MSEF in STL

Retired arts librarian. Came for Room Rater, stayed for news and commentary from trusted sources.

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

#NewProfilePic

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

This benefit concert with the rest of the Rat Pack in St. Louis is legendary here.

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

71 was my Junior year in college. Lots of people had posters of The Desiderata on the walls of dorm and off-campus rooms. #AT40

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

It may be cheesy, but You Needed Me is very special to me because of a magical day in the Catskills. Thanks, Steve V., RIP. #AT40

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

@buitengebieden

[VenetiaJane's Garden @VenetiaJane]

"Hurt no living thing;
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep." - Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) #NationalPoetryDay #InsectThursday #nature

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

Then came October, full of merry glee.
-- Edmund Spenser, The Fairie Queen

[The English Oak Project @TheKentAcorn]

He’s back & with the partner he so craved 🤗

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

@kasstl1 @kjbroker @Roberta_Flack I had, and loved, that album. Besides "first time", my favorite track was "all the sad young men". You can almost hear the ice clinking in the glasses.

[Diary of Samuel Pepys @DiaryOfPepys]

2 September 1666

Some of our mayds sitting up late last night to get things ready against our feast to-day, Jane called us up about three in the morning, to tell us of a great fire they saw in the City. So I rose and slipped on my nightgowne, and went to her window, and thought it to be on the backside of Market lane at the farthest; but, being unused to such fires as followed, I thought it far enough off; and so went to bed again and to sleep. About seven rose again to dress myself … By and by Jane comes and tells me that she hears that above 300 houses have been burned down to-night by the fire we saw, and that it is now burning down all Fish-street, by London Bridge. So I made myself ready presently, and walked to the Tower, and there got up upon one of the high places … there I did see the houses at that end of the bridge all on fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side the end of the bridge … So down, with my heart full of trouble, to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who tells me that it begun this morning in the King’s baker’s house in Pudding-lane … So I down to the water-side, and there got a boat and through bridge, and there saw a lamentable fire. … Everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, and flinging into the river or bringing them into lighters that layoff; poor people staying in their houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running into boats, or clambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side to another. … When we could endure no more upon the water; we to a little ale-house on the Bankside, over against the Three Cranes, and there staid till it was dark almost, and saw the fire grow; and, as it grew darker, appeared more and more, and in corners and upon steeples, and between churches and houses, as far as we could see up the hill of the City, in a most horrid malicious bloody flame, not like the fine flame of an ordinary fire. … we saw the fire as only one entire arch of fire from this to the other side the bridge, and in a bow up the hill for an arch of above a mile long: it made me weep to see it. The churches, houses, and all on fire and flaming at once; and a horrid noise the flames made, and the cracking of houses at their ruins. So home with a sad heart … so as we were forced to begin to pack up our owne goods; and prepare for their removal; and did by moonshine … Mr. Hater and I did remove my money and iron chests into my cellar, as thinking that the safest place. And got my bags of gold into my office, ready to carry away, and my chief papers of accounts also there, and my tallys into a box by themselves.

Tally
A wooden stick used to record numbers, in this case for accounting purposes.

Fire as seen from the London Bridge (1666)

[Mark Hertling @MarkHertling]

Many followers not familiar with the military are asking me “so what’s the big deal about a command sergeant major?”

Walz joined at 18 as a private. Rose through the NCO (sergeant) ranks, each requiring extreme competence at increasingly demanding jobs with more people & responsibility at every rank.

When you reach “Master Sergeant” you are selected to serve as a First Sergeant (1SG) of a unit…if you’re good enough. Then, those 1SGTs compete for selection to Sergeant Major. Only the best Sergeant Majors are selected for Command Sergeant Major (CSM) billets.

CSMs serve as the senior enlisted person in the unit and the advisor to Commanders at battalion and above. Having served with dozens of CSMs as my unit & command “battle buddy” I will attest they were all awesome.

They know what they’re doing. They uphold standards. They speak their minds to all ranks (private to generals). They’re not afraid of getting bad news because they know how to fix things when they go wrong. And they serve the command (their commander and their soldiers) with a selfless integrity and a complete dedication.

During social events and informal occasions, they’re usually a whole bunch of fun. And they always have great stories. But they’re always professional.

So, those are my thoughts
on Command Sergeants Major. While I don’t know the details of @GovTimWalz career wearing the cloth of our country, just the fact that he volunteered to serve and wore the CSM rank tells me a lot about him.

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

@kasstl1 We're in unincorporated STL County, just north of Creve Coeur and just south of Maryland Heights. Worked in the city for 29 years as head of the Fine Arts dept of public library. 😁

[John Constable @JohnConstableRA]

Gouliet Channel, Sark by William Arthur Toplis 1895
Oil on Canvas
(Private Collection)

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

Wordle 1,133 2/6

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[CatherineRosamundLowe @CathyRLowe]

St Andrew's, Clewer, had a substantial number of war graves in its churchyard.

Some had badges that I had not seen before, so I photographed these.

The Berkshire Yeomanry's regimental badge features the Uffington White Horse, & I was struck by its intrinsic beauty.

[MSEF in STL @Msef59524952]

I know we make fun of Casey a lot, but gee, it just isn't the same without him. #at40

[Catherine Curzon @MadameGilflurt]

By #RobertoCavalli, I give you this #frockingfabulous lamé gown and rhinestone snake belt! #Fashionhistory of the 2000s, via Kerry Taylor Auctions. #WorldSnakeDay

[National Gallery @NationalGallery]

Horsing around the Gallery 🐴

This week marks the anniversary of the death of George Stubbs in 1806. His monumental painting 'Whistlejacket' is one of the most important British paintings of the 18th century and widely acknowledged to be his masterpiece.

[Dr Eloise Kane @eloeeze]

It's not a horse, it's a shouty chicken 🐔 Can't unsee it