Life in Quarantine: One man's reflections

[James S. Rustad]

Pastor Austin,

My sympathies on both the loss of your cat and the kidney stone.

I've lost more than one pet and it is always sad.

I've also had kidney stones so I sympathize with you on that as well.  I now drink at least a gallon a day to keep my system flushed out.  I hope your stones are gone for good.

[Dave Benke]

They sent the stones for analysis to determine what they were made of. . Probably that will give us some clue about what I shouldn't eat or do to avoid getting stoned again. But in the end, it's still just a crapshoot. Sometimes you make eight the hard way, sometimes you crap out.

With regards to crapping out, have them examine as to whether it's raw or refined.  I have this wild thought that Luther's doctor had him ingesting the garlic and raw manure.  Please pass the salt.  And maybe 6 or 7 gallons of beer.

That kind of advice, thankfully, could never be given today.  https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1253474772702429189?lang=en.

Dave Benke

[GalRevRedux]

Charles, I am so sorry for your loss. My feline companions make isolation bearable. I thank you for loving your kitty so long and well.

Donna

[Richard Johnson]

Thomas Shelley, .you have a long memory, that phrase must've been posted 14 years ago.

The Orthodox generally have a long memory  . . . 

[James_Gale]

Thomas Shelley, .you have a long memory, that phrase must've been posted 14 years ago.

The Orthodox generally have a long memory  . . . 

The one thing does seem to proceed from the other. And ONLY the other.

[J. Thomas Shelley]

Thomas Shelley, .you have a long memory, that phrase must've been posted 14 years ago.

The Orthodox generally have a long memory  . . . 

The one thing does seem to proceed from the other. And ONLY the other.

It was--and remains--a beautiful phrase.

And during those 14 year I have lost two felines and remembered those words each time.

And yes, being Orthodox does enter into the picture because in our Memorial Service (which is served almost half of the Sundays) we use a beautiful prayer which includes the phrases:

ἀνάπαυσον τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ κεκοιμημένου δούλου (τῆς κεκοιμημένης δούλης) σου (τας ψυχάς των κεκοιμημένων δούλων σου),
ἐν τόπῳ φωτεινῷ,
ἐν τόπῳ χλοερῷ,
ἐν τόπῳ ἀναψύξεως

Give rest to the soul(s) of Your departed servant(s) (Name)
in a place of light,
in a place of green pasture,
in a place of refreshment...

Our venerable wordsmith has created an equivalent for remembering our feline friends.

Cheers!

[Dave Benke]

I've always thought this thread was the best of us on this board in these past months, initiated by our friend Charles Austin.

So in the last 24 hours, I (and Judy) finally left the Island.  Long Island, particularly the inner half from Brooklyn through Nassau County.  Yesterday we paid a bridge toll (!) and headed all the way to Yonkers, which is for non-locals located on continental America and not an island.  We saw people!  Family first, including a new grand-nephew whose dad went through a serious bout of COVID-19 in March, and is now back to work as a physician in Yonkers.  Baby born (Scott Geminn) at Lawrence Hospital, so a native New Yorker and Westchesterian (Westchesterite?).  Anyway we went to this beautiful park on the Hudson, the Untermyer Park, on the estate of a really cool rich dude from back in the day.  Then we went to the other water, in Pelham Bay, to the Club I belong to, which is the top Athletic Club probably in the US, sponsoring normally 50-60 medal-winning athletes at the Olympics.  This location, actually is on a little island called Travers Island and is our club's Yacht Club and sailing/ water sports training center.  Snazzy.  For first night off the other Island, we were kind of overwhelmed by being in an exclusively Anglo setting - 100%.  Except for some non-white waitstaff. 

So today, traffic being down, I took a shot at another trip to the far-off island of Manhattan (7 miles), paying this time the tunnel tolls (we have no more toll booths in NY - all digital reads of your license plate).  And there - hey, hello!  Welcome back to New York City!   People -  people of all possible kinds, mostly NOT tourists (this is a major change in midtown), and just us being us, wandering and kvetching and taking it in.  I walked through Macy's, full of stuff, not many people buying.  I see a guy looking lost, who asks a guy outside a hotel a question and gets no answer.  I ask him what's up.  He says "where do I get Amtrak?  That man didn't know."  We're standing maybe 100 feet from MSG (Madison Square Garden) and therefore Penn Station, ie Amtrak.  I say, "See that big building next to us?  Go in there.  You'll be fine."  The other guy didn't know?  Welcome back to New York City!

Dave Benke

[John_Hannah]

I've always thought this thread was the best of us on this board in these past months, initiated by our friend Charles Austin.

So in the last 24 hours, I (and Judy) finally left the Island.  Long Island, particularly the inner half from Brooklyn through Nassau County.  Yesterday we paid a bridge toll (!) and headed all the way to Yonkers, which is for non-locals located on continental America and not an island.  We saw people!  Family first, including a new grand-nephew whose dad went through a serious bout of COVID-19 in March, and is now back to work as a physician in Yonkers.  Baby born (Scott Geminn) at Lawrence Hospital, so a native New Yorker and Westchesterian (Westchesterite?).  Anyway we went to this beautiful park on the Hudson, the Untermyer Park, on the estate of a really cool rich dude from back in the day.  Then we went to the other water, in Pelham Bay, to the Club I belong to, which is the top Athletic Club probably in the US, sponsoring normally 50-60 medal-winning athletes at the Olympics.  This location, actually is on a little island called Travers Island and is our club's Yacht Club and sailing/ water sports training center.  Snazzy.  For first night off the other Island, we were kind of overwhelmed by being in an exclusively Anglo setting - 100%.  Except for some non-white waitstaff. 

So today, traffic being down, I took a shot at another trip to the far-off island of Manhattan (7 miles), paying this time the tunnel tolls (we have no more toll booths in NY - all digital reads of your license plate).  And there - hey, hello!  Welcome back to New York City!   People -  people of all possible kinds, mostly NOT tourists (this is a major change in midtown), and just us being us, wandering and kvetching and taking it in.  I walked through Macy's, full of stuff, not many people buying.  I see a guy looking lost, who asks a guy outside a hotel a question and gets no answer.  I ask him what's up.  He says "where do I get Amtrak?  That man didn't know."  We're standing maybe 100 feet from MSG (Madison Square Garden) and therefore Penn Station, ie Amtrak.  I say, "See that big building next to us?  Go in there.  You'll be fine."  The other guy didn't know?  Welcome back to New York City!

Dave Benke

[Jeremy_Loesch]

Glad you got out and about! And good to hear about the people you met.

It's been close to 13 years since we were last in Manhattan, but we didn't find it too hard to find our way around on the train. It also helped that my wife's cousin lived in NJ and worked for the transit authority and wrote down the stops/trains for us. Hardest part was wrestling an umbrella stroller through the stations.

Jeremy

[Dave Likeness]

What a thrill to know the 5 boroughs of New York City:
Staten Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

Of course the Bronx is home to the New York Yankees.  This
is the most successful sports franchise in American history.
Yankee Stadium is the beautiful cathedral which hosts the
Bronx Bombers and their 27 World Series Championships.

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi
Berra, Whitey Ford, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter are just a
few of the MLB Hall of Famers who have worn the Yankee
pinstripes.

[Dave Benke]

What a thrill to know the 5 boroughs of New York City:
Staten Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

Of course the Bronx is home to the New York Yankees.  This
is the most successful sports franchise in American history.
Yankee Stadium is the beautiful cathedral which hosts the
Bronx Bombers and their 27 World Series Championships.

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi
Berra, Whitey Ford, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter are just a
few of the MLB Hall of Famers who have worn the Yankee
pinstripes.

Once upon a time - John will remember this - someone in the marketing division at our Concordia came up with this slogan as a way to recruit:  Bronxville - It's Not the Bronx. 
Seriously.   So the pastoral and lay denizens of The Bronx crafted letters indicating that the comparison was not apt, to put the best construction on it. 
"How," they would ask rhetorically, "is your world class zoo.  It must be better than the Bronx Zoo, known worldwide."  "How," they would continue, "is your best in the US Botanical Garden.  It must be far better than the Bronx Botanical Garden which houses the only original growth forest in this region, and is frequented by botanists from all over the world."  "How," they would conclude, "is your Major League Baseball Team doing up there in Bronxville.  Our squad has won 27 World Series; what's the Bronxville team's record?"

The slogan, which was somehow designed to attract students from upstate, was mysteriously dropped soon thereafter. 

Jonas Bronck could well have been Lutheran - that's one of the major descriptions.  He was most likely a Dane.  Later on in New Amsterdam, the Dutch Reformed were running the place, so that's how he may have ended his days on the 680 acre farm he called Emmaus but later folks called Broncksland that is now the Mott Haven section.  Check this out:  a really great read - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/arts/design/bronx-virtual-tour.html.

Dave Benke

[peter_speckhard]

Yeah, but you could do that with all kinds of slogans. I remember shirts in Hungary (very pro-U.S. in '91) that said "Budapest is not Bucharest." Or "Not your grandfather's church." Hmmm. My grandfather's church was growing rapidly, how's yours doing? My grandfather's church had hundreds of parochial schools flourishing in urban centers. How's yours? Etc. Students from upstate who might not have been willing to go to school in a big city but who would consider Bronxville could probably have benefited from the slogan. The issue then, of course, is the insult to the Bronx. But the objections to the insult can easily turn into a counter-insult/accusation that there must be something suspect or problematic about anyone who doesn't want to go to school in the Bronx. So, best to avoid the slogan and avoid any public response.

[Julio]

Intrigued by Rev Benke's following post ....

I've always thought this thread was the best of us on this board in these past months, initiated by our friend Charles Austin.
Dave Benke

I went to review this thread's contents. Apparently... and most likely without the knowledge of Rev Benke, the initial post to this thread now appears as follows ....

Content deleted   
« Last Edit: August 19, 2020, 06:40:40 PM by Charles Austin »

Much of the content Rev Benke referenced as " the best of us on this board in these past months" is no longer available to forum members and guests.

Perhaps someone archived this thread and could share the archive link with the forum members and guests.

[James J Eivan]

Check this out:  a really great read - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/arts/design/bronx-virtual-tour.html.

Dave Benke

Thank you for the link.   It is tragic that even in The Bronx the selfish self centered graffiti vandal thugs live such a depraved life that the have to vandalize area businesses as depicted in the linked article.

[James_Gale]

What a thrill to know the 5 boroughs of New York City:
Staten Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

Of course the Bronx is home to the New York Yankees.  This
is the most successful sports franchise in American history.
Yankee Stadium is the beautiful cathedral which hosts the
Bronx Bombers and their 27 World Series Championships.

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi
Berra, Whitey Ford, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter are just a
few of the MLB Hall of Famers who have worn the Yankee
pinstripes.

Once upon a time - John will remember this - someone in the marketing division at our Concordia came up with this slogan as a way to recruit:  Bronxville - It's Not the Bronx. 
Seriously.   So the pastoral and lay denizens of The Bronx crafted letters indicating that the comparison was not apt, to put the best construction on it. 
"How," they would ask rhetorically, "is your world class zoo.  It must be better than the Bronx Zoo, known worldwide."  "How," they would continue, "is your best in the US Botanical Garden.  It must be far better than the Bronx Botanical Garden which houses the only original growth forest in this region, and is frequented by botanists from all over the world."  "How," they would conclude, "is your Major League Baseball Team doing up there in Bronxville.  Our squad has won 27 World Series; what's the Bronxville team's record?"

The slogan, which was somehow designed to attract students from upstate, was mysteriously dropped soon thereafter. 

Jonas Bronck could well have been Lutheran - that's one of the major descriptions.  He was most likely a Dane.  Later on in New Amsterdam, the Dutch Reformed were running the place, so that's how he may have ended his days on the 680 acre farm he called Emmaus but later folks called Broncksland that is now the Mott Haven section.  Check this out:  a really great read - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/arts/design/bronx-virtual-tour.html.

Dave Benke

Bronxville is a lovely spot. Few parts of the Bronx look much like it, although the Bronx does harbor abiding beauty as well (along with just a few urban struggles).


For the record, Yankee Stadium today lacks the gritty grandeur and the history of the old place, particularly in its pre-1974 form.