One pound okra, trimmed and halved lengthwise
6 tablespoons coarse salt
3 cups distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon store-bought pickling spice (DD#3 subsituted what she had on hand here*)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 medium onions, halved lengthwise, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices  (DD#3 used shallots)

Rinse okra in a colander. Add 3 tablespoons salt, and toss to combine. Let okra drain in sink 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare an ice-water bath; set aside.

Put remaining 3 tablespoons salt, 2 cups water, the vinegar, sugar, bay leaves, pickling spice, cayenne, and onions, into a nonreactive medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.

Rinse okra under cold running water to remove salt. Transfer to a large nonreactive bowl. Pour brine over okra. Set bowl in ice-water bath; let cool 10 minutes. Transfer bowl to refrigerator to cool completely, about 25 minutes.

Serves a crowd!

This has to be one of the easiest pickle recipes e.v.e.r.  Weeks later we were still receiving compliments.  In the interest of full disclosure, the basic recipe is Martha Stewart, but we omitted one of her ingredients    , which makes it ours.

*In the pictured version, spices included whole coriander, black peppercorns, carraway seeds, and fresh dill. 
 

 In so far as there was ever a bad break in philosophical history, it was not before Saint Thomas Aquinas, or at the beginning of medieval history; it was after St Thomas and at the beginning of modern history.

The great intellectual tradition that comes down to us from Pythagoras and Plato was never interrupted or lost through such trifles as the sack of Rome, the triumph of Attila or all the barbarian invasions of the Dark Ages.

It was only lost after the introduction of printing, after the discovery of America, the founding of the Royal Society, after all the enlightenment of Renaissance and the modern world.

It was there, if anywhere, that there was lost (or impatiently snapped) the long thin delicate thread that had descended from distant antiquity;       the thread of that unusual human hobby;

    the habit of thinking.

Quoted from the G.K Chesterton's biography of St Thomas Aquinas,
 from the chapter entitled The Aristotelian Revolution

Thank goodness for thinking conservatives!

The wooden sculpture of Saint Catherine adorns the east wall of the Old Library at Balliol College, Oxford.  It was originally part of the chapel screen erected in the 1630s.  Especially popular during the Middle Ages, Catherine is the patron saint of scholars.

"Dedicated to the coming generation of Americans, with the prayer that they will

1)restore the Constitutional principles we have abandoned,

2)protect the freedoms we have neglected,

3)& preserve the Republic we have almost lost,"

Larry McDonald thus dedicated the 1976 reprinting of his insightful commentary on the U.S. Constitution, We Hold These Truths.

In honor of Larry's untimely death on this day 27 years ago, I'm call your attention to his life's work: preserving freedom.

He was a true thinking conservative!

Together with me this month, let's re-read the Constitution and determine to share it with someone who hasnt.  Intercollegiate Studies Institute's webjournal,
First Principles, is a excellent online resource.

I especially want others to apprehend how our current legislators, jurists, and executives abuse it.

At the ballot box, I support constitutionalists.

On September 17th, teachers are lecturing on this historical document.

In Washington, DC Hillsdale College launches an new education endeavor.  Learn about the Kirby Center.

Join the fight.

Elongated, rubbery arms aside, I'm taken with Lilli Carre's illustrations of this recently released adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's classic, The Fir-Tree.  

Take a moment to peruse her website, as I will be following up on her other endeavors.

More importantly, take the time to re-read this fairytale.

It's online here.

But if you're in a hurry, the short version is ~

the tale is about a fir-tree so anxious to grow up, so anxious for greater things, that he cannot appreciate living in the moment.

It was brought to my attention this week because I read an article about one of my college professors, Dr Russell Kirk, an American Cicero.

In the last weeks of Kirk's life in the spring of 1994, bedridden, he talked much with his four daughters, his wife, and some of his closest friends.

Kirk's last real advice to his daughters was to "read and re-read four specific writings informed by the moral imagination":

1)   The Fir-Tree by Hans Christian Andersen
2)   The Pilgrim's Regress by C. S. Lewis
3)   The Golden Key by George MacDonald
4)   Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien

So, I'm taking Dr Kirk's advice as well.

Read.

Re-read.

And... enjoy the illustrations!

Too juicy to ignore, I'm calling to your attention these fine words from e-zine,
Front Porch Republic,

In Praise of Gossip,

Couched in my normal FAF penchant for highlighting paintings, decorative art, and stuff I appreciate, Jeffrey Polet's essay should not be lost in the shuffle.

So, take a peek at Norman Rockwell's classic illustration ~

Don't Say I Said It appeared on the cover of Life Magazine published March 23, 1922.

Visit his museum website.

Last, but not least....

Take heart when someone talks about you!

Speaking the truth can have a salutary effect.  St Augustine recognized this in his reflections on the matter by stating that "when I hear that life of mine abused, in whatever spirit he may be acting who abuses it, I am not so thankless as to be grieved.  However much he finds fault with any vice of mine, I praise him in the same degree as my physician."  If the person who is speaking about me, even if they are doing so maliciously, is telling the truth, then I am happily corrected.  If they speak lies, that is of no concern of mine, Augustine thought.  "For if one should not give credence to the panegyrics of a friend, neither should one believe the detraction of an enemy."

If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.
 ~Alice Roosevelt Longworth~

Carl Sandburg, Illinois-born writer and poet, entitled the following poem *Margaret*

and that's why I'm posting it in honor of my Margaret who not only lives in Chicago, but is celebrating a birthday today.

Many birds and the beating of wings
Make a flinging reckless hum
In the early morning at the rocks
Above the blue pool
Where the gray shadows swim lazy.

In your blue eyes, O reckless child,
I saw today many little wild wishes,
Eager as the great morning.

Yesterday was her DH's birthday.

That's the handsome fellow sitting beside her

Here's a link to his poem.

Just a little way of saying *I hope your day is extra special*

Note to self ~ Read this blurb about the Meeker Mansion and the magnate's writer-son, Arthur Meeker, Jr.

Sweet onions, especially Georgia's own Vidalias, are the main ingredient in this favorite summer appetizer.  For serving, I recommend a salty cracker like a Triscuit, or a day-old bagette sliced into rounds.  Pictured above right before I popped it into the oven, this casserole also makes a tasty topping for hamburgers.

Here's the recipe ~

4 cups chopped Vidalia onions
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1 cup Duke's mayonnaise

Combine all three ingredients in an oven-proof baking dish.  Clean up the sides (messy from stirring) with a wet paper towel.  Then top with grated parmesan cheese and a little paprika.  Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until bubbling and brown.  Allow 15 minutes for cooling.  That makes it easier to serve and reduces the number of burned tongues. 

What's one of your favorite summer appetizers?

Murals bring art into the public square and this recently completed one in Pine Moutain GA speaks to me for several reasons.

I like the historical aspect ~ not just illustrating the development of the train's engine from steam to electric to diesel, but also the growth of the town from Hood to Chipley to the current Pine Mountain.  Trains were particularly important in the development of the South.  Remember that the capitol of Georgia was once called Terminus.  No doubt, we all have a relative who worked for the railway.

Second, I like the artistic cooperation.  Fifteen painters participated in this colorful creation.  If you were there, you could walk the length of the street and see that the train tracks *follow* you ~ much like the eyes of the Mona Lisa. Is that perspective or trompe-l'oeil?  Murals are not graffiti.

Third, it reminds me of train rides from years past: riding the Pink Pig on top of the Rich's Building in downtown Atlanta; riding the Scenic Railroad at Stone Mountain Park; taking my first *real* train to Washington, DC at a seventh graders; enjoying my EurRail Pass for 8 weeks of summer in 1978; and last, but not least, enjoying the kiddie train Callaway Gardens.

Do you remember your first *real* train ride?

The Watermelon Patch by Annie Lucille Greene is one of 67 paintings which comprise the artist's book, The Farm in Yarn:  Georgia Farm Life in the 1940s  It is a pictorial account of two summers spent by the artist at her grandparents' farm in Adel, Georgia.  Imagine my delight when I happened upon an exhibit of Mrs. Greene's paintings at ArtWorks in Pine Mountain, GA, where we were spending a week reunioning with nuclear and extended family.  There were a dozen or so of her paintings scattered throughout the shop, some of which I'd seen before at a 2005 exhibit at the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art.

Highlighting this fun depiction of family life fits right in with my current focus on watermelons.  Have you tried my soup recipe?  But my favorite may be The Amen Corner from her Church Series.  Or the artist sitting in the train station on her way to Chicago.

Annie Lucille Greene made a name for herself as an art teacher (1976 Troup County Teacher of the Year), first introducing yarn technique to her junior high students in the 1970s.  Soon thereafter she began to produce and exhibit her own work chronicling her life experiences and travels, which now can be seen in over 230 museums, corporate and individual collections.

Be sure and click on the links to read more about her (Annie Spins a Great Yarn) and to see more of these fascinating paintings at her website.

Since singing is practically my favorite part of the worship service, I am especially thankful for Isaac Watts, whose birthday was yesterday, July 17th, and this quote attributed to him.

The singing of God's praise is the part of worship most clearly related to heaven;
 but its performance among us is the worst on earth.

He certainly backed up his complaint by doing something about.  Nearly 600 hymns are attributed to him!

We sang two of his hymns today.  Let Children Hear (#293 Blue Trinity) was our closing hymn for the morning and was especially apt since the sermon covered the first seven verses of Psalm 78.   Listen to it here.

The second Watts hymn, Come, dearest Lord, (#250 Blue Trinity) closed our afternoon service which addressed the fruit of the Spirit, Galations 5:19-26.  Ah, descend and dwell!

When I think of modern praise choruses and contemporary Christian music (and how I feel about them), I wonder if that's how some congregants felt about Watts's innovative approach.  Their apparent rejection of what is now tried and true still doesnt make me want to sing the newer music instead of the older hymns.

Furthermore, it makes me wonder if the hymns I select for my funeral will be known to my grandchildren.

Perhaps it's better if I stop wondering.

Instead, tell me what hymns you sang today.

Or tell me what you ate, 'cause here's a link to what I enjoyed