Name That Tune! (nocturnal version)

I can't remember whether I told you this already, but if I did I'm about to tell you again.

God gives us songs in the night. It says so in the Bible, in the Book of Job (specifically, in Job 35:10).

I can't remember experiencing them when I was younger, but now that I am old it occurs frequently.

When I wake up in the middle of the night, often there is playing on my brain's radio station some old hymn that I knew when I was a young person, when I was singing in church using the old Cokesbury Hymnal. I may not have thought of it in years and years, such as this one:

"Thou, my everlasting portion,
More than friend or life to me;
All along my pilgrim journey,
Savior, let me walk with Thee.

Close to Thee, Close to Thee,
Close to Thee, Close to Thee,
All along this pilgrim journey,
Savior, let me walk with Thee."

Two nights ago I heard a full-blown orchestra and chorus performing from the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah oratorio:

"For unto us a child is born,
Unto us a son is given,
And the government shall be upon his shoulder,
And his name shall be calléd
Wonderful! Counselor!
The Mighty God! The Everlasting Father!
The Prince Of Peace!"

Early this morning it was a simple little chorus that opened a certain evangelist's television program every week many years ago:

"Something good is going to happen to you,
Happen to you this very day,
Something good is going to happen to you,
Jesus of Nazareth is passing your way."

I could cite more but I don't want to bore you.

Maybe one has to be on the right wave length. You definitely have to have your receiver turned on with the volume up.

If what you hear in the middle of the night are Lady Gaga ballads or old chestnuts made popular by Ella Fitzgerald or early rock-ahd-roll hits from the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard, they might be coming from a different source.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying it's from Satan like the Church Lady (Dana Carvey) on Saturday Night Live. It could be easily explained by what you ate last night for supper (British, tea).

I recommend angel food cake.

I wonder as I wander

In his 1909 poem "The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock" T.S. Eliot included, not once but twice, these lines:

"In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo."

I wonder whether, if T.S. (Tom to his friends) had lived in Rochester, New York, when he wrote his poem instead of in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was a student at Harvard, he might have written the following instead:

"In the room the women come and go
Speaking of Lake Ontario."

In the same poem, he also wrote:

"I grow old ... I grow old ...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me."

I wonder why I was unaffected by these lines when I was in my twenties but now that I am in my eighties I find them deeply moving, their poignancy causing my eyes to fill with tears.

On a more lighthearted note, I read recently that men have three hairstyles -- parted, unparted, and departed. J.Alfred Prufrock, take note.

I wonder on this, the vernal equinox, spring having arrived in the northern hemisphere today, March 20, 2023, at 5:24 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), why the low temperature at my house this morning was 24°F (-4.44°C). It just doesn't seem right, somehow.

I suppose that since I am prone to wander (Lord, I feel it), I will probably continue to wonder.

‘You probably don’t care

...but here are a few of the "triple stumpers" (questions on Jeopardy! that not one of the three contestants could answer) during my absence from Blogland that I knew the answers to (British, to which I knew the answers).

Who is Jiminy Cricket?
What is Erewhon?
What is the Aral Sea?
What is thesis?
What is the Green Book?
What is I Love Lucy?
Who is Dr. Samuel Mudd?
What is drummer?
What is a duvet?
Who is Rembrandt?
What is The Thin Man?
What is Padre Island?

One of the clues mentioned Pinocchio's conscience. Another mentioned that an episode in this television series included the line "I'm your Vitameatavegamin Girl". Another mentioned Nick and Nora. These are all obvious to old geezers like moi. The most distressing silence to me personally, however, was the one following the clue "Thoreau wrote that if a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different this". I suppose I should not have been surprised, as I heard on the news recently that some universities are dropping their degree programs in the humanities and English.

Today is St.Patrick's Day so eat corned beef and cabbage and drink your green beer and wave your Erin Go Bragh flag if you are so inclined. It's a free country.

Our grandson's wedding took place in Alabama over the weekend and it was a glorious time for all concerned. I will not be including any photographs in the interest of family privacy, but many happy scenes are indelibly etched on the silver screen of my mind including one of the lovely Mrs. RWP and me on the dance floor.

Finally, eighty-two years ago tomorrow I took my first breath and have been breathing with regularity ever since. I hope to continue for some time.

I don't know whether I am back for good yet but I am back at the moment.

Real life takes precedence

I shall not be blogging for the next little while (British, an indeterminate period of time) because real life in the form of the weddings of two of our grandchildren, my 82nd birthday, our 60th wedding anniversary, the birth of our very first great-granchild, and who knows what else will undoubtedly be taking up gobs and gobs (British, a great deal) of my time, time usually spent creating posts, replying to comments, commenting on other people's blogs, and so forth (Latin, et cetera).

I feel it in my bones.

So I sadly bid you a temporary auf wiedersehen, adios, au revoir, sayonara, and as Tigger often said to Winnie the Pooh in movies produced by Disney Studios but not even once in the books written by A.A. Milne, T.T.F.N.

My fervent hope is that, as General Douglas MacArthur said 81 years ago this month, I shall return.

Time will tell.

The streak continues

"What streak?" I hear someone asking. Why, the streak of answers on Jeopardy! none of the contestants could answer but that I could:

What is philately?
What is a gaucho?
What is trial by ordeal?
What is Monday?
What is a clatter?
Who is Horatio Hornblower?
What is Pont Neuf?

Monday is the day of the week on which the United States Supreme Court begins its term every October. A clatter is the type of noise mentioned in "A Visit From St. Nicholas".

Full disclosure: I didn't know a single answer in the category "Rappers" in one episode and I also draw a blank most evenngs regarding 21st-century sports heroes, actors, actresses, films, TV series, music, and musicians.

Unfortunately, the century about which I know the most (the 20th) is rapidly receding into life's rear-view mirror and there is nothing you or I or anyone else can do about it.

At some point we ourselves will be only a distant memory to fewer and fewer people, and eventually we all will be completely forgotten.

On that cheery note, I wish you a good day today, a restful night's sleep tonight, and a brighter day tomorrow.

Maybe the next post won't be all about me.

One can only hope.

Memory verse for today: "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)

P.S. -- Today is not only Texas Independence Day (from Mexico in 1836) but also my youngest grandson's 22nd birthday.