I’m attempting to work online this morning, standing at the window in our bedroom. It works but is sloooooww. I am in a quiet mood this morning. I got up and read a transcript of the Presidential debate last night. It’s a trope that things now are worse then they ever have been. But it certainly seems shameful that our public discourse has been reduced to this. Trump went in last night with exceptionally low expectations. From the transcript, it seemed that he was more restrained than in the first debate. Clinton seemed to deliberately lay low and points and allow Trump to hang himself. What strikes me is that Trump was firing up his base and Clinton aimed to win over undecided voters. Matthew was going to stay up and watch it (2 AM local time). I will be very curious what he thought of it.

I fear that yesterday was hard on our host and hostess. Matthew’s Mom and Sister Louisa and nephew Lloyd (son of Louisa) visited. It was pleasant, of course, to see these people who loom so large in Sarah’s life. I think I am beginning to be able to read Matthew more clearly than I used to. He obviously cares deeply for these people and attempts to tease them into relaxing. Louisa is very social. Lloyd (teenager) had a droll sense of humor that played over his face even as he buried himself in his laptop, but listening closely at all times.

Lloyd and Matthew hiked to the nearby quick purchase shop to pick up some more bread to feed everyone. They obviously enjoyed some private time together. After the whole group left, Sarah was very deflated. She kept us hanging around a bit later than she has. I think it was as much for her benefit (Hi, Sarah!) as for ours. I have had misgivings about invading the scene so quickly after Lucy’s birth, but it seems to be more positive than negative for all concerned.

After reading the debate transcript, I did a little Greek. Then I turned to my ebook copy of The Legend of Good Women by Chaucer. Not having access to the Internet, I made notes on what I would like to look up when I do. I read the introduction provided by the editors even though the edition is ancient. Chaucer wrote this work before embarking upon The Canterbury Tales. It seems to have been a classical type of response or recantation after writing a work critical of a woman. In Chaucer’s case, this was his long poem, Troilus and Criseyde.

He apparently wrote two complete drafts. My creaky old edition (which is probably not that bad) has the drafts in columns. The Introduction said that the earlier draft contained some important beautiful passages that Chaucer cut out of the second so i was glad to see them side by side.

I also read in an ebook copy of Peter Ackroyd’s Foundation: The History of England From Its Earliest Beginnings to Tudors. Apparently, this is volume one of several works along this line. So far the most startling think I read was in “1995 paleontologists discovered that the material from a male body, found in the caves of Cheddar Gorge and interred 9,000 years ago, was a close match with that of residents still living in the immediate area.” Presumably from DNA tests. That is a long time.

Well now we are back at Sarah and Matthews. We had a quick chat with Matthew but he needed to adjourn to his work so he doesn’t fall behind.

Working off line again. Eileen and I had a nice restful morning in our rooms this morning. Yesterday was a long day of traveling and sight seeing. Sarah drove us first to a Weaving site where she sat in the car and breast fed Lucy while Eileen and I looked around.

Although there was some interesting stuff, Eileen was largely unimpressed with this place. The looms were not working. They had stopped making fabric several years ago due to safety considerations. Despite the fact that they were machine looms (operated entirely without people as far as I could see), Eileen would have liked to have seen them in operation.

Most of the rest of the place was predictably a shop. You could buy everything from retro toys to woolen suits. There was a small museum area. But there were few labels and lots of stuff. There was a sign purporting that they had opted for a “gentleman’s curio” type display where the viewers could use their own powers of imagination and observation to figure stuff out.

The William Morris house and village was much better. We took back roads via Sarah’s GPS. Sarah has long been fond of driving through out of the way routes, so this was no surprise. But at one point, an unanticipated toll of 5 pence took her and us by surprise. We had no British coins with us. Sarah explained to the toll person. He allowed us through. But addressing her comment that she had not expected a toll at this point, he said, “Now you know.”

We parked and walked about ten minutes to the Kelmscott Manor complex. When we purchased our tickets we had to specify what block of time during the day we planned to enter the house itself. We gave ourselves enough time to grab some lunch at the tea room there.

This was pleasant enough. Sarah was using the entire trip as a trial run on what it would be like to travel with Lucy. Eileen seemed to be helpful for her in this way. Lucy was very well behaved. At just over four months weeks, she is a happy baby and seems to relish (in a baby way) her Mom and Dad’s attention.

We hit the inevitable tourist shop before it was our time to go into the main building. There were some books on William Morris. I was disappointed that there was nothing about his font designs. Nor was there a copy of A.S. Byatt’s Peacock and Vine the inspiration, really, for me to check to see how far away Sarah is living from Kelmscott Manor.

Morris was intent on simplicity and integrity in all that he did in his life. This includes the buildings he lived and worked in. The Kelmscott Manor was begun by the original family of Turners around 1600. Through several generations of Turners, the original U shape of the house was added onto and lived in. It was not called a Manor until 1854 when James Turner purchased the lordship. Morris loved the house so much that he kept much of it as he found it when he began living there in the late 19th century.

There were many artifacts and pieces of art that were satisfying to see. I was especially taken with several variations inspired by Chaucer’s The Legend of Good Wimmen. I did not know this work previously, but found it in my ebook copy of his works. It inspired some of Morris’s colleagues to make portraits of the women described in the book. Copies of their works hung on the walls. I found them intriguing along with everything else.

It was fun to see this building and its contents after reading Peacock and Vine.

Happy coincidence of having just read it before coming to England. Eileen and Sarah seemed as taken with the place as I was.

Recent pic of me singing. Note sleeping Lucy.

Today, we are planning a road trip. Sarah is antsy to get her mobility back after giving birth to Lucy. She is using our visit as an excuse to try out some day trips. We are planning to go to a weaving site which Eileen and Sarah have scoped out a bit. Eileen has only limited interest in it because it seems to be mostly retail sales of stuff woven by machine not by hand. However, it’s only about ten minutes out of our way. So it would be a practical add on to our excursion.

The main destination is William Morris’s Kelmscott Manor. Sarah has limited interest in Morris designs having dealt with commercial sales of them via her past employment. I’m hoping that despite this she will find Morris’s house a worthwhile destination. At any rate, it will get her out of the house with Lucy on a field trip which is the main goal.
Matthew is still learning to balance Dad duties and his job, both of which take place in his and Sarah’s home. Our trip away today will give him a chance to catch up on work and possibly even nap a bit.

He had a productive day trip yesterday. He took a bus to Aylesbury. From there he took a train to his Dad’s home. While visiting his Dad he was able to sort out several tasks (like changing his Wifi server and helping his Dad get oriented to his new fangled portable oxygen tank). He seemed exhausted but satisfied when he returned last night.

It was fun helping Eileen with Lucy while Sarah slept yesterday. Baby stuff comes back quickly. Plus Eileen did the lion’s share, I mostly helped out but did get to hold the baby quite a bit during this time. It is fascinating to see a four month old’s perceptions and behavior. Lucy will be a bright one. That’s obvious.

I even strummed the guitar and sang later after Sarah awoke. Lucy was sleeping soundly wrapped in the baby contraption (sling?) in Eileen’s arms while Sarah made supper. We all agreed that the singing was largely for Sarah. Hot tunes included “Froggie went acourtin” and “Obla di Obla da.”

This is the first time I have picked up a guitar in ages. I used Sarah’s nylon string which needs new strings of course since it doesn’t get too much use.

I don’t think I’m going to lose weight on this trip. Sooprise sooprise. I have a check-up after I return. I will probably weigh distressingly higher. It’s worth it to see Sarah, Matthew, Lucy, and England.

I’m working off line again. Sarah suggested I try to tether in to the phone from the living room. I attempted this, but the phone insists on going off wifi in order to tether. This makes that particular maneuver impossible. I’ll put this online after Eileen wakes. We said we would leave in about an hour or so with lots of flexibility in getting started today.

I’m sitting at Sarah’s. It’s almost midday in England. Matthew took off to go see his Dad today. This involves a day long trip via buses.  I think it is the first visit since Lucy’s arrival. We managed to trip a fuse at our rooms earlier losing all power. Apparently this has now been restored. Sarah came and rescued us. We had breakfast here and are now skyping with the Beijing branch of the fam. Eileen’s phone is the source of communication and is low on batteries.

Actually now they have hung up. I tried to communicate via Skype on my laptop but somehow failed. (Eileen was perturbed with me). But all had a nice chat. Alex looks tired. Apparently she slept the entire flight from Chicago to Beijing (if I understood correctly). But Elizabeth and Jeremy are still adjusting to the time switch. I relate.

I don’t have too much to blog about today. I enjoyed chatting with Matthew last night. I’m trying not to drive him crazy, but he is such a good conversationalist and keeps asking questions, keeping me blabbing. I do like him a great deal and wish I could spend more time with him. He loves being a Dad.

I think we are mostly going to take it easy today.

Good thing for me, since I am still adjusting to the time switch. Eileen slept better last night.

At this point in blogging, I had to stop and help with Lucy.

This lasted for a while, but now Eileen is feeding her while Sarah grabs much needed rest.

Race, rock, and the Rolling Stones: How the rock and roll became white.

I stumbled onto this article yesterday. Race in American music is something I think about quite a bit. It is obvious to me that slavery and subsequent presence of the mixed up cultures it brought together is the source of so much of the American musical genius. I don’t think too much about historical and aesthetic perspective of rock and roll. I’m up way too close to this. But it had never consciously occurred to me that rock and roll is a co opted “white” thing other than the fact that black artists (outside of Motown) do not get near the exposure or credit of white ones.

A couple of things occurred to me reading this article. First of all, many rockers abhor early rap. This fell along racial lines. Whites were rockers, rappers were black. Then there was a move of young whites to adopt a black rapper persona. This is all way before hip hop and further refinements in this area, but it is a racial thing I noticed.

And I do admit to noticing and admiring black rock and rollers and thinking it was exceptional (Living Color for example) thus slipping into the weird racism Jack Hamilton describes.

But at the same time, I have never faltered in seeing the “race records” as examples of great very influential American music. Also, the obvious influence of black artists and makers of music in the evolution of jazz and blues and other musics.

What is helpful about this article is pointing out the subtle racial biases in the early reception of the Rolling Stones. That had not occurred to me at all.

Plus I tend to distinguish between strictly commercial endeavors from music that interests me. This cuts a weird swathe across all musics.

I have never accepted the idea that one had to be black to play gospel or jazz since to me one can think clearly about the musical techniques required. However, the whole stealing ideas and making money on it “white” thing is obviously unethical, but more the rule than the exception.

Weird stuff.

11 Songs Prove the History of Music Is All About Cultural Appropriation

Aside from the fact that the “History of Music” seemed to start late last century, here are some examples of what Jack Hamilton was talking about (not all of which I recognize).

Jet lag and time change is kicking my butt.

I purchased gin and vermouth yesterday and ended the day with a couple martinis. This helps me fall asleep but then I usually wake up. With the time change, my body is confused. I did manage to get sleep in last night, but Eileen slept fitfully (her report).

It is after noon local time but we are still moving slowly in our rooms. Apparently Lucy, Matthew and Sarah had a rough night last night as well. We are all content to take it slowly this morning.

Sarah and I went to Tesco together last night. That was great fun! (Hi Sarah! Sarah tells me that she read my blog post yesterday afternoon while breast feeding Lucy…. I find it sort of interesting when family members are checking up on me via the interwebs when I’m so close…. suspected the same was going on with Mark and Leigh when we stayed with them.)

Sarah drove us. Also she was a great help in pointing me at quality and less expensive goods. Besides booze, I stocked up on fruits, vegetables, meat (for Eileen, coffee, and other sundries for our rooms so we are self sufficient. By the time we got back to Sarah’s house, Eileen (who had been watching Lucy) was ready to crash for the night. We came home and fixed food. We turned on the TV for the first time. Surprisingly there were many USA shows on. Eileen found an episode of NCIS.

Eileen has figured out the clothes washer and the dish washer. We brought fewer clothes with the idea we would have access to a washing machine. British stuff and lingo is just different enough to be interesting. It’s like waking up in the next dimension over. It’s similar enough to figure out, but also many differences in the details. Since many of these are quirky language differences (“cooker provided” means there’s an oven in our room), I enjoy figuring stuff out. It helps to have read tons of English literature (and junky stuff as well).

The interweb continues to be very helpful when I can get access to it. I am keeping up with reading my New York Times. Yesterday while Sarah, Matthew and Lucy were busy, I missed having my David Foster Wallace novel The System of the Broom, with me. But I was able to go online and pull down an ecopy from Mark’s online library and continue reading. Cool!

I am enjoying chatting with Matthew as well as Sarah. It is interesting to hear his ideas about politics, both US and England. I realized recently that he has spent his entire life as a British citizen in the European Union. Although, he has had some “buyers remorse” about his initial support for Brexit, he is hopeful that it will work out well for England.

The Conservative Party has been holding a Conference in Birmingham, not too far from here.  I noted to Matthew the increased use of the term, “foreigner,” in British public discussions (instead of immigrant or migrant). This is a term that seems to permeate the Chinese way of looking at things as well.

It’s interesting to follow local politics when abroad. Matthew says that he finds his own local politics disheartening and enjoys following American madness (my term, not his). Madness, indeed.

Stepping Over the Dead on a Migrant Boat – The New York Times

I read this article on my tablet, but didn’t see the stirring photographs included in the online version. The movement of people trying to escape dire awful situations continues world wide. Today’s OED word for the day seemed apt.

We made it to the UK. I slept more than Eileen did on our 8 hour flight. But we were both exhausted by the time we arrived around noon local time. We managed to get on the wifi at Heathrow and were able to communicate with Sarah and Matthew via WhatsApp, a messaging app we use to talk to our family around the world.

Sarah arrived shortly to drive us to her home in Calvert Green. We grabbed some sandwiches and drinks to go at Heathrow and ate in the car on the way. Their new home is in Calvert Green, half way between Aylesbury and  Bicester (pronounced BIST- ah). We went there directly.

Although Eileen and I were tired, we enjoyed holding Lucy for the first time and chatting with Sarah and Matthew.

Our temporary home in the UK is a comfortable couple of rooms in an old converted, one-story, barn.

The rustic beams are echoed in this painting on the wall.

It seems to be in the middle of a diary farm.

The exposed beams could well be from the original barn. But most of the interior is redone in a fanciful mix of antiques and late 20th century British kitsch. The setting is quite idyllic.

Despite being a one story building, there is a little loft with a balcony.

We settled in last night. Eileen hitting the sack as soon as she could. The proprietors had left a basket of goodies including wine which I availed myself of. Sarah dropped us off and returned with some plug adaptors (Brit to US), eggs, bagels, marmite, and juice.
The time change was difficult for me since I was not as exhausted as Eileen. Plus I had my eye on listening to the Vice presidential debates. There is wifi here in the barn, but it doesn’t work so well at the dining room table where I am sitting and writing off line. The pictures scattered throughout today’s post are ones I snapped this morning for that purpose.

I think I lost Tuesday. We left late Monday evening and arrived here in England around noon on Tuesday. But it seemed like the same day. Now I have a Wednesday ahead of me.

We couldn’t get the heat to work this morning. Eileen emailed the proprietors and soon a pleasant, chatty man in grubby work clothes stopped by and helped us. He managed to get it going after much grumbling about the system. “If it has four legs and it mooed, I’m more comfortable with it,” he said as he left, after gesturing at the fancy thermostat.

Snapped this pic through the Sarah’s car window. The proprietor’s brick home is to the left. Our “barn” is a long building on the right. There are two units. We are in the furthest one. The two windows are where I stand to do the internet with my computer. Right now I’m using the wifi at Sarah’s. It seems to be a bit quicker although Matthew has said it’s “rubbish.” He uses it for his business (buying and selling stuff online).

A friend of mine has recently accepted a position as music director for a nearby Episcopal community. My boss described this community as “high church” but in a healthy way or something like that.

In Anglican circles, “high church” has had a lot of different meanings for me over the years. My first contact with the Episcopal church was when it was still worshiping with the 1928 Prayer Book and the 1940 Hymnal. The language and music of these resources impressed me.

Also I liked the ritual. “Bells and smells” it was sometimes called and aspired to “high church.”

Rather quickly I witnessed and helped implement new resources: the 1979 Prayer Book and the 1982 Hymnal. I was later to learn that these were highly under the influence of an Episcopalian take on the 1963 Vatican II documents. The idea of a highly stylized Anglican prayer service began to gradually seem to me as less and less interesting.

Around about this time, I sought employment in the Roman Catholic church to pay the bills when living in Detroit. It was then that I was exposed to and began reading the Vatican II documents.

Somewhere in there, my personal eclectic musical aesthetic began rhyming with an eclectic worship aesthetic. At the age of 65, I am convinced that the genius of American music is eclecticism. If one looks beyond sectarian approaches and dogmas, there is a wealth of musical influences in our society. I tend to like and value them all to some degree.

All of this is to say that I wonder if I am now “low church.” Stylized English buy valium perth approaches to communal prayer that emphasize a choral expression of beauty in sung portions of the ritual don’t interest me that much. I can see its beauty. But I see beauty in many places and kinds of music. I’ll have to ask my boss about this after we get back from England.

It will be a long day today for me and Eileen. Our flight doesn’t leave Grand Rapids until 8 PM. It will be interesting to see how we hold up. I’m usually in bed by this time, but of course traveling across time zones involves adjusting. As I age, this gets more difficult. But I’m looking forward to getting away.

How to Use Google to Plan Your Trip – The New York Times

This article was in yesterday’s paper. I downloaded this app on my tablet and phone. What the heck.

A RaHbbi’s Enduring Sermon on Living Your Last Five Minutes – The New York Times

Religious stuff often drives me crazy. This is a good article, though.

Oscar Brand, Folk Singer Whose Radio Show Twanged for Decades, Dies at 96 – The New York Times

He didn’t get paid for his radio show? Wow.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Advice for Living – The New York Times

I do admire this person.

Don’t Like the Candidates? Vote Anyway – The New York Times

I’ll have to check to see if this article is one of the ones I “shared” on fecesbooger yesterday. Good stuff.

Bishop takes to Facebook to defend firing of gay music director | WJAR

Yes, stupid gay guy, why don’t you stay in the closet like so many bishops and priest do?

It turns out the English B and B we are staying at and, for that matter, Sarah and Matthew’s home is not that far from Kelmscott Manor where William Morris lived out the last years of his life.

We may just trundle over for a look see if that works out.

Sarah has indicated to Eileen that she wants to try some outings while we are visiting. This is both for our touristy benefit and her own regaining routine after giving birth. I am hoping not to drive my quasi son-in-law crazy at this delicate time of his life. He does adore his new baby, that’s for sure!

Eileen and I are looking forward to this trip with excitement.  I am thinking of packing very light. This is always more a good idea when traveling, especially overseas. The B and B we have booked has a washer. It looks quite luxurious. I hope they let uncouth Amurican church musicians stay there! (Just kidding).

One of my choir members gave me a beautiful leather satchel. I love it. It’s used, which adds to its character and beauty as far as I’m concerned. Once again I’m feeling very spoiled. I’m thinking seriously of using it for this trip. Leather is heavier and it doesn’t hold as much stuff, but I’m not planning on taking much stuff. I’m sticking my old organ shoes in the luggage. I’m hoping my tablet will double as both ereader and sheet music access for this trip. So mostly I will have devices in my satchel along with carefully selected real copies of books and music.

The B and B does have wifi, so we should be able to use it with our phones, my computer and tablet.

Why Don’t You Just Call the Cops? – The New York Times

Because they might hurt you, especially if you are black.

I’m tempted to purchase The Enigma of Arrival by V.S. Naipaul as an ebook to read while I’m in the UK. Some of this book takes place in nearby Salsbury (which we have visited before). Naipaul writes about what it’s like to move from one country/culture to another….

I was sitting in my therapist’s waiting room waiting yesterday. I was reading Leonard Cohen’s Book of Longing.

I read the poem “All My News” and liked the ending so much I wanted to make a little check mark on the last few lines and write down the page. This is what I do with books. I put the page of the things I want to be able to return to in the back of the book. I didn’t have a pencil. Then my therapist was ready for me and I went in.

Here’s the lines I later marked:

5.
Undeciphered
let my song
rewire circuits
wired wrong,

and with my jingle
in your brain,
allow the Bridge
to arch again.

I ended my session with Dr. Birky pointing out that my “pathology was submerged” today. My life is good and has been especially good lately (record player, new books to read, impending trip to England). Dr. Birky, my therapist, has indicated that I can bring in stuff I am thinking about and we can talk it over. If I don’t have anything, he promises to have stuff to talk about. Yesterday it was his turn. I have been busy and also finding life sweet.

So Dr. Birky asked me questions about my life and I talked. I told him I like to talk so talking is not really a problem for me. I didn’t tell him,  but I think I have had many interesting things happen to me and that, yes, I am still trying to figure them out. Is that therapy? I don’t know, but I do know that I like Dr. Birky and I like talking to him. Fut the whuck.

I have a tendency to get  up and listen to podcasts in the morning. I listen to the Writers Almanac in order to sit still for five minutes before taking my BP. I listen to podcasts while I clean the kitchen and make coffee. The Writers Almanac has a new poem every day as part of its five minutes. Today’s poem made me remember Leonard Cohen’s closing lines.