Winter hit us pretty hard this year; we’ve had lots of snowfall, and it’s not uncommon to hear the snowblowers roaring off in the distance. I’ve cranked up my old John Deere eight-horse three times already and shoveled a few times in between. When we drove over the Missouri River this morning I noticed it to be pretty crowded with floes of ice that we know will soon connect to form a solid sheet.
I use Bing.com as my computer search engine. Each day it features a different and interesting picture. Yesterday a Great White Owl in flight filled the screen and the sight of it took me back to when I was a young boy. One particularly hard winter I remember Dad coming into the house telling me to look out the south window of our farmhouse. There, gliding back and forth over our south pasture, he pointed out a snowy owl. It looked ghostlike, it’s mostly white body blending in with the snow cover. I’m not much of a Harry Potter fan, but I think the owl in that storyline is a Great White. Apparently they like mice in their diets, and I suppose when the winter comes on too harshly up north some will fly on down here to find something to eat.
Last week I considered metaphors in literature and came upon a good one. This may have been common knowledge to some, but it seemed new to me. The well-known Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” carries a hidden meaning. Some centuries past people of the Catholic religion could not openly worship in England. The song stands as a catechism for teaching the kids. Here, according to some interpretation, is what each element of the song stands for:
- Partridge in a pear tree = Jesus
- Two turtle doves = Old and New Testaments
- Three French hens = faith, hope, and love
- Four calling birds = the four gospels
- Five golden rings = the first five books of the Old Testament
- Six geese a-laying = the six days of creation
- Seven swans a-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
- Eight maids a-milking = the eight beatitudes
- Nine ladies dancing = the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
- Ten lords a-leaping = the ten commandments
- Eleven pipers piping = the eleven faithful disciples
- Twelve drummers drumming = the twelve points of belief in the
Apostles Creed
…
On Sunday we attended another of the lecture series sponsored by Bismarck State College, it’s topic being John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. The president of the college and a locally based scholar sit on stage in an informal living room setting and hold their “discussion” of the chosen topic. Last month they featured Otto von Bismarck and the implications inherent with naming the city of Bismarck. Next month Custer is the topic; I’ll be there. The scholar’s name is Clay Jenkinson and this area would be much poorer in a cultural sense if he were not here. When something interesting is happening, there’s a good chance he’s involved with it. I usually tune into his Jefferson Hour each Sunday morning on public radio. When we were touring this fall I had to miss a symposium in Bismarck that featured the impact of Eric Sevareid on news reporting. He is also a major force in conducting the annual Teddy Roosevelt symposium at Dickinson State. Jenkinson attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. In May he and the Satrom Travel Agency are going on tour to London to visit various literary sites in and around London, and I think I am going to go along. We’ll get there taking a five-day cruise on the Queen Mary II and spend six days in the city. Stay tuned.
