Into The Sprawl Like A Hero

 

So what's up? You sip strong covefe on the back porch of your compound and watch the sun rise through pecan trees, casting golden light on dewy grass. Such is rural Texas at the end of September, not bad at all. Next?

Thank God for the beauty of it all, say Morning Prayer (1928 BCP) and steel yourself for the day ahead. Why steel, that sounds extreme and somehow absurd. Not so fast, punters, steel's the word because the mission ahead meant driving into the DFW Metrosprawl to a lawyer's office in a place called "Arlington." And let's make no mistake, driving into the 'sprawl from the country takes nerve.

I took the scenic route. I35 E towards Dallas, exit 287 to Midlothian, which has nothing to do with Gladstone, veer onto 360 Toll, exit I30 West to Fort Worth, hook a left on Collins, marveling at the sheer sprawl of the thing, and reach your target. Collect your box of documents from the law dog and drive back from whence you came.

Like wow. South Fort Worth is exploding with new apartment blocks, condos and mega churches. They look mighty flimsy, and I30 is insanely spaghetti junction. OK, all hail prosperity and Texas, but is this the best we can do? As in, "Why live in a city when we can live on a road." You''ll note, dear readers, that the latter turns us into a kind of hobo.

Anyway, made it back from the different planet that is Mega City DFW, it's the size of Connecticut btw, to the relative tranquility of the Compound. Mission accomplished. But hey, have to tell you, really pleased I'm back in the country; the 'sprawl connurb is a whole different thing.

Speaking of which, someone's turned up to mow the acre of so of compound/church yard, in the dark. Huh. Guess I'd better check on that mowop.

Cheers,

LSP

This And That

 

Yesterday was momentous. Yes, I drove into the Mega City connurb metrosprawl that is Fort Worth/Dallas, and was reminded yet again that spaghetti junctions didn't go outta style in the 1970s. What an entanglement of concrete, but it was worth it to get to the Clergy Day at St. Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford.

Where there was a presentation by a consultant figure on character and the voice techniques associated therein. There are, apparently, various character traits, each with their own way of speaking, and understanding this is beneficial to team leadership and self-realization to boot. So what are you, a Nurturer, Pioneer or Creative?

Oh look, you're really safe now at the cathedral. How idiotic

You'll be pleased to know I turned up late and resisted the heady urge to ask, "I think you've missed something out, Imperialist, Space Imperialist, what about that?" Lord Curzon on the sands of Mars aside, it was good to spend time with fellow clergy, what a good bunch of guys, easily the best clericus I've ever served with.

And it was good to be at the cathedral too, so many memories gathered up over the years and not bad for all that. Reverie over, I climbed into the rig and headed East on murder expressway 183 to Ma LSP's place in Dallas. She was in fine form, though recovering from oral surgery, and announced, "Your parcel's arrived."

Keepers Tweed is the best tweed imo

Good! And there it was, a Keepers Tweed coat, thanks, eBay. "I tell you, Mother, these things cost a solid 600 GBP new, if you can even find 'em." She thought about this, "It's awfully heavy, perhaps you can wear it for about two days here." I replied, quick as a flash, "It's the cloth, you see, Winter coat." Which it is, and tough as nails to boot.

On the way out to the bucolic boulevards of rural Texas she gave me a Japanese altar, I think that's what it is, which belonged to her Mother who collected such things. This now sits next to the front door, sanctified by icons, guns, rods and all of that.

Maybe 18th C? I'm guessing

So there you have it, what a good day, and today being the Feast of St. Matthias it's celebration all 'round.

Cheers,

LSP

Art Philosophy - Cars

"Hey, LSP, can you help me out? I need to go to Fort Worth today for a procedure and need a driver." It was my EMU friend who's famous for driving a crew of motorcycle hippies out of his stock tank. "Sure, I'd be happy to help out."

Quite.

So off we went, all the way down I35W to Fort Worth's Southside. It's not too far from downtown and owned by the medical and hospitality industry. All kinds of hipster bars and eateries, which I toured while my friend was under. Did I stop in any? No. I did not.

Procedure over, we drove back to the country and my friend's barn, "Hey, LSP, have a look at these." Curious, I went through a doorway and there were these cars.

A '40(?) Ford Coupe, a '69 Chevy Camino SS, an '81 Corvette and another Ford Coupe, V8 and hotrod, immaculate. "Don't touch, LSP."

I was amazed  and laughed. "Is that a good laugh or a bad laugh, LSP?" It was good, and would it be OK to take some photos? "Sure thing," so I did. Who knew, certainly not me, that here in this Texan barn was a collection of cars, like works of art.

But what was the reason behind the collection, apart from the sheer good of the things in themselves? Why these as opposed to others? 

Simple answer. They were the cars of his youth, after he'd left the Forces and two tours in Vietnam. He loved them then and decided to collect them now. I'll leave you to parse this not insignificant art philosophy. 

Your Pal,

LSP

Cheer Up Kids, It's Not All Bad!

Don't be sad, readers, statues have their say too.

And so do Labs.

Uncle Don's standing strong too. See Rasmussen.

In related news, the Episcopal Church's local representative just drove by in his red Porsche. Odd, in a 67 year-old man? Perhaps. Whatever, he assured me the Mission's missing millions had been returned to the church's frozen investment account. 

"Thank you! So much better than a lawsuit in Tarrant county, don't you think?" which is exactly what would've happened otherwise.

Sadly Lost in a Terrible Boating Accident

I invited my friend to a cheerful glass of wine, and a celebration of the successful conclusion of our business. He declined, curiously.

Don't say embezzlement,

LSP

It's OK To Be White?

Not if you're Fort Worth Councilperson Cary Moon who condemned the posters. “I condemn any type of literature sign that is posted that may be offensive to some folks,” stated Moon.

The local Fort Worth politician advised residents to leave the It's OK To Be White posters in place pending criminal investigation.

No it Isn't

It's OK To Be White literature signs have mysteriously appeared in multiple cities worldwide, provoking fury, indignation and scorn from outraged leftists. 

This Does Not Represent Councilperson Moon

Here at the Compound we urge all readers to fully cooperate with investigations into "literature signs" that "may be offensive to some folks." 

A Typical Offensive Literature Sign. Do Not Take Down!

Do not, under any circumstances, take these literature signs down. They may be offensive, to some folks. 

Your public servant,

LSP

Road Warrior

C'mon kid, let's roll, which roughly translated means, hurry up, we're walking to school with the dogs via the Pick 'n Steal for coffee and I don't want you late.

Soon enough we were over the start line and heading for the Shamrock, staffed by Nepalese, thank you very much and mind the kukri, with Friday gamboling along like a puppy and Blue following at a more sedate pace.

Blue Valhalla's getting on in years and someone's been stealth feeding him when I'm not looking, so he's getting a bit portly. This isn't fair on the furry protector and means I'll have to put a lock on his feed bin or maybe a sign, "DON'T OPEN THIS. IT WILL EXPLODE AND DESTROY YOU."

Coffee, school, and dog walk objectives reached, I relaxed on the front office porch and thought about the effect of various bullets on my YETI mug; a range day's obviously in order. Then, Daily Office said, I drove to Fort Worth down good old I35W.

It's not a bad drive until you get to the metrosprawl, then it's a nightmare. What evil satanic geniuses convinced the American public to live in vast plastic sided suburbs, intersected by highways roaring past decaying strip malls. It's bad enough now, imagine the future.

One day the plastic will sag, decay, and fall, leaving square miles of chipboard houses to quietly implode back to nature while the highways collapse; the sheer slum of it will challenge all but the bravest explorers. Remortgage that, I dare you.

Regardless, I made it to the clergy day at Holy Apostles and very edifying it was too. Bishop Iker gave a good presentation on the state of the litigation against the Diocese and Dr. Stephen Noll talked about marriage. 

After lunch, I headed back to the compound, picked up the kid, drove him to work, drove back to the Compound, drove to Lake Whitney to say Mass and watched a film because it was the church's film night.

We watched the Gospel of John, which is just that, the Gospel of John narrated, with actors doing their thing in the background. I love John's Gospel. Then, kid being delivered to the church, it was time to brave TX-22 and get back to base.

The dogs were excited to see us. The pack was back, and I tell you, several hundred miles worth of driving aside, it all made for a good break from watching WWIII unfold in Syria and the slow moving coup against the President.

I file this exciting story under "road warrior."

God bless,

LSP

Drive To The Cathedral

Typical Fort Worth Street Scene

The experts tell us that you can gauge the ethos and spirit of a culture by its civic architecture. What does that tell us about Fort Worth? That we're a massive, inhuman, concrete and asphalt tangle of roads.

Take that as deeply or not as you like, but I won't pretend to like it. Apparently the City Fathers didn't get the memo, spaghetti junctions went out with the '70s.

St. Vincent's Campanile

I thought all this as I drove into the metrosprawl from the country for a meeting at St. Vincent's Cathedral and it made me miss England, not that that's perfect either. 

Someone once said that the English had destroyed more historical buildings after the War (#2) every year, than the Germans did throughout the entire Blitz. Good thing the National Socialists didn't have Lancasters and B17s.

Shoot It

Somber reflections on iconoclasm aside, it was good to be at the cathedral and meet with catholic-minded orthodox Anglicans. Good people working for a good cause, to assert catholicity for our part of the Church.

And that's a bold call, not least because the Anglo-Catholic movement's been pretty much defeated. Priestesses, liturgical dancers, tutu-endorsing Etonian Primates; throw a dart at the wall and hit a unicorn. You name it, they've captured the mainstream aspect of our church. But not at St. Vincent's. 

A clergyman

No dancers, no unicorns, no tutus, no fireman's helmets, just the catholic faith seen through the eyes of Anglicanism. Some might argue that's myopic, others might say that Rome wasn't built in a day.

Your Friend,

LSP

Fort Worth Rides The Rainbow

Who'd have thought it, the gateway to the West, Cowtown, Texas' own Fort Worth, with its fabled stockyards and legends of the frontier, has gone trans and decided to ride the rainbow. At least its schools have. Here's highlights from the recent Fort Worth ISD Rainbow Directive, via Dreher:

There doesn’t need to be a medical or mental health diagnosis involved. If a male student says he’s a girl, then he’s a girl, and vice versa.

Schools are instructed to keep the student’s asserted gender identity hidden from parents unless authorized to share that information with them.

School personnel are to consider themselves to be allies of a student undergoing gender transitioning. That means not telling their parents or guardians.

Transgender students must have the opportunity to participate in school sports as the gender they claim to be, though they are not guaranteed this as a right.

Teachers are no longer to call their students “boys” and “girls,” but to use gender-neutral language to refer to them, e.g., “students.”

Classrooms are to “feature diversity” in their classroom materials.

Well there you go, parents. Send your kids to a Fort Worth public school so they can get sexually confused. But don't worry, it'll be a special secret between your child and their teachers, you won't be allowed to know. That's forbidden, by the State and its Teachers. Obey. Them. 

No fooling and remember, you're paying for this. Where will it end?

Dreher observes:

Don’t be fooled: the bathroom issue is a proxy for a deeper conflict over what it means to be male and female, and beyond that, about fundamental human nature. These standards are collapsing in American society in part because of elites pushing against them, but also — and perhaps more so — because radical individualism is going into hyperdrive. We call it freedom — freedom to choose who you are, with neither custom, nor religion, nor even biology standing in the way of your will. But here’s what’s going to happen. People who submit to this way of thinking will find that their freedom, so construed, will make it impossible for them to construct a coherent, stable identity. They’re not going to make it. This perversion of liberty will wreck them.

I'd add that the perversion of liberty will end in totalitarianism, the same totalitarianism we're beginning to see in Fort Worth's schools. You can read all about it in Dostoevsky's Devils and Crime and Punishment, the ideology hasn't changed, though technology has.

Good Look, Dude. now Everyone Will Think You're a Sexy Chick

In a similar vein, Bruce Jenner wants to be a man again. Good thing he kept his "biology," eh?

LSP

Emergency!!

I'd no sooner driven to Fort Worth with my old pal Colonel N, and registered for a conference, when he became violently sick and had to be carted off to the Emergency Room at Harris Methodist.

Five hours or so later he was feeling better, unlike the eastbound traffic on I30, which is like an out of control fast train to Tartarus.

Let's pray this isn't a metaphor for the Anglo-Catholic Movement in North America.

Cheers,

LSP

Bishop Rayford Got Himself High.

A fierce storm has blown in from the north. Rain, mixed with hail, rattles off the house like so much wind-driven shrapnel. My dog doesn't care, he seems to find it comforting.

In the meanwhile, the Episcopal Church refuses to accept that it lost in Texas and seems set to pursue its losing strategy in the courts. 

Here's the oddly named bishop High:

“We are disappointed with this decision but quite hopeful for the future. This sacred property was built up over 170 years in this part of Texas by generations of Episcopalians for the use of The Episcopal Church so it will be available for use by generations of Episcopalians to come as they do the work of the Church."

This sacred property? Which is part of some holy trust, kept by the Episcopal Church for whom? Moloch? Bishop High, you've made one too many trips to the meth lab. 

In the meanwhile, TEC, like the old pop song, keeps coming on, even though they don't have a case. Bankrupt your opponents? Well that's one strategy. If you're High.

Carry on,

LSP