Gentlejim, I will pray for Violet--I was before months ago, and then I stopped because I thought she was okay. And then poor baby Stella--the world is so full of woe already without the kids being hurt...these are hard times. At least Steph is now in Florida--that's cheering! (I'm a native Floridian and my folks, still living, aren't that far from Jane and Marlene, and narc and JIB are across the state but reachable).

That's not right, GUS--people said "fill er up" generally, but plenty of people only put, say, $10 in--people carried around cash a good deal more and credit card use was less general.

Ig, I will NOT show that descent to my son, who would have the same reaction as the lunatic in the film: "let's do that again!" henry, I always gave my trays back--usually at the dead end of the semester when they could be safely sneaked back into the fold.

henry, do you remember stealing dining hall trays (temporarily) to go sledding with? I was from Florida so the whole thing was interesting! That poor governor of CT later died of cancer...

Steph, those longer statements of yours this morning were wonderful. Gosh, it's cold here--faucets are dripping everywhere inside and out except for one of the outside ones which won't turn. Someone will be needing to stand guard by the main water thing in the spring when we give it a whirl.

That's fascinating about Heyer's will. I love her mystery novels, set to her own years of the 20s-50s. They have the humor--very mean but clever people--that you describe. Sounds like the plot of what you are reading tracks that of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale in some ways, but the idea of a "ruler" seeming to leave his kingdom while really roaming it incognito to find out what's truly going on is a very ancient and pleasurable one--at the end the ruler unveils himself and sets all to rights. With Trump, he was doing this finding out BEFOREHAND.

MM, years ago we had this discussion about Heyer and I offended you and others by saying I just couldn't read her historical fiction--well, since then, about a month ago desperate for more things to read I tried two or three of them again--and again, alas, found them unreadable--not historical enough too hyperbolic for me. This was a great loss, because if I could have like them there were/are at least forty of them available. But The Devil's Cub and others failed to do the trick. But my brilliant art historian and friend likes them so I conclude it's all just a matter of taste. It's bitter cold here and will be all next week, with highs of things like "0." Right now it's 3. I continue to fight despair with boredom--it seems to be a useful strategy, given there's also prayer.

Yes, MM, re all those fairies--I am rather afraid that the rot--the charm of fairies, with its late 19th c conception--is a very specific decadent movement that bodes ill--not that you will ever get any of the nice older ladies who indulge to admit it!

Cheering, MM! The 13 inches we got last week are melting away, though of course with treacherous ice--I hope your heating holds up! Spent the week reading Victorian fairy tales. Most interesting, the theory that the devil's "teing" or tithe makes fairies give the devil one of their own or a human every seven years. A very nasty idea probably promulgated by the Puritans wanting to tarnish fairies. Plus the story by Frances Hodgson Burnett (of Secret Garden fame) about a girl who goes behind a brick in the chimney to meet, among others, her baby sister who is full of complaints about diaper pins. Not sure I'd recommend it--in fact, not! But it's fun to read about a six-month-old sourpuss.

Hi, narc! Really sad, actually, but I am trying to remember the essentials, particularly "God wins." Hi, Walter! greetings! And know that the best part of JOM is in the comments, not necessarily whatever TM writes (with the exception of today's very thoughtful treatment of Dr.J).

Plus Italy (Pinocchio), Pacific Islanders (Moana), Native Americans (Pocahontas), and others! Would it not be better to think that treating the cultures of all the various peoples of the world through storytelling would be, all in all, a good thing, even if there are inevitable distortions, and if we're talking Disney, pretty extravagant distortions?

Yes, and the whole movie is full of tremendous dissonances because it both treats all the animals as fully human and then celebrates the "kingship" of lions over giraffes, zebras, etc., who all bow down to the new prince in the opening scene. It's just too weird to cross feudalism with predation that directly--medieval kings didn't perhaps treat their subjects well, but they didn't (usually) tear them limb from limb (well, yes, actually THAT happened some), but then at least they didn't then EAT them!

Mrs. Dr.J--I am so profoundly shocked and sorry. A great man, a truly great man. I am about to write something very Victorian and thus suspect: we are much the less by his absence. And how. He is one of the titans here and his loss will be as daddy's, pagar's, or frau's.

Willowed: Oh, Jane--I am so very, very sorry! Kiwi was a champion and so loved--a little but very cute dog. I send you every prayer and condolence. Oh, and Pin, that baby goat looks very sweet, and it's good to know it's keeping tabs on you. Don't let it eat your shirttails or boots!

Oh, Jane--I am so very, very sorry! Kiwi was a champion and so loved--a little but very cute dog. I send you every prayer and condolence.

Pin, that baby goat looks very sweet, and it's good to know it's keeping tabs on you. Don't let it eat your shirttails or boots!

Catching up, with apologies for not checking in more and better before-- MM, the series you are watching is based on Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South--it's vaguely autobiographical, in that she married a Unitarian minister and came to the north of England as a person new to how the industrial world was disporting itself. She was appalled, as was her husband, and did all they could in the Victorian modes of do-goodery and, in her case, novel-writing. They were both very good people and the poverty/starvation was real. Much recommend Carlyle's Past and Present (1842) on the subject--ostensibly a history but mostly a diatribe against the "condition of England." It's here he coins the phrase the "captains of industry." I saw Pin last week, much rejoicing, and met his son, and my son was with us too and we had a great time. Plus Pin brought me some cuttings of basil which will become beautiful basil clumps in time. He admired the two dogs (now certified as having 14 dog breeds in their heritage, from Aussie to the Great Dane to the two different kind of dachshunds) and the two cats, who liked him--is that not a badge of honor? I have been reading all along, but it's all so very sad. You guys do cheer me up, a lot--I want to know what's really happening no matter what, so it's best to learn that within a sympathetic company, no matter how bad the news is. Porch, that first grandbaby of mine is looking to come on March 15th, but the mother of the mother has dibs, which they are exercising by driving to Austin for a few weeks from Aurora, so I will be down round the first week of April--will you be about then? You have my email...

And thank you! Wait till my fairy book--what won't it elucidate?

Well, isn't that nice, henry! I'm very glad--and I think that your reading of the Alice books might be a whit easier now that you have as a heuristic my claims about how to read him!

Hi, Jane! Mom's comment struck me as so true--think of all the people you've helped, and then think of all the people you can't remember you've helped--they are inevitably, given your nature, about ten times the number of the former. And by "don't remember," I don't mean anything about memory loss--I mean exactly the not-remembering that happens over years with small encounters with people. Got a postcard a few months ago from a student I had at Trinity 30 or so years ago--she remembered things about me I just barely recalled, but they were all present to her. So that happens! I just learned, vis a vis Danielou's The Angels and Their Missions (1957), that nations may very well have angels, so I have been praying to America's putative angel, who may well be over us with hovering wings. Doesn't mean the nastiness to come won't, but the nation is perhaps not unprotected. "And also many cattle"--has God seen Nebraska?

Merry Christmas, all! That quilt, Mom2two--what a dear thing. I hope it brings you some lasting comfort. Narc, have you tried Greene's Monsignor Quixote? Short, funny, very funny, very Christian--rather that the tortured Christian theme you find elsewhere in his work. God bless us, every one!

Merry Christmas, Pin! Don't forget if you come this way--I'm not going anywhere...and Merry Christmas to you all. Have a puff-pastry brie in the oven with a friend coming over, and then I sink into family. I may be able get them to watch Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean--complete idiocy, but sometimes inspired idiocy. Plus though a liberal he is a strong supporter of free speech, especially in the UK where it is under assault.

Hi, henry--that's really great, and thanks. The Annotated Alice is very helpful--I grew up with '60 edition in my dad's library as a kid and was mostly very, very puzzled by the annotations. They will be helpful to you especially regarding mathematics and philosophy of language (not what my book does--or ever could do, given its author!)--

Pin, I have learned over the years (since I saw you in Lincoln) that you are a very erudite soul! (I've stopped telling you you are funny, because simple repetition has only so much rhetorical value!) Don't go through Lincoln, if so you are going, on the way to the great beyond, without letting me know--I would love to see you!

Hi, michaelt and Beester--caught up you are, and welcome back! (great idea, anonomom--others out there? who by the way was the person who briefly popped in not long ago as "youhavetogotoo"? I thought that had to be a mom with school-aged children--but I could be very wrong!