Warren Carroll noted in The Crisis of Christendom that a major peace (essentially 100 years of peace in Europe) ensued after the Napoleonic Wars. However the peace was not all it seemed. While major powers did not engage in war, revolution (and its accompanying violence) was rife throughout Europe.

I am wondering if we are seeing the same thing today. The 20th century was a century of war, including the proxy wars of the Cold War. Now, the major powers are not at war, but we see a multitude of civil wars throughout the Middle East and now in Ukraine.

During the 100 years’ peace mentioned above it seems that realignment of governance and ideology within European countries set the stage and the enemies for the violent 20th century. I sense that the ideological and governance realignment going on in regions of the world today is setting the stage for major wars in our future.

It is tragically sad to note that the periods of so-called peace are no less violent than the periods of major wars.

Oremus pro invicem!

I mentioned below I have been reading Chesterton's America. The editor, Mr. Bennett, has done a very interesting thing. While Cecil Chesterton's text forms the backbone of the book, he brings in commentary on each period of history from other Distributists' writings; for example, we find passages from G.K. Chesterston, Hillare Belloc, Herbert Agar, and other intertwined with the main text.

 

It is interesting to read an outside view (an English view at that) of American history. I have read several things already which we never heard in school. Just to name three: That New England relied heavily on slave trade for their economy at least until the mid-to-late 1700's. Related, that the view in the South that the African slaves were somehow sub-human was not introduced and not widely held until into the 19th century. And thirdly, the whole "No taxation without

representation" rationale for the American Rebellion was somewhat of a sham. In fact some 80% of British subjects were taxed without representation at the time. The matter was more complicated ....

 

But MOST surprising to me is that fact that I am reading Cecil and GK side-by-side and finding I like reading Cecil more than GK. Who would have thought?

 

Oremus pro invicem!

I am still working on Chesterton's America (see post below) however in the mean time I read and finished The Virginian. I am surprised I never read it before. I was inspired to read it by #2 son and #2 daughter who both read it recently. Glad I did. Those who have read it may appreciate my comment to #2 son after I finished reading it: "I almost missed the gunfight, it being so subtle." (Supposedly it is the first gunfight written in a fictional western.)

 

Garden update: Harvested the first corn from our last plot of sweet corn. I think we will have another picking. Green beans have been coming on. Tomatoes increasing by the day. Zucchini still coming (first year with no squash bug damage-could it be the winter lasting so long?). Okra and peppers doing well too. I think the sweet sorghum has been saved by our last rain. I was worried we were losing it even though it is supposed to be pretty drought resistant. Our acre of peanuts looks good, but we need to keep up with the pigs weeds better. They have been especially prolific this year.

 

A friend of ours saved some cantaloupe seeds from his dad's garden in Nebraska 30 odd years ago. Last year he planted them and 5 plants came up and fruited with some of the sweetest cantaloupe I have ever tasted. My friend gave us one of these treasured cantaloupes. I saved these seeds and planted them this spring. We harvested the first ones this week. Boy are they good. The best I have ever tasted. Guaranteed we are saving more seeds!

 

Great to have (almost) everyone home this summer. But summer is short and many are going their own ways in mid-July and August.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

My son wrote this song for me for my 50th birthday. I told him he should have played it after I died so that he would be the one crying instead of me.

 

 

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Chesterton's America

Got this book in the mail today. I was inspired by this review by my favorite editor.

 

 

Can't wait to get started ... and by the way the Chesterton in the title is not GK, but his brother Cecil.

 

On another note, we picked 9 gallons of blueberries today in Chesterfield. These should last us a little while.

Oremus pro invicem!

Corn & Rain

The annual precipitation in Bethune, SC is quoted (and has been quoted to me) at 45 inches per year. First, that measurement is actually for Bishopville, SC-which 19 miles south of here, and Bishopville always gets more than us. But you can't tell some people some things.

 

Typically, we watch rain clouds pass over our fields, cross the road and let go over the Lynches river about 1/2 mile away.

 

That being said, we finally got some rain today. It has been quite a while. Our cantaloupe was just about burned up. We have already lost our first two plantings of sweet corn. Actually, we picked enough small ears today between showers for one meal! One meal, I am grateful for.

 

We have one small patch left of sweet corn, with the rain today, may still have a chance to make.

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Yesterday, the AC was in trouble at the house. We called our regular AC tech and they sent someone down. The tech checked a few things and then disappeared under the house. 45 minutes later he was still under there. My youngest son checked on him and came back chuckling: "He's asleep!" But Mrs. Curley wasn't so sure. She called me (I was working off homestead yesterday) and I told her if he wouldn't wake up, she needed to call 911 (it has been in the low 100's all week.)

 

He wouldn't respond so she called 911. 911 told Mrs. Curley to have someone pull him out from under the house. Number 2 son showed up and proceeded to do so .... This woke him up! I guess he was alright after all.

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We've been out of pork for a while (Mrs. Curley cooked it all secretly for my 50th birthday party.) So Friday night we put down a 275 pound pig and butchered it (starting at 6:00AM) Saturday morning. Even though it was hot, we got both chores done in record time (slaughter and evisceration in 75-80 minutes; butchering in an hour flat.)

This should last us until cooler weather.

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The world seems pretty crazy these days. May the Lord have mercy on us!

Oremus pro invicem!

The   Deliberate Agrarian writes a few days ago in an essay commenting on the saying "Freedom isn't free":

If our military, under the direction of whoever directs them (ostensibly, the President), were defending the personal freedoms of Americans, through various military actions all over the world, especially in recent years, then why am I less free that I’ve ever been?

 I find myself asking the same question.

Oremus pro invicem!

With 1/2 my siblings

As mentioned a few posts ago, we had a great time over here on my 50th celebration. Amazingly 6 of us (out of 12) were able to be here. It was great to see so many friends and family. Here's the group shot of us siblings.

 

I am so blessed to have such family and friends.

 

 

It struck me that this picture has some Catholic features: We have a picture of the Sacred Heart, a Crucifix, the Angelus, an icon of St. Stanislaus Koska, a nun, a beer, and (in the background) a baby!

 



Oremus pro invicem!

 

Planting and Marriage (?)

Finished planting the sweet sorghum today. Working on keeping the acre of peanuts hoed.

 

My zucchini plants are big and beautiful-but no flowers. Can't figure that one out. The ground is rich, but no livestock has been on it for a year.

 

Good to have the boys home from college for the summer even if we don't see them much because of their jobs. We joke that they seem like they lost some smarts in the past year-but in reality I am impressed by their confidence and knowledge. (Thanks Wyoming Catholic & College of St. Mary Magdalen - NH).

 

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Recently I finished reading (again) Dietrich Von Hildebrand's book on marriage (Marriage - the mystery of Faithful Love [Sophia Institute Press]). One of the theses: the primary end of marriage is procreation, but the primary meaning of is love.

 

Some consequences to this; one of which, interestingly enough, (this book originally published in 1929 in Germany) gives a concise but powerful reason for one to understand why homosexual marriage is impossible. Here's some excerpts from this section (Note, it is not all about sex and biology, but more about the spirit):

 

The special character of conjugal love is, furthermore, marked by the fact that this love can only come into being, between men and women and not between persons of the same sex, as is the case with friendship, parental love, or filial love.

 

It would be quite wrong, however, to reduce this characteristic to the sexual sphere and to say that conjugal love is just friendship plus sexual relations, presupposing a difference of sex. It would be incredibly superficial to consider as a mere biological difference the distinction between man and woman, which really shows us two complementary types of the spiritual person of the human species.

 

Certainly, man and woman have ultimately but one task, "to be reborn in Christ," and to glorify God by their sanctity. Yet man and woman represent two different types of mankind, both having their respective significance according to the divine plan, and their special value quite apart from their procreative function. .......

 

... At any rate, for the human species this difference represents two manifestations of. the person, analogous - if this comparison be admissible - to the various religious orders, which although they are identical in their aim, represent different ways in the imitation of Christ. These two types, man and woman, have a unique capacity for complementing each other. Their meaning for one another is something quite unique. They are made one for the other in a special way, and they can, purely as spiritual persons, form a unity in which they reciprocally complement one another. Marital love - involving the gift of one's own person, whose decisive character is that the partners form a couple, an I-thou communion, in which the whole personality of the beloved is grasped mysteriously as a unity in spite of all outer obstacles - can exist only between two types of the spiritual person, the male and the female, as only between them can this complementary character be found.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

I turned 50 this year and we had a small family party back in April. I had been teasing Lori a bit these past few months as she had surprised me with parties on my 30th and my 40th birthday, but I knew she wasn't in the position to do anything for my 50th. Little did I know she was planning again.

 

Last Saturday I was greeted by many family and friends who had found their way to Bethune-some for the first time. I was overwhelmed.

 

I have much to be thankful for. But more importantly I still have time in my life to work on being a better husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend.

 

Oremus pro invicem! 

They don't make them like they used to ....

This light was installed in my parents house when the house was built in 1963. It has the original light bulb (for years we have wondered how we would change the bulb as it is in the entrance-way in a split ranch. We have speculated we would either have to go into the attic or rent scaffolding. In any event, after 51 years (albeit it is no longer used everyday anymore) the same bulb still works after 51 years!

This is hard to explain, to say the least.

Oremus pro invicem!

Haven't had rain in days, but .... 100% chance predicted for Thursday.

My two boys are home from college. They both are taking a week off before going to work, so I figure they want to spend a week working around here. This morning the peanut acres (or 2) plowing was finished. (I did take my hand at the plow last week, but too many bodies now.) We need to harrow the field before planting, but I hope the peanuts will be in the ground within a week.

The boys have been moving manure the past few weeks. We saved a bunch for the sweet sorghum plot. I think we only have one more truckload (pick-up) to move. We will plant the sorghum the first week in June.

Brocolli and green peas and radishes are finished. Romaine is still in. Planting okra today or tomorrow.

Got some chicks this weekend. They are about 2 weeks old. Instead of building a brooder (it has been a while since we needed one) we are just keeping them inside at night for a couple weeks. Plan to finish (refurbish) the chicken coop tomorrow.

Good to have the boys back.

I keep trying to pray the prayer I heard a talk about during Lent: Dear Lord, I pray only for what You want to give me-namely Yourself. (But there are so many other things I want-and as I realize this, I realize once again that I am a poor sinner!)

Oremus pro invicem!

Reid Buckley, RIP

Reid Buckley died earlier this week. I suppose you can read tributes to him on the National Review blog and other places. He lived in Camden, SC which is 20+ miles down the road from us.

I had 3 encounters with Mr. Buckley. A great friend had given me his book "An American Family". After reading it, I was compelled to write Reid Buckley a short note. He wrote back, very graciously.

Some months later (probably recounted in this blogs archives) at our feed store in Bethune I met Reid Buckley. It could only be him. I stepped out of character (being naturally shy) and asked. (It was.) I introduced myself and my daughter and noted I had read his book. He immediately remembered my letter and we talked for just a few minutes.

It must have been a year or may be two later that I again encountered Reid Buckley at the same feed store. I greeted him and he responded "Have you done anything good today?" We chatted a bit. He clearly remembered me.

In looking at my archives here, I find a piece I quoted from him, close to my heart, which I reproduce below. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace! Amen.

When last did you hear a conservative spokesman deplore yet another six-lane highway, yet another fast-food alley, yet another graceless subdivision, yet another Super Wal-Mart or Lowe’s that sucks the life out of small village businesses, yet one more onslaught against neighborhood and nature that is masked under the name of progress? Unless it is a bridge in Alaska from nowhere to nowhere, you will not hear the deepest red-dyed congressman denounce the progressive uglification of our natural inheritance, as though beauty is of no concern. Have you flown recently from Newport News to Boston at 25,000 feet on a clear day and gazed down upon the horror of American civilization? What man hath wrought! What we have done to this beautiful land? Dear God, forgive us! But when last did you hear a conservative oppose a new mall because it is ugly, an affront to the eye, accustoming thousands of human beings to dehumanizing blows against the aesthetic sense until it is benumbed? The good, the true, and the beautiful are inseparably joined. One cannot damage one without doing harm to the others. Those who fail to comprehend this are morally in error on the dialectical front, though they may be personally virtuous.

.... Where are our Friedrich Hayeks of The Road to Serfdom, our Eric Voegelins of The New Science of Politics, our Russell Kirks of The Conservative Mind? Where is our philosopher? Meantime, on the practical front, what can conservatives do? The very first thing is to dissociate from the Republican Party, which has become an albatross around the neck of integrity.

2 years ago I planted corn in early February. Last year it was March 15th. This year we put our first corn in on April 3rd. We plan to plant some more this week.

Just got back from a trip to the College of St. Mary Magdalen in NH. Son number 2 was in a Shakespeare production: Much Ado About Nothing. They did a great job.

In my travels I was able to finish Evangelii Gaudium. Here is a great passage from the end of the Apostolic Exhortation:

286. Mary was able to turn a stable into a home for Jesus, with poor swaddling clothes and an abundance of love. She is the handmaid of the Father who sings his praises. She is the friend who is ever concerned that wine not be lacking in our lives. She is the woman whose heart was pierced by a sword and who understands all our pain. As mother of all, she is a sign of hope for peoples suffering the birth pangs of justice. She is the missionary who draws near to us and accompanies us throughout life, opening our hearts to faith by her maternal love. As a true mother, she walks at our side, she shares our struggles and she constantly surrounds us with God’s love. Through her many titles, often linked to her shrines, Mary shares the history of each people which has received the Gospel and she becomes a part of their historic identity.

/

Finally, an article on our sorghum effort last year will be appearing in the May/June issue of BackHome Magazine. Look for it!

Oremus pro invicem!

Learned from listening ...

When we ask of God, we need to tell him only our problem ... not our proposed solution.

Oremus pro invicem!

March is here. Lent is here. And winter persists. Two years ago my corn had been in the ground for over a month. Last year my corn was just planted at this time. But this year, I haven't even finished putting in broccoli, peas, and lettuce. I can't even think about corn. I thought I had two years worth of wood stored up, with the woodstove season starting in October and still going strong, we barely have enough left for this year. And I have to get cutting and splitting or I will be doing it over the heat of the summer!So this year in the evenings of Lent we will be finishing "The Family That Overtook Christ", about St. Bernard of Clairveaux and his family. We had started it a couple years ago and got through at least 1/2 the family. (Bernard's family) Time to finish it up.  I will also be (finally) reading Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation "The Joy of Evangelization".We finally put down our boar of 7 years this past weekend. He was a good boar; gave us a lot of great litters. Now he will live on in sausage! Our new boar fathered his first litter a couple weeks ago, and it was a good one. Good for him, too bad for Tarzan.Okay, time to read and pray. Oremus pro invicem!

A day in the life

Up and start fire in wood stove.


Coffee with Mrs. Curley and morning chores.


Breakfast and readings of the day.


Client work until noon with an occasional Math problem for one of the kids thrown in.


Noon - Angelus and lunch.


Coffee with Mrs. Curley.


Rosary (we are currently using St. Josemaria Escriva's book on the Rosary to help meditation)


Till garden area for the first time this spring.


Children finish school and they start trimming muscadine vines. I notice our surplus chickens are gathering in the newly tilled garden. We catch and process 4 chickens.


Shower, eat, teach Faith Formation at parish.


Get home, talk on phone with great friend in Chile.
Intercessions and Night Prayer.


Check on Sow ready to farrow and watch the process. 14 piglets!


Bed after midnight-tired, but satisfying day.

Oremus pro invicem!

All I'm goin' say is (and I am not explaining it): We were here first!

Oremus pro invicem!

update on snow

So as the snow finished at 5:00PM, we had about 6 inches.


This morning? It is snowing again; 2-3 inches expected before turning to wintry mix and eventually ice.


In our 18+ years in SC (plus my 4 in college a decade earlier) I have never seen it snow on top of snow.

Oremus pro invicem!

Our third snow this winter! I remember 2 years ago my corn was already in the ground by this time (but truly that was an exception to the rule.) We already have 4-5 inches on the ground here in Bethune.

I have a sow due to farrow this weekend. With a ice predicted and continuing horrible conditions, no doubt she will pick sometime in the next two days to have piglets.

But we are warm. The predictions of power outages won't bother us. We are stacked high with wood and candles are at the ready.(I have been trying to put a picture up, but blogger won't cooperate. )

Oremus pro invicem!