Darsie Beck - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
Paris
by Brad Craft
I am listening to Handel. Specifically, I am listening to "Eternal Source of Light Divine," from his Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, Choir of King's College Cambridge. An odd choice, perhaps, given the events of the last few hours in Paris; a German composer, an English choir. Odd besides I suppose for being what an atheist would want to hear at such a moment, but here we are. Handel's Ode was written in celebration of not only the Queen's birthday, but also to mark the conclusion, in 1713 of
the the Treaty of Utrecht and the end of the War of the Spanish
Succession. As the reader of history will know, Marlborough's triumph
was not a happy outcome for France. In my defence, I would only say that Handel's music transcends the history that occasioned
it's composition and that what I needed most tonight was to hear voices
raised in something other than either anger or grief.
I'd already listened to the crowd from the soccer stadium singing La Marseillaise as they left the interrupted game. And of course, I'd spent the evening listening to the news reports, watching the live coverage from the streets of Paris, heard that first, chilling volley from inside the Bataclan concert hall.
I do not doubt that was the weekend goes on, this horror will become as
familiar as the last, and yet I will feel compelled to watch it all
again, to read the newspapers and the magazines, to argue with the
analysis, to wonder at the the resilience of the survivors and to curse
the fanaticism of the murderers.
But just now, I need beauty, balance, grace. I need the solemnity of Handel and the purity of an English choir.
Meanwhile,
and in better keeping with events I took up a French author to read
something, anything to remind me of Paris. The book, much read, fell open to a passage from Book Six, Chapter 1. It begins:
"Twenty years ago there was still to be seen, in the south-east corner of the Place de la Bastille, near the canal-port
dug out of the former moat of the prison-fortress, a weird monument
which has vanished from the memory of present day Parisians but which deserves to have left some trace of itself, for it sprang from the mind of a member of the Institute, none other than the Commander-in-Chief of the Army in Egypt."
And so I spent an hour with Hugo. I clambered with Gavroche and the little ones, up the ladder and into the belly of the Elephant of the Bastille;
that "crumbling, scabby monster." I wanted reminding of the passage of
history, the value of even a brief life, of life, and joy, and
suffering, and of art. I wanted the light of another Paris, which has
of course survived worse and will endure so long
as art and life endure. I wanted a reminder too that Paris is more
than light, and history more than a record of wars and the hubris of
violent men. As Hugo says a moment later, "A touch of roughness is salutary to weak nerves."
I read on and on, the story familiar even to the feel on the pages between my fingers.
It was important, somehow, to be in the company of great souls tonight, and to be not just with France -- if only in my study, Les Miserables in my lap -- but with humanity.
1 comment:
In the footsteps of Betty MacDonald: New owners take on rural life with Egg and I Farm
Phil
Vogelzang takes down cattle fencing on the Chimacum farm where "The Egg
and I" author Betty MacDonald lived in the 1920s. Vogelzang purchased
the property with three family members in mid-March 2008 from Pat and Jess
Bondurant, who raised beef cattle. --
By Jennifer Jackson, Peninsula Daily News, March 25, 2008
CHIMACUM
— If you had asked Phil Vogelzang a year ago if he'd ever heard of
Betty MacDonald, he'd have said no. Ma and Pa Kettle? Rings a faint bell,
he would have answered. So when Vogelzang, 49, saw a listing for a
20-acre farm for sale on Egg and I Road, he had no clue where the name
came from. "I thought, 'That's a funny name for a road," he
said. Vogelzang is now a lot more familiar with Betty MacDonald, having
purchased, along with family members, the farm where the author of The
Egg and I lived in the late 1920s. The new owners have named their
purchase the Egg and I Farm after the book, and in some ways, are
following in the footsteps of its former owner. Betty MacDonald the daughter of a mining engineer, she was born
Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard on March 26, 1907, in Boulder, Colo. After
graduating from Roosevelt High School in Seattle, she moved with her
mother to the Chimacum Valley after her father died. In 1927, she married
Robert Heskett with whom she had two children. They divorced in 1935,
and she married Donald C. MacDonald in 1942. The couple moved to Vashon
Island, and starting with The Egg and I, published in 1945, MacDonald
wrote three other books based on her life, plus the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
series for children. She died of cancer in Seattle in 1958 at age of
49. Flash forward 50 years to 2008 and the new owners of the homestead
that inspired MacDonald to write The Egg and I. "We're rank beginners,"
Vogelzang said of farming. "We have no experience."Located on a ridge
between Beaver Valley and Center Road, the farm was a homestead with 40
acres when 19-year-old Betty Bard married Heskett. Heskett's dream — to
become the egg czar of Puget Sound — crashed and burned along with the
marriage, an experience his ex-wife turned to humorous account in a
novel 20 years later. The goal of the new owners — Vogelzang and spouse,
Katy McCoy, her sister, Melinda McCoy and husband, Peter — is less
grandiose. They want to grow as much of their own food as
possible. They're thinking vegetable gardens, fruit trees, maybe even a
cow. And of course, chickens. "Certainly eggs and chickens will be in the
mix," Vogelzang said. The house that Betty lived in is long gone, but Egg
and I fans continued to knock on the door of Jess and Pat Bondurant,
the farm's former owners who lived there 32 years. The book is especially
popular in Europe — they have the largest Betty MacDonald fan club in
the world —
and Pat Bondurant has had phone calls, inviting her and
her husband to fly over and help celebrate the author's birthday. Last
fall, BBC Radio 4 sent a program staff member from England to Chimacum
to tape interviews with Pat Bondurant and longtime Chimacum residents,
Aldena Bishop and George Huntingford.Family members movingMembers of the
family who has purchased the farm will move there this summer, when
Peter Walchenbach, a special education teacher at Ocosta High School,
finishes the school year. He'll be moving with his wife, Melinda McCoy,
daughter Flora, 7, and son Oscar, 5.Vogelzang, a radiologist, and wife,
Katy, a physician-turned-artist, plan to come over from Seattle as much
as possible, he said. "Peter and I have been looking for property where
we can farm on a small scale," Vogelzang said. "It's sort of our
dream. "Vogelzang said he never considered that their "quiet little
parcel in the country" would have a theme other than local, sustainable
food production. But since learning that the farm had a literary history,
he has been learning more about Betty MacDonald, and he has been
thinking about ways to work with the heritage she left. "Peter and
Melinda are the kind of people who will embrace it, and welcome people,"
he said.
MacDonald connectionsVogelzang was also surprised to find a
connection between MacDonald and his wife's family. Both lived in
Laurelhurst, a Seattle neighborhood where the McCoy family settled. And
on his side of the family, who are Dutch, he does have some agricultural
background — he comes from a long line of pig farmers, he said. The son
of a Dutch Christian Reform minister, he spent his high school years in
Sheldon, Iowa, where he did menial labor on farms, mostly with
livestock. While Vogelzang has not seen "The Egg and I" movie yet, he has
read the book with an eye to what kind of vegetables and fruits the
family grew in the 1920s. "If you read what they produced on the farm,
it's quite remarkable," he said."If they can do it, we can do
it. "Vogelzang said that, in the end, the farm is a legacy for his niece
and nephew, who he hopes will get involved in 4-H, as well as take an
active role in the farm's operation. In the meantime, he and the adults
plan to enjoy the peace and quiet, the fresh food and the sense of
accomplishment that comes from growing your own food. In other words,
they plan to find the peace and happiness that eluded Betty MacDonald
when she came to the farm as a young wife with no idea of what she was
getting into. "We've thought it out," Vogelzang said, "and we plan to be
here a lot longer than Betty.
The End
Have a nice Wednesday,
Ole
Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan club
Betty MacDonald forum
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
Betty MacDonald fan club items
Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments
Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund
Betty MacDonald Fan Club proudly presents:
The
amazing, very witty, charming, intelligent story written by our
brilliant Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honor Member - artist and writer
Letizia Mancino.
WHEN YOU DREAM, DREAM BIG
Copyright 2011/2015 by Letizia Mancino
All rights reserved
Translated by D. Tsiaprakas
Betty,
I love you! Your books „Anybody can do anything“ and „Onions in the
Stew“ are really outstanding! I take them into my hand, and at a stone's
throw I am right away in America ! Columbus and the egg: The great
discovery!
Your bestseller „The Egg and I“ the greatest
discovery. And you and I! I know America: It's true what you are
writing: That's America: Absolutely right! No, even to the least detail!
The landscape and the passion: Do you know the country where pistols
blossom? Brava, Betty, you are describing the Americans vividly,
genuinely, insufferably, brushed upon paper. If I like to read your
works? To read doesn't even express it! I can even hear and see
everything: Nature, culture, subculture.
America has almost
remained unchanged! O those cool Americans! Calculating, stockmarket,
Wall Street, the financial crisis (even back in 1930), the gamblers, the
bankruptcy of companies! The swarming of dodgers and cheaters. People
left without money. Dispair und hunger! A terrible „Worst Case“ (when I
knew but little English I thought it is sausage with cheese).
Still
how impressive is the ability to adaptone self of the Americans: They
know how to enjoy life, acrobats of survival! In the twinkle of an eye
they achieved to adapt themselves and effect the work of pioneers: In
the morning you are a cleaningwoman, in the evening a brothel woman! No
problem!
„The insufficient, here it's becoming an event; The
indescribable, here it's done;“ Mary Bard Jensen, your sister, was the
treasure trove of procuring work: My word, what a power woman with
unlimited imagination! She has recommended you everywhere: Betty can do
everything, also write novels! Go ahead, sister, hurry up! The editor
wants to see your manuscripts! Up to that point you had not written a
single line! Wow! And if still everything goes wrong? No problem: When
you dream, dream big!
Just look, you have become famous.The Egg
and I You know that, Betty? I'll slip into „The Egg and I“ and come and
be your guest! I want to get to know your chickens. I hate chickens!
I'm a chickens slave from North America! O Betty, without these damned
animals, no chance of you becoming famous! „The Egg and I“ you would
never have written! How many readers you have made happy!
Your
book is so amusing! Your witty fine (almost nasty) remarks about your
family members and roundabout neighbours made me laugh so much! You have
been born into a special family: Comfort was not desired: I can't but
be amazed: What did your father say to your mother? After tomorrow I am
going to work elsewhere: Thousands of miles away...He sent her a
telegram: LEAVING FOR TWO YEARS ON THURSDAY FOR MEXICO CITY STOP GET
READY IF YOU WANT TO COME ALONG – That was on Monday. Mother wired back:
SHALL BE READY, and so she was.That's America! Improvisation, change,
adventure. You show no weakness: Let's go! Your descriptions, Betty,
about the tremendous happenings in nature have deeply frightened me.
Continent
America, I'm terrified by you! I feel so small and threatened like a
tiny fly before an enormous flyswatter! Your novel is very many-sided!
The reader may use it even as a cook book! „The Egg and I“ starts
straight away with a recipe: „Next to the wisdom that lamb meat doesn't
taste good unless it has been roasted with garlic“. Do you enjoy the
American food?
O Betty, it's too fatty for me and I hate garlic!
(Betty is presently cooking lunch for Bob. She's continually talking to
„STOVE“: STOVE is Bob's rival; in the beginning I thought it was being
himself). She turns round and says: Well, so no garlic for you. No lamb
either, Betty. I don't eat any meat! I'd actually prefer only fried
eggs. Betty, let me make them myself. Then you try it!
Blow!
„STOVE“ out of order! I don't succeed in turning it on! Damned! It's got
more of a mind of its own than „STOVE“ of my friend, Hilde Domin! Bob's
coming! He must eat directly! „Men eat anything, the swines! Says your
grandmother Gammy“. Is it true? Do you like my chickens? Bob asked me
without introducing himself. Yes, Bob (rude) I love them! I'm
vegetarian. Do you want to clean the henhouse with me tomorrow? A,
you're always getting up so early at four o'clock! Bob, that's not a job
for me! He looked at me disdainfully! A Roman cissy! You need a
reeducation at once! Help, Bob's attacking me! I rather change the novel
immediately and move to the „Island“!
VIVE LA FRANCE 
Vive la France!
Love,
Linde
Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
we have a new Betty MacDonald fan club contest.
Do you wear glasses?
It isn't a problem at all in our time because we have very stylish glasses but it was a huge problem 70 years ago.
What was the reason why?
Because the glasses looked rather ugly.
Tell us please two members of the Bard family who were shortsighted.
Good luck.
You can win very interesting new Betty MacDonald fan club items.
Deadline: November 30, 2015
Good luck!
Have a nice Thursday,
Simon
Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald forum
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
Betty MacDonald fan club items
Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments
Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund