Category Archives: Family

April 23, 2012 · 11:36 pm

What’s your favorite book?

I no longer do so for pleasure as often as I would like, but I love to read. I am forever grateful to my parents, grandparents, and aunt for giving me that gift. On World Book and Copyright Day, I give thanks for that gift and resolve to exercise it more often.

True confession. Before today I did not know this particular day existed. But it does. While everyday is a good day to read, UNESCO has designated 23 April as World Book and Copyright Day. As the UN News Centre reports:

UNESCO chose 23 April to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day as it also marks the day in 1616 that Britain’s William Shakespeare, Spain’s Miguel de Cervantes and the Peruvian writer “El Inca” Garcilaso de la Vega all died. The prominent writers Vladimir Nabokov, Halldór Laxness, Josep Pla, Maurice Druon and Manuel Mejía Vallejo were also either born or died on this day.

I have never joined the Professional Organization of English Majors, but my undergraduate degree was in English. I chose that major in large part because I like to read.

To celebrate World Book and Copyright Day (or at least the last 30 minutes or so of the day), I have pondered the question: what is my favorite book?

Of course I cannot answer that question, but I can list many favorites – almost all novels. Here are 10 – in the order they occur to me – which may say something about how much I like them or it may reflect more on how my mind is working this evening.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (yes, that’s three, but I am counting them as one) – Tolkien
The Plague – Camus
Possessing the Secret of Joy – Walker
Lonesome Dove – McMurtry
A Pen Warmed up in Hell – Twain (many of his collections of essays or short stories could be added)
Moby Dick – Melville
A Lesson before Dying – Gaines
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Solzhenitsyn
The Grapes of Wrath – Steinbeck
To Kill A Mockingbird – Lee
Things Fall Apart – Achebe
The Brothers Karamazov – Dostoevsky

Yes. That’s twelve, not ten. And that demonstrates the challenge, because even as I exceed my stated number, I think of other marvelous works by other wonderful writers (think Joyce or Faulkner or Garcia Marquez or Morrison or Thurston or Silko or Dickens – and the list goes on).

And so I ask: what books would you add?

And so I say: thanks be for all who write and all who read – thanks be for my family who inspired my love of reading.

See you along the Trail.

Not quite the same

Wandering through the Half-Price Bookstore on Thursday evening, I came across several versions of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. I decided that watching the trilogy – or at least as much of the trilogy as I could – would prove fitting entertainment for what could be my last night in the Shire.

I own the extended versions – they reside in Cleveland and serve as the basis for a family Christmas tradition. I pondered buying another set but, to save some bucks, opted for the original releases. They only cost $2.00 each.

I have enjoyed watching them – about half at the Shire and half at the Shire on the Hudson. Good, good stuff, just not the same as the extended versions.

It has been a good ride. I am glad I got them. I can’t wait to see the extended versions again.

See you along the Trail.

Fellowship of the Shire (graybeardtrail.wordpress.com)
Shelter in the storm (graybeardtrail.wordpress.com)
Dismantling the Shire (graybeardtrail.wordpress.com)

1 Comment

Filed under Family, Movie

Tagged as Christmas, family, Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, Shire, Two Towers

April 19, 2012 · 8:53 pm

Shelter in the storm

Time and again, I would return to the Shire to find that the electricity had gone out. The clocks showed me that. Power seemed somewhat fragile.

Yet two years in a row, when snow and ice sent Louisville into a deep freeze, the Shire provided shelter in the storm for me and served as a warm place of refuge for friends stranded in the city, for friends whose homes, as had many in other parts of the city, had lost power.

See you along the Trail.

Dismantling the Shire (graybeardtrail.wordpress.com)

3 Comments

Filed under Family, Friends

Tagged as cold, electricity, ice, Louisville, pwer outage, Shire, snow, winter

April 17, 2012 · 10:42 pm

Dismantling the Shire

The evening saw, not the Scouring of the Shire (written by Tolkien but not used by Jackson), but the Dismantling of the Shire. That word doesn’t really fit either. Let me write a bit about what happened and see if a fitting word emerges.

A few years back, more than I can remember at this point, Tricia and I purchased the Shire – a three-bedroom condominium in Jeffersontown – east of Louisville. It served us well and became a site of hospitality for co-workers, folks who worked on projects with me, family members, and even an Obama campaigner. Not counting family, I think twenty people stayed at least one night at the Shire. Some stayed a few more.

When I moved to New York, the time came to sell the Shire – no Sackville-Bagginses being present to take it off my hands. That has proven easier to say than to do. Over time,we have removed different items. Some given away; some thrown away; and some sold. Still no one appeared on the horizon to buy the Shire itself. But that may change soon. Or not.

In any event, with Tricia and I both in town (it does happen), we used our time to sort through the remaining items. When I leave on Friday, little will remain in terms of household goods. Some large pieces of furniture will remain. But we will have dismantled the Shire, for all intents and purpose.

An era slowly draws to a close.

See you along the Trail.

8 Comments

Filed under Family, Friends, Photo

Tagged as condominium, Jackson, Louisville, Obama, sale, Shire, Tolkien

April 8, 2012 · 8:27 pm

A ride through friendship and the years via films

Films carry a great deal of my past with them or so it seems when I view them.

As I watch them again, I experience them anew, I see scenes that I have somehow managed to miss in the past. But I also find memories washing over me – memories of the time I first saw them – memories of how they spoke to my life at that moment – memories of where I was and what I was doing – memories of the people present when I saw them.

I have started watching every DVD I own – in no particular order, simply in the order they come off the stacks where I store them. I have done this before. This time I find them evoking memories in a powerful way.

The memories jumble, bumping into each other, pulling me through life and experiences in a random order – evoking the people who are and have been part of my viewing experiences through the years. Smiles and tears commingle in a fun ride.

Tonight – Little Miss Sunshine – which features one of my favorite endings and calls to mind some of my favorite movie-going companions.

See you along the Trail.

1 Comment

Filed under Family, Friends, Movie

Tagged as companions, friends, Little Miss Sunshine, Memory, movies, smiles, tears

March 25, 2012 · 11:27 pm

View from the stern

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness arranged a boat ride last night for Presbyterians attending Ecumenical Advocacy Days. It proved a fun evening with great food, good music, and wonderful company. My sons even kept me posted on the scores of the NCAA tournament games.

At one point, I stepped to the stern of the boat where the air was crisp and cool.

See you along the Trail.

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Filed under Family, Photo

Tagged as boat, Potomac, Presbyterian Office of Public Witness, river, Washington DC, Washington Monument

March 21, 2012 · 3:34 pm

All our sons, all our daughters

Trayvon Martin

Our position of privilege tells me that what happened to Trayvon Martin is less likely to happen to my sons than it is to the sons or daughters of many of my friends. Less likely than it is to happen to the sons or daughters of people I do not know. Less likely than it is to happen to children of color.

I grieve for Trayvon and for his family and for every family that has had to endure such a heartbreaking experience. I grieve for all who have been victimized by violence. I grieve for our society in which such acts occur.

I grieve that there have been calls for a bounty on George Zimmerman. Vigilante justice is wrong. It is not the answer.

I grieve that for all our efforts to dismantle racism and overcome racial prejudice – for the significant progress we have made on the journey toward the Beloved Community – so far remains to go.

I tremble as I ponder the trust and friendship that I receive from people of color. Trust and friendship that provide continuing definitions of grace.

I confess that I have spoken too late and too timidly on behalf of Trayvon and his family.

I acknowledge that I have failed to work as faithfully or diligently as I should have done to address the racism upon which our society is structured.

I grieve. I tremble. I confess. I acknowledge. I will do more.

I will sign a petition started by Trayvon’s family. I hope that the investigations that have been announced will be fair, full, and transparent. Only in that way can justice be done for everyone involved.

I will be on Union Square for the Million Hoodie March this evening.

I will look for additional opportunities to speak and act.

I will place a hoodie at the front of the workshop I will lead at a Presbyterian gathering on peace and social justice on Friday.

I will pray for Trayvon Martin’s family and friends; for George Zimmerman and his family and friends; for those who investigate this event; for the people of Sanford, Florida; for our country; for peace, for justice.

For in the end, our lives intertwine in this country and on this small rock hurtling around the sun.

In the end we are made, not for ourselves alone but for each other.

In the end, is not Trayvon my son? Is not George my son?

We are brothers and sisters. We are all each other’s sons – all each other’s daughters

See you along the Trail.

This post has been revised in response to comments and observations made on Facebook and in other places. Some language has been edited; other material has been added. I am grateful to all those who took the time to read and comment.

4 Comments

Filed under Family, Friends, Human Rights

Tagged as grace, grief, Million Hoodie March, racism, rage, Trayvon Martin, trust, Union Square, white privilege

February 20, 2012 · 10:49 am

V is for Van

They carry class members on field trips;
Youth Service Corps participants to work sites;
College Staff on recreational outings;
opera aficionados to Santa Fe; and
protestors to Los Alamos.

13 July 2011

What is the most depressing movie you have ever seen?

What is the most depressing movie you have ever seen? I posed that question on Facebook yesterday.

I watched Hamlet the other day – the Kenneth Branagh version. Actually I re-watched it for at least the third or fourth time.

In the viewing, I found that for all the elaborate visuals, the costumes, the strong performances, and the interesting casting selections (Jack Lemmon comes to mind), the basic story remains somewhat depressing. Powerful. Compelling. Amazing. All that to be sure. Yet the word depressing also springs to mind. It seems a hard to word to avoid when most of the major characters die along the way and corpses litter the last scene. Perhaps Fortinbras and the Norwegians see the tale of death as a happy tragedy.