me to supper at Demos' before going on to a football game.
There has been email on quite a variety of subjects.
September 3 to Alan:
Thurston is not relaxing. He has foregrounded an old project that we worked on six or seven years ago, a two-hour documentary on Schweitzer.
September 3 to Ian:
Well, the great weekend is over. The official Schermerhorn ticket count is 649 but Thurston thinks that doesn't include some people. It was the first time I really enjoyed seeing Words of Albert Schweitzer and the Music of Bach. The other seven times I was too concerned with what might go wrong. That's what happens when one knows too much about something.
September 3 to Wilmoth:
While we might wish it to be different, there is a limited number of people who will come to the Schermerhorn and within that limited number a further limited number who are interested in Albert Schweitzer. Once Thurston is gone, I expect Albert Schweitzer will fade quickly from the America scene.
September 3 to Kathryn:
I think you are right when you say: "Old people aren't really mature, we're just tired......:)"
I have been doing more lately and after a while, I just want to lie down.
September 3 to Eoghan:
Sophisticated doesn't meaning doing the right thing, it means doing the socially approved thing, approved by the society in which one sets oneself.
Eoghan says, "I tend to think sophisticated means being able to look past the cultural window-dressing to the essence of things."
I say, "Sophisticated probably has as many meanings as there people using the word. I guess I should check Merriam-Webster."
September 4 to Robert:
I read the quotation you posted:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the ... nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.... (NIV, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11)
I never paid any attention to the "swindlers" before. Isn't that our biggest problem these days? Some of the other "sins" are -- at least -- obvious. Swindlers are deliberately deceiving others.
September 4 to Mikael:
I had not thought about Anais Nin in a long time. I used to have some of her books.
September 4 to Louis:
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood sounds like an exciting sequel. I didn't read any of the Pooh stories until I was 22 years old and staying with a young boy one night a week while his mother taught a class. Pooh was the only thing he wanted to hear.
September 4 to Ruth:
Reading laws and regulations and such is almost impossible. I once bought part of the Code of Federal Regulations and read part of the Income Tax section. They are all so long and complicated that no one could really understand them.
I once called the IRS help line and when I finally got a real live person, she said my question was too complicated for her and that she would have to have someone call me back.
September 4 to Jason:
I am feeling tired. I think a lot of it is mental. There are things I wish I could do, for example, help you and Wendell with studio space. There are things which others have done or have not done that don't set well with me because I perceive their actions as ignoring me when I have gone out of my way to be helpful. It's not that I expect people to agree with me or to do what I want... BUT when I have put a great deal of time and money into helping, I think it would not hurt for them to listen to me from time to time and to let me know their decisions at an early stage of disclosure.
September 4 to David:
Your package with the two booklets about Main Street Museum and the contribution to Kentucky Repertory Theatre arrived today.
My cousin James and his wife Joyce came by late this afternoon and took me to supper. I showed them Wendell's self-portrait drawing and some of Jason's work. They are here for his fiftieth high school reunion and on their way to the high school football game.
I am not a football person. I have seen one NFL game. It was in the Superdome in New Orleans and my friend had season tickets right behind the players bench about six rows back. I have known one NFL quarterback. He was an acolyte at the church where I played for twenty-five years.
This is a great article (mostly about you) with good photographs (mostly not of you).
http://www.uppervalleylife.com/pdf/hallo
A Gift of the Spirit -by- Sonya Hakala -for- Upper Valley Life
. . . . . Built in the village's former and now completely renovated firehouse, the Main Street Museum is one of the most visible displays of White River Junction's metamorphosis from a rather rundown backwater into a noteworthy travel destination. Claiming to have never met an artifact he didn't like, Fairbanks Ford has turned the whole idea of what constitutes a museum on its head. . . . .
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood:accomplished
NOTE: The tune here is adapted from God rest ye, merry. See information below.
Psalm 69 : 1 - 18
tune: adapted from: God rest ye, merry
^In your great com^passion, Lord,
^turn your face to ^us.
^In your love un^failing, Lord,
^hear and answer ^us.
^We are af^flicted and in ^pain,
come set us ^free.
Let your ^saving help, Lord,
^our protection ^be.
We are sinking into the abysmal mire
where there is no foothold.
Lord, you know our folly.
Save us, O Lord,
for the waters rise up to our necks.
Our throats are sore
from crying out to you, Lord
We are coming into the bottomless waters
where the vortex engulfs us.
Lord, our faults are not hidden from you.
Save us, O Lord,
for the waters rise up to our necks.
Our eyes grow bleary
from waiting for you, Lord.
More than the hairs on our heads
are those who hate us without cause.
May none who seek you,
Lord God of Kindness,
be dishonored because of us.
Lord, you know how foolish we are.
We grow weary
for our treacherous foes
would destroy us.
Many more than our locks
are those who accuse us falsely.
May none who hope in you,
Lord God of Power,
be discouraged because of us.
Lord, the wrongs we have done
are not hidden from you.
But what we did not steal,
they require us to restore.
^In your great com^passion, Lord,
^turn your face to ^us.
^In your love un^failing, Lord,
^hear and answer ^us.
^We are af^flicted and in ^pain,
come set us ^free.
Let your ^saving help, Lord,
^our protection ^be.
Zeal for you, Lord, consumes us like a devouring fire.
For your sake we suffer abuse.
Insults aimed at you fall upon us like burning coals.
Shame covers our faces.
We put on sack-cloth for our garb.
We are strangers to our own kindred.
We are become a joke among the people.
We are aliens to our mothers' children.
We humble ourselves, weeping bitterly while we fast.
The merrymakers at their feasts
murmur gossip about us.
We pour out our souls, exposing ourselves to insults.
The partying drunkards at their bottles
compose mocking songs about us.
^In your great com^passion, Lord,
^turn your face to ^us.
^In your love un^failing, Lord,
^hear and answer ^us.
^We are af^flicted and in ^pain,
come set us ^free.
Let your ^saving help, Lord,
^our protection ^be.
This is our prayer to you, Lord.
Favor us now, Lord.
Let not the vortex of the waters engulf us.
In your great kindness
deliver us out of the bottomless waters.
Let not the jaws of the abyss swallow us up.
In your steadfast love
save us from the abysmal mire.
Let not the mouth of the pit shut upon us.
With your unfailing help
rescue us from our enemy Death.
We lift this prayer to you, Lord.
Answer us now, Lord.
^In your great com^passion, Lord,
^turn your face to ^us.
^In your love un^failing, Lord,
^hear and answer ^us.
^We are af^flicted and in ^pain,
come set us ^free.
Let your ^saving help, Lord,
^our protection ^be.
© 1993 Robert H. Stone The Cedar City Psalter
adapted tune: d minor
^D A A G ^F E D
^D E F G ^A
^Bь G A Bь ^C D A
^F D E F ^G
^A Bь A ^A G F E ^D
F E D ^G
F G ^A Bь C D
^A G F E ^D
The tune God rest ye merry is commonly associated with the words:.
[ God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Re]^member, Christ, our ^Saviour
[Was] ^born on Christmas ^day
[To] ^save us all from ^Satan's power
[When] ^we were gone astray
[O] ^tidings of ^comfort and ^joy,
Comfort and ^joy
O ^tidings of ^comfort and ^joy.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: calm
Tuesday I went along with Jay to visit the Customs House Museum in Clarksville. This is the second largest general museum in Tennessee. The 1898 portion of the Museum was originally designed for use as a Federal Post Office and Custom House to handle the large volume of foreign mail created by the city's international tobacco business. We saw an extensive toy train layout which runs every Sunday afternoon and a variety of other items. We went to see Dream Forest, a sculpture by Alan LeQuire. This consists of nine giant columns, vaguely humanoid shaped with words written around and around the columns. If you have read The Lord of The Rings, you might think of the Ents.
After a stop to see the statue of Wilma Rudolph, we drove to Cumberland City and saw the towers of the TVA Cumberland Power Plant. Then it was on to Erin where we had lunch at a family diner. In fact I believe it was named B&J's Family Diner. I got the seafood platter from which Jay ate the frogs legs and we each had a baked potato and slaw. It was all fried up the old Southern way.
This morning was another visit to my chiropractor followed by a Class of 1957 lunch at Ponderosa. Now I am thinking of going to Kroger because it is Senior Citizen Discount Day but a long nap sounds better.
A little more email to go through this time, starting with a note from ten days ago that I overlooked.
August 23 to Tommy:
The benefit of future benefits should be the goodness that it brings to the hearts of those who want to express their love and concern for the person in need, help for the ordinary things in life rather than the extraordinary.
August 30 to Liz:
Since the original Kentucky Voices is no more, I don't have to give KRT the special contribution anymore.
August 31 to Nancy:
I am about as far as one can get from being an Everyman. I don't think like other people think and I generally expect to hear from others that they disagree with me. That is so common that I am always slightly shocked when anyone actually says that they agree with me.
But strange things do happen. The editor of an online-only newspaper is now putting up a poem by me every Sunday.
August 31 to Wilmoth:
After the Fisk program, the Schermerhorn program, and a party in Antioch yesterday afternoon I am not feeling like jumping up and down and getting really busy. And a friend says we will probably go to Clarksville tomorrow to see Alan LeQuire's sculpture which is on exhibit there but he will do the driving.
Tom is out of Bowing Green hospital. The physicians haven't really discovered any particular thing. He is to see an EENT specialist and his cardiologist this week. The Horse Cave Heritage Festival is September 18 and 19 and I will try to be there for that. Dave Foster, head of the cave museum, is in charge of lining up all the musical performances.
I am going to New Hampshire the last Saturday of September and returning the first Saturday of October. It will be a fun week but too early to see the color change unless it is very early this year.
August 31 to Liz:
I have read your afterword to the collection of Kentucky Voices plays. I think you have told the story -- from your point of view -- very well and it agrees with what I feel myself.
I have said for many years that there were three reasons why I supported KRT -- the repertory concept with plays in rotation, the Kentucky Voices program, and the Young Performers workshops and productions. I know that plays in rotation seems to be a fading venture, even Alabama Shakespeare Festival is becoming more spread out over the year and less so, but I think it is a great loss for audiences and for actors who have to stretch themselves more in such a situation.
I am very aware of how history gets rewritten. I see the program books for Nashville Shakespeare Festival these past few years and from what one sees in them one would never have any idea of the struggles of the first three years. I know a lot about those times because I was there at the first performance of the first year.
Having Words of Albert Schweitzer and the Music of Bach at Schermerhorn Symphony Center was stunning. I'm not sure that is the right word but it is the one that came into my head as I am typing this. I truly enjoyed watching it. That really has never happened before because I know too much about everything and always worried about what might go wrong. The 48-page plus covers full-color 6x9 inches program book even impressed me. My name does appear: "Research and Editorial Assistant: Robert Stone." It has no advertisements except for things directly related to Dr. Schweitzer such as ads from Newmarket Press and Johns Hopkins University Press.
I am a sort of nobody who never had much money and was never a success but I have been there at a lot of times and places and been able to do a few things that really did make a different in later years, sometimes ten and fifteen years later.
August 31 to Nancy:
People should be more concerned with what they are doing or more likely with what they are not doing and let God worry about what he is doing or not doing.
It is much too easy to look back and see that what one wanted in the past was not the thing that one should have wanted. Too often we get what we ask for and then discover that it is a sort of curse rather than a blessing.
Not only that, I can easily see that, if God let me have lots of money, I would be doing things with it which were not really helpful and I would know it before I did them.
One of my closest friends here in Lebanon asked about a year ago what did I think my legacy would be. I said, encouraging others. Oh, sometimes I sort of spout off about myself but even when I am doing it I know that what I have done is not really all that important beyond the paying attention to other creative people.
September 1 to Jason:
I saw your comment about words with three consonants consecutively and thought, Jason is sharp. Then the word sharpshooter came to mind. Four consonants consecutively.
September 1 to Bill:
Maybe I won't forget lunch tomorrow. This is the first time in a while I have heard the noon meal called dinner. That's what we said when I was young, dinner and supper, rather than lunch and dinner.
September 2 to David:
One doesn't have to worry about old addresses when one has lived in the same house since 1962 and has had the same post office box number since they built the building. I did have to change my po box number at that time because they skipped over my old number in the new building. They have numbers before it and after it but skipped mine.
September 2 to Carol:
The two churches I last have attended are old and not growing. Bethlehem UMC appears to be just holding on and Suggs Creek CPC seems to be fading fast.
Relationship problems and health problems are always there but a few of my friends seemed to have been more severely affected these past few weeks. Everything changes of course but lately it has been changing more rapidly than I want to deal with.
September 2 to Nancy:
There is a sense in which I can think of myself as having gotten almost everything I ever wanted and there is a sense in which I can think of myself as having never gotten anything I wanted. I seem to have just wandered through life without having any specific direction or purpose and was lucky enough to mostly wander toward interesting and good projects and jobs.
I can think back to three times when someone made a remark about me that caused me to decide to be different. When I was a high school senior, a teacher said, "You're just feeling sorry for yourself." When I was working while I was in library school, my boss said that I was passive-aggressive. When I was about forty, a friend said that I was unindividuated and had no sense of self-preservation. Well, I'm still alive!
I don't remember having done anything because I thought it was "God's will" but I may have forgotten. I did have a friend once say, after years of our knowing each other, that I was the only person who ever treated him the way he thought Christians were supposed to treat people. I was taken aback. I had treated him the same way I treated others.
Today I am feeling a desire to not have to deal with anything or anybody. Hopefully tomorrow I will be better.
- Location:at home in the Cedar City
- Mood: sleepy
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