The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter! (This will all look and work better if you click on the actual post and do not remain on the main page.)
It's Fall Break from college at last! So happy to have Bridget and her friend Maire home for a bit. It gets SO QUIET around here! And leaves just sit out there! That yard is not going to rake itself, you know! More kids, STAT!
(A few thoughts on music at home in the archive section below!)
On to our links:
- I love reading about people who just… see things and figure them out. I had never heard of Jane Jacobs or her insights into architecture and cities before reading this review.
- Fr. Rutler: “The Saints Know the Music of the Heavenly Jerusalem.” Just a Rutlerian medley of musical thoughts… but it made me want to say that all the conversations about sacred music, even the ones about good sacred music (chant and polyphony as called for by Church documents), ends up being about how we feel — how the music makes us feel. But what about what is fitting for worship?
- That old-time Rock and Roll might have given rise to today's Rock, but it was qualitatively different and there's a lot to enjoy in Rhythm & Blues, don't you think? RIP Fats Domino.
- Will you forgive me for posting yet another article about Richard Wilbur, whose passing on October 14 gave rise to reflections and appreciations? As James Matthew Wilson says, Wilbur's “work immediately rewards the ear while also gratifying patient study.” (Warning: graphic and horrifying descriptions of what he saw in World War II.)
- A long but good read from Samuel Gregg, now that for some inexplicable but nefarious reason the hive mind is trying to rehabilitate communism,: When Evil Triumphed.
- Also a long read, from Mary Eberstadt, on The Primal Scream of Identity Politics, all of which to say what I try to say here: there is no substitute for the family. It's something small and weak, but without devotion to the family, the forces of darkness overcome civilization. A priest friend says: “I found the connection she makes between the vagueness in knowing who counted as one's relatives and outrage over “cultural appropriation” to be persuasive. Moreover, though it wasn't her intent, it helps me better understand some of the Old Testament delight in genealogy: it provides so to speak the GPS coordinates that give the individual confidence to say “who I am” in virtue of knowing “where I am” in amongst the welter of humanity. What she says about “your mother's boyfriend several boyfriends ago whom she hasn't seen in years” being hard to view as your uncle brings it home pretty well.” Sounds like an argument for… good old traditional marriage…
From the archives:
- Last week I said that I have trouble sometimes getting myself outside, and Monica wondered how I trick myself to do it. I wrote about it a bit in this post about gardening, just in case anyone is as motivation-challenged as I.
- A start on music in your family: I have some thoughts here: Folk songs and hymns… now that I've made all the mistakes and learned things almost too late, let me say: Sing! In harmony! Join a traditional choir or make your own. Get to know your local fiddlers; go ahead and start the children on violin, ukulele, tin whistle, or whatever they seem interested in. As they get bigger, piano, guitar, banjo (banjo is really clutch for an awesome folk sound). Most people aren't going to be fabulous classical musicians, although it doesn't hurt to try, of course; the main thing is to learn to make music together.
Today is the feast of two apostles, Simon and Jude! We are always for having an extra scoop of ice cream, but did you know that there are suggestions for special recipes on the pages we send you to for feast days? And activities too — not that you have to do anything, but sometimes it's nice to know what the customs are or have been, seeing as we are so lacking in that department…
While you’re sharing our links with your friends, why not tell them about Like Mother, Like Daughter too!
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Ingrid says
Is Maire from Estonia by any chance? It`s a common name here and I haven`t heard it used anywhere else.
Now I googled it and found that it`s also used in Ireland. A fascinating find:)
Leila says
Yes, very Irish, pronounced Maura!
Tabitha says
I can’t read the Mary Eberstadt article. It’s behind a paywall. Sounds like a fascinating read, though.
Bethanne B Scholl says
I enjoyed the Jane Jacobs article. It reminded me of God’s Hotel in a sort of way–that living in and observing truths makes one expert, not by the world’s standards (credentialed) but by the daily, routined living of life. You are very much like that, too, an expert in the daily living of family and motherhood. Perhaps you are more credentialed than Jane, but there is something satisfying in my mind about the truth coming from the mouth of an “amateur.” I hope that makes sense and isn’t pejorative. Thank you for your observed wisdom.
Leila says
Thank you, Bethanne — that’s quite a compliment. I am not anywhere near as credentialed as Jane! She had no architecture credentials but she was a good journalist. But you are right — her real contribution is in observation. I need to read what she wrote — my appetite is whetted for sure. Sounds like her works go with those of Christopher Alexander (and maybe there was influence there, either way? I just don’t know!).
Elizabeth S says
I read Jacobs’ Death and Life of Great American Cities in college, but it wasn’t until I saw the documentary “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” this year that I understood more about her life. The film, like the First Things article showed but didn’t engage the importance of motherhood in shaping her ideas about the social ecosystem of the city.
My husband is clever and observant and much more engaged in neighborhood activism than I am, but his view of our neighborhood is seriously stifled by working 9-5. I sincerely believe it was Jacobs’ insistence on engaging her place in the midst of raising her family that provided her best insights and most aggressive resistance to inhuman plans. It was Jacobs’ everyday life and sharing it with her neighbors that prompted her to organize a full-on neighborhood protest that saved Greenwich Village from becoming little more than a highway on/off ramp. It was raising children that showed her the 24/7 uses of space unlike “professional observers” who seem to see only commutes and those uses for which there is monetary evidence.
Planning with an “8-80” mindset is currently popular. It’s an attempt to get planners to develop streets that function well for people from age 8 to age 80. It’s surely a step in the right direction, but simply taking a walk with a toddler is probably more effective for truly understanding ALL the functions of a street and its effect on the real people there. And it’s precisely what Jacobs did.
I’ve intentionally lived only in walk-able neighborhoods with plenty of old buildings and boasting a lively “petri dish of community”. The sad difference between my life and Jacobs’ is the 9-5 absence of families. The necessity (sometimes real and sometimes perceived) of two incomes, and the increase of regulations ending informal economies makes for a very quiet day.* I’ve just ordered “Dark Age Ahead” from the library and I have a feeling it will be the words of a prophet describing my day-to-day.
(I am rather aghast that the author of the article describes Jacobs as dressing “frumpily”. Maybe it’s the age of yoga-pants blinding me but I always thought Jacobs looked put together in a saucy “I don’t give a hoot, but I’m actually quite in line with propriety” kind of way. She may or may not have been the intellectual idol of my collegiate years, so it could just be a knee jerk “don’t diss my girl” reaction.)
*This is stated with the generous exception for the year a meth dealer lived next door. That was a lot of unfortunate loud economic activity at all hours.
Leila says
Thanks for this comment, Elizabeth. All so true. We have not yet begun to digest the revolution created by emptying out neighborhoods during the day — a cultural upheaval brought about by the simple fact of not having children at a normal pace. Artificially suppressing childbirth is transforming life completely.
(And maybe the way she dressed in her later years — I looked up some images — also has to do with a cultural breakdown. Our replacement of traditional costume with merciless, ever-changing fashion doesn’t leave the less-than-young-and-svelte person any room at all, does it now. At some point you just opt for comfort, poor thing!)