Month: February 2009

  • My Lucky Star

     

    When a teen-aged Czech girl living outside of Prague heard Fred Astaire singing "You Are My Lucky Star" she was captivated.

    I sang it as I heard it, phonetically, with no idea of the meaning.  To my ears the opening words sounded like some imaginary Czech words, Jú ár majlakista...

    Zdenka Fantlová decided on a whim that she ought to learn to speak English.  When the race laws expelled her from her final year of school in 1940, she attended the English Institute in Prague and learned the language under teachers from England.  When it came to the darkest, blackest hour of her life, when she was hours from death, that knowledge of English saved her life.

    Her fathers final words to her, words spoken while he was being arrested by the Gestapo, sustained her through her long journey: Just keep calm.  Remember, calmness is strength.  My Lucky Star is a remarkably calm narrative of a survivor of Terezín, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Kurzbach, and Bergen-Belsen. 

    Somewhere inside each of us is a survival kit.  We never know where it is, or what is in it, until it opens at the critical moment.  It contains no drugs or bandages, just firm instructions about what to do - and the necessary strength to do it.   

    After reading Fantlová's memoir, I wanted to know more. 

    I watched Fred Astaire singing You Are My Lucky Star.

    Terezín (also called Theresienstadt) was presented as a model Jewish settlement with a flourishing arts culture, but in reality was a transit camp to Auschwitz.  Fantlová participated in theater productions; there were jazz bands, string quartets, choirs and symphony orchestras. Prisoner of Paradise (follow link to see archival photos) tells the story of Kurt Gerron, an actor and director who was forced to make a Nazi propoganda film. Terezin Chamber Music Foundation has a wealth of information.

    Anne Sofie von Otter recorded Terezín/Theresienstadt, songs composed by inmates.  Listen to the samples and weep at the depth of soulful expression.  They are not all mournful melodies; some are sprightly, full of zest.

                 

    Finally I wanted to know more about Fantlova herself.  I found these photos (the left taken in 1946 and the second current) along with an interview at Radio Prague.

    I recommend this book on several levels.  Most holocaust literature I've read has come from Polish, French, German or Dutch perspectives.  This is the first Czech author I've read.  It's shorter length (201 pages) and level voice makes it, perhaps, a good entry book into the often traumatizing genre of holocaust literature.  While there is pain, hunger, loss, death in her journey, Zdenka's calm writing  makes it all bearable to read.

  • If You Liked the TJ's Video

    Check this out.  It's the original song that the Trader Joe's was based on; hat tip to Laurie, who sent me the Trader Joe's video.

    It is a Brazilian pop song (hi Hope!) called Aguas de Marco (translation Waters of March) sung by Elis Regina.  Interesting that the Portuguese lyrics indicate the end of summer, but the English translation mentions "the promise of spring." 

    Open the lyrics in a new window and you can follow along.  If I had a young student learning Latin or any Romance language, I could think of some fun exercises to do with this song. My guys aren't crazy about this, but I could wash floors to this music, dance around with my rag.  Oh yeah!

    Enjoy.


    You will be humming this music later, I promise you!

  • Trader Joe's

    If I could import one store and one store alone into my small town, it would be Trader Joe's.  Good stuff at good prices. The closest TJ's is 4 1/2 hours away.  But I have friends and kids who always ask before they come, "What do you want from Trader Joe's?"

    Do any of you shop at Trader Joe's?  What do you like to buy there? 

    (We buy 90% of the wine we consume there ($2.99 Charles Shaw), Oatmeal stout, cranberry juice, flax, trail mix, dried apples, shower gel, spaghetti sauce, tomatoes and produce.  We would buy a lot of frozen stuff if we lived closer.)

    Thanks to Laurie, one of my TJ's shuttle-people, who sent me this YouTube.

  • Wisdom in My Inbox

    I don't know how you manage yours, but the state of my inbox often mirrors the state of my fridge.  It all revolves around your definition of fresh.  I don't always often send fresh responses the way I'd like to.  Periodically I take time and write dozens of apologetic notes:  supplying addresses needed a month ago, the name of the book I think the writer wanted, thanking someone for a great quote, asking a question, responding to a line that I really liked...you know!

    The good part of this pathetic non-system is that I get to ponder all the good stuff more than once.  Here are a few things I copied into my journal, all from normal, everyday, unpublished friends.

    Staying connected to people has a price.
    That price is walking beside them and helping shoulder the burdens they carry.  Loving them, laughing with them, encouraging them, carying with them, praying for them, caring about them...whatever it takes.   ~ MAS

    I have to say that I am enjoying growing old.  It's wonderful to grow old with a man you are in love with - to watch children mature, not just physically but spiritually, desiring to give Christ preeminence in their lives. I'm thankful for everyone's health and safety and for all the numerous blessings I enjoy.    ~ MDC

    The Lord kindly made up for being so far from my British blood family by giving me "friends of my right hand" as Madeleine L'Engle would say.    ~ FP

    Aren't those wise words?

    Do you use folders to separate your emails by sender?  Years ago, my son took one look at my inbox and said, "Mom, you NEED folders" and proceeded to set them up for me.  I don't put an email into a separate folder until no further action is needed. 

    Occasionally, when I get just plain weird, I sort through my Sent folder, deleting trivial emails and putting other ones in folders too.  That way emails sent and received to the same person are all together.  I've never had zero emails in my Inbox and Sent folder, which would be the apex of organization.  For one moment.  It's a happy thought.

    What's your email system? 

  • Simple Pleasures in February

    ~  The shifting light in the Eagle Cap mountains this afternoon

    ~  Close encounters
    I enjoy deer a) on the grill, b) in between buns,
    and c) when they are not completing the alimentary cycle in my yard.

    ~  My new favorite salad,
    Asian Noodle Salad, the Pioneer Woman's concoction.
    I made it today at our friends' house.
    The score card: 8/8 tasters ADORED this salad.

    I can't wait for occasions to make this salad again.
    Easter Sunday, for sure.
    Fellowship Meals, check.
    (your church probably calls it potluck,
    but we get in big trouble if we use that word.)
    When my brother and his wife come.
    Every day this week.

    My husband thinks if you added grilled chicken, it'd be perfect.

    ~ Laughter
    I think "Oops!" must be my middle name.

    1.  I confused nephrology (treatment of kidneys)
    with necrology (whatever it is, it's about death).

    2.  Summarizing the situation, I pronounced,
    "Well, it's just time to gear up the loins."

    3.  Suggesting a brilliant possibility, I explained,
    "I just wanted to put a bug in your nose."

  • Band of Brothers and Beyond

            

    Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest brings World War II down to a personal level.  Limiting the scope of the story to one company from their training at Camp Toccoa and their preparation for D-Day in England to several fierce battles to Berchtesgaden, Hitler's mountain resort, provides a panorama of the war experience for a small group of citizen soldiers.  The parachute infantry was a new concept in soldiering.  Many men chose the Airborne because of the extra $50 pay per month; some craved the physical challenge; others wanted the respect and status that came with their reputation for daring exploits.  Since the HBO mini-series, this story has become famous.  Reading this book makes me want to read more all of Ambrose's WWII books.

    There is a limit to how long a man can function effectively in this topsy-turvy world.  For some, mental breakdown comes early; Army psychiatrists found that in Normandy 10 and 20 percent of the men in rifle companies suffered some form of mental disorder during the first week, and either fled or had to be taken out of the line.  For others, visible breakdown never occurs, but nevertheless effectiveness breaks down.  The experiences of men in combat produces emotions stronger than civilians can know, emotions of terror, panic, anger, sorrow, bewilderment, helplessness, uselessness, and each of these feelings drained energy and mental stability.  p.203

    One man stands out as an incredible leader: Major Dick Winters.  His courage, leadership, humility, wisdom, and spunk are remarkable.  Two words, Winter says, encapsulate a good leader:  Follow me.  After reading Band of Brothers I wanted to know more about the Major.  In 2006 he wrote his memoirs, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters.  I was bewildered by the overlap between the two books (a few paragraphs are almost identical) until I realized that Ambrose got much of his material from Winters himself.  Winters limits the scope of his book to the memoirs of the war time and follow-up of soldiers in the company.  He treasures his privacy and doesn't reveal personal details.  At 91, Winters is the only officer still alive from the Easy Company.       

    These two quotes interested me enough to transcribe them from the audio book.  Doesn't physical exhaustion leading to combat fatigue have applications in everyday life?

    Physical exhaustion leads to mental exhaustion which in turn causes men to lose discipline.  Loss of self-discipline then produces combat fatigue.  Self-discipline keeps a soldier doing his job.  Without it, he loses his pride and he loses the importance of self-respect in the eyes of his fellow soldiers.  It is pride that keeps a soldier going and keeps him in the fight.

    This quote about combat fatigue is poignant in light of the opening theme in the HBO mini-series based on the book Band of Brothers which shows a helmut fall to the ground and a man dazed.  I have seen this messing up of hair, pressing hands against the temples, hands-on-the-head behavior in people who are stressed out.   Shoot, I'm sure I do this myself.

    When you see a man break, he usually slams his helmut down and messes up his hair.  I don't know if it is conscious or unconscious.  But a soldier massages his head, shakes it, and then he is gone.  You can talk to him all you want but he cannot hear you.

    These books are part of the War Through the Generations Reading Challenge.

  • Fine Art Friday - Deborah Dewit Marchant

     
    Evenings at Home, Deborah Dewit Marchant

    Friday Nights, Deborah Dewit Marchant

    Sometimes when my son asks, "What movie are we going to watch tonight?" my response is, "Let's have a reading evening instead."  We three get a book, get comfy, have a cuppa something, and read away.  With two talkers and one listener in the room, there are bound to be interruptions.  "Listen to this!" or "Did you know...?"  There is something cozy about sharing the experience of reading instead of sharing the experience of watching.

    Certain authors "get" the reading life. Their descriptions resonate and reverberate; they make you nod in agreement. Reading a book like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society inspires you to read more. 

    Likewise some artists understand the power and glory of reading books.  Deb Dewit Marchant  is an artist with a passion for reading, writing, cats and nature.  Check out the link; look into the nooks and crannies and you will find treasures galore.  My favorite page is the Reader's Collection in the Note Cards section.  The Writer's Series is wonderful.  Lots to love, people, lots to love. 

    Hat tip to Janie for introducing me to Dewit Marchant's art.  And thank you Deborah for permission to post your art.  I see a string of Fine Art Fridays ahead.

  • Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra

    Last night I enjoyed a symphony concert with one of my piano students.  The program was Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor and Franck's Symphony in D minor.  Our small town symphony has a tradition of bringing some of the greatest piano concertos to the stage. 

    I like to describe a concerto as a duet between a solo instrument and the orchestra.  The piano (solo instrument, could be cello, violin, oboe, etc.)  will play a melody and the flutes (horns, strings, etc.) will play it back to the piano.  There are moments when the piano plays alone and the orchestra plays alone, but mostly they weave strands of melody in and out and around the varied instruments.

    Last night's concert was an unparalleled opportunity for a music lover in a small town in Oregon to see and hear a world-class artist.  Our guest artist is from Monterrey, Mexico, and has played in Moscow, Vienna, Los Angeles, and Caracas.  We had seats in the second row, with no one in front of us.  I could feel the vibrations in my bones.  There is nothing like live music.

    You can see a sample of the Grand Ronde Symphony playing (not last night's performance, but Tchaikovsky's wonderful piano concerto) at this site.  Scroll down to GRSO and click for the full image.  The video is twelve minutes but watching the first five minutes will give you a feel for how blessed I am to live where amateur musicians play for the love of it. If you have unlimited time, the other videos are nice.  Wallowa Lake is the gold nugget of our region (and the setting for The Shack); the video for Eagle Cap Excursion Train traces our drive to church every Sunday.

    If you only have a minute, watch this video and get this lovely melody in your bloodstream today.
      

  • Pimples Gathered in Peer Groups

    Pimples were gathered
    in peer groups on his face.
    (description of a 15 year old boy)

    Her teeth elbowed each other
    for room in her mouth...
    (a shopkeeper)

    ~  Markus Zusak in The Book Thief

    I'm only a third of the way through listening to this novel narrated by Death about a girl named Liesel Meminger living in Nazi Germany.  Death as the narrator sounds very creepy, but in fact it is incredibly clever. When I review it, qualifiers (caveats) will rain down like paratroopers on D Day.   

    But this much I can say: 

    I haven't read writing so crisp and crackly since William Griffin's translation of The Imitation of Christ or Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.

  • Savoring Life, Wondering Child

     

    This savoring of life is no small thing.

    The element of wonder
    is almost lost today
    with the onslaught of the media
    and gadgets
    of our noisy world.

    To let a child lose it
    is to make him blind and deaf
    to the best of life.

    ~ Gladys Hunt in Honey for a Child's Heart  

    I'm giving a talk on children's literature tomorrow.  I'm thankful for the impetus to read through this excellent book again.  I buy Honey for a Child's Heart in bulk, because it is my first choice for a baby present.  Often I mark the brand new book, noting our family's favorites. 

    Each ramble through this book resurrects moments of warmth, joy and laughter.  The deliciousness of receiving a new Little House book each birthday of my girlhood; the echoes of "keep reading" from my sons; the books that broke our heart and incapacitated us; the hide-and-seek games my oldest son and I played with the Ralph Moody books we were reading concurrently; how right it feels to have a toddler on your lap while you are both absorbed in a book.

    It will be a challenge to keep this talk to one hour...