"Sisters in Resistance," Tilar J. Mazzeo - A Review

 The lead headline in the second section of my yesterday’s politically correct local paper read: “Nips bring big money to towns.” While surely no disrespect was meant toward any Japanese Americans living in the region, I could not help but think of the reaction of woke language vigilantes had the headline appeared in right-leaning papers like the New York Post or even The Wall Street Journal. They would have called out their editors as unapologetically xenophobic. (Incidentally, the term refers to tiny bottles of liquor on which the state of Connecticut recently imposed a five-cent tax, which brought in $4.2 million in its first full year of operation – a lot of small bottles sold (and presumably consumed) for a state with a population of 3.6 million.)

 

Like P.G. Wodehouse’s Uncle Fred, I try to “spread sweetness and light” wherever I can.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Burrowing into Books

Sisters in Resistance, Tilar J. Mazzeo

October 29, 2022

 

“There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire,

which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity but which

kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.”

                                                                                                 Quote from Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book

                                                                                                 Inscribed on a bench in New York’s Central Park

                                                                                                 In memory of Frances de Chollet, one of the “sisters”

 

World War II spanned four years, eight months, and seven days, from Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to her unconditional surrender in Reims on May 7, 1945. The death count is estimated at 70 and 85 million people. World War II is, probably, the most written about event in history, with Amazon listing over 70,000 titles – more books than one person could read in a lifetime. With over 100 million service men and women, on both sides, the War produced tens of thousands of heroes and heroines, many whose stories have yet to be told, reminding one of the closing line from the 1948 movie, The Naked City: “There are eight million stories in the naked city, and this is one of them.” Ms. Mazzeo gives us one of them in this remarkable story of three women who out-witted the German war machine over a diary – Mussolini’s daughter, a German spy, and an American socialite, married to a Swiss banker.

 

The three women: Edda Mussolini Ciano (1910-1995), “…the favorite daughter of Italy’s autocratic ruler…” and married to Count Galeazzo Ciano. Hilda Beetz (1919-2010), “…had double-crossed the Nazis when she helped Edda flee with the majority of the actual diaries”; and Frances de Chollet (1900-1999) “…drawn into the world of espionage run by Allen Dulles…” They had little in common until they colluded, unknowingly, in a dangerous, but ultimately successful, venture to bring Ciano’s diaries and papers to the Allies in Switzerland. Ciano had served as Italy’s Foreign Minister from 1936-1943, when he became disillusioned with his father-in-law’s government. In his diaries, he had written of his dislike for several Fascist and Nazi officials, especially Joachim von Ribbentrop, Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

 

By mid-1944, the Italian Fascist Party was beginning to collapse, Mussolini was near Lake Garda under German protection. Ciano was hated by both Italian partisans and the Nazis. Edda, whose wealth had been dissipated, saw her husband’s diaries as potential currency for her and her children. Hilda Beetz turned double agent when she fell in love with Ciano, the man she was supposed to seduce in order to retrieve the diaries. Frances de Chollet was asked by Dulles to befriend Edda who had sought refuge in Switzerland. The story told by Ms. Mazzeo is how the papers – divided, hidden, and retrieved – were finally given to the Allies to be used at Nuremburg. 

 

There are others who make appearances in the story, among them – Virginia Agnelli (1899-1945) and her daughter Susanna (1922-2009), friends of Edda, and Emilio Pucci (1914-1992), an Italian nobleman, lover of Edda, who was tortured by the Nazis.

 

“After the war…,” Ms. Mazzeo writes, “these women’s stories faded into the background. But in the lived moment of what surely measures as one of the Second World War’s greatest rescue missions, they were the key actors…” Three courageous women risked their lives for the sake of a better world. This is Ms. Mazzeo’s book – a World War II story of civilian heroism – a book worth reading.

"Me and God"

 My hope is that this essay will not seem presumptuous or blasphemous. Most of us – if not all of us – spend some time reflecting on this subject. Writing about it helped me better understand myself. I chose this title, because putting God ahead of me would suggest I know more about Him than I do.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

More Essays from Essex

“Me and God”

October 23, 2022

 

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.

God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows

in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence…

We need silence to be able to touch souls.

                                                                                                                                Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

                                                                                                                                A Gift for God, 1975

 

Self-reflection is healthy, especially in this chaotic and secular world. I was Christened at the Eliot church in South Natick, Massachusetts, a Unitarian parish since 1870. It was the church of my father’s family. I don’t remember the year – I was not then taking notes – but I presume it was in the spring after I was born, the spring of 1941. My mother had attended Center Church in New Haven, a Congregational church, sitting in a pew, as she once wrote, “above my ancestors.” As children, when we went to church, we attended the Unitarian church in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

 

My wife, influenced by Episcopal Bishop Walter H. Gray of Connecticut when at Westover School, had herself baptized in 1956, at St. George’s by the River in Rumson, NJ, by the Reverend Canon George A. Robertshaw, the church where her parents had been married in 1931. Eight years later, we were married at the Church of Our Heavenly Rest in New York by the Reverend J. Burton Thomas. In 1976, with three young children all baptized as Episcopalians and with my accepting the divinity of Jesus, I was baptized and confirmed by the Reverend Richard Van Wely at Saint Barnabas in Greenwich. When our children were young, they attended Sunday school there and, later, became acolytes, and I joined the vestry.

 

…………………………………………….

 

While others, more knowledgeable than I, may disagree, in my opinion the principal purpose of religion is as a guide to a virtuous life. While life everlasting may not be in the cards, readings from the Bible are aimed at improving the way we conduct ourselves in this world.

 

I consider myself Christian, at least in terms of applying its moral lessons. Though I am not a regular communicant, I have no argument with God. I marvel at the miracle of creation and of things that cannot be explained by science. I think of the soul and of man’s ability to reason, and I think of the great difference between man and other animals – abilities to discern and infer, which seem impossible to ascribe solely to Darwin’s theory of natural selection. I do not see God as something tangible. He is a spirit within each of us, who helps us to understand right from wrong. That gift is critical, for inside each of us, as well, lurks the capacity for evil. And sometimes evil wins the tug-of-war for our souls, as the world has seen (and is seeing) to its horror. We should acknowledge this tension and try to follow God’s lead – toward compassion, love, respect, and tolerance.   

 

There is much I do not know. Did God create Earth four billion years ago, or did He arrive when man first appeared two or three million years ago? I don’t know. Not being familiar with other religions, I cannot compare them, but I wonder: do all religions report to one God? Perhaps God sent many disciples for different people in different parts of the world, at different times? Perhaps He sits above all religions? I don’t know. Approximately three quarters of the world’s population belong to one of the four largest religions, yet for most individuals, religion is a personal relationship with an omniscient and omnipresent God. I respect the moral code embedded in my Judeo-Christian heritage – the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus in the New. And I do believe that our natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – no matter one’s religion – are rights granted by God, not men.

 

War has always presented a conundrum for those who think about God. Why does He permit such waste of human lives? Is He testing our faith? I don’t know. During the Civil War, when asked as to whether God was on his side, Abraham Lincoln responded: “…my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greater concern is to be on God’s side; for God is always right.” In the subsequent 160 years, man has become more technically advanced, more globalist, and wealthier. Sadly, though, war became more common. Writing in the New York Times on July 6, 2003, Chris Hedges noted that the 20th Century was the bloodiest on record, with 108 million war-time deaths, 70% which occurred in the two world wars. During the past half century, man has become less religious. There is an old saying that you find no Atheists in fox holes, but has material success made us less religious? 

 

Among traits of our culture that alarm me are an increase in identity politics, which divides us, and virtue signaling, which substitutes for the real thing. Does wearing a mask while driving alone, placing a Pride flag in a school room, erecting a Black Lives Matter sign on one’s lawn make one more virtuous, or are they public manifestations of one’s moral superiority? Is it not better to privately practice the seven heavenly virtues without fanfare? Anticipating today’s virtue signalers, the late Canadian American literary and cultural critic Isabel Paterson wrote in her 1943 book, The God of the Machines: “Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends.” 

 

With questions, an absence of knowledge, and some doubts, am I agnostic? I don’t think so. An agnostic is one who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence of God. I am not so confident. It is not that I can define God, but I feel His presence, especially when alone in nature or kneeling in a pew. This I know: He is within and about me, wherever I am. Will He lead me to salvation in the next world? I don’t know. I believe God is not here to protect us against ourselves, or to prevent all harm and tragedy. I believe He is here to comfort us in times of need. 

 

I understand what fourteen-year-old Anne Frank meant when, in the midst of war and hunted by Nazis, she confided in her diary: “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.” “God,” as Mother Teresa wrote in the rubric above, “is the friend of silence.”

"Democracy Needs Defending"

 The final proofs of Essays from Essex have been sent by the publisher (Bauhan Publishing) to the printer, to be ready by Christmas. The cover is a drawing by my grandson Alex Williams, a copy of which is attached. As well, there are three additional drawings by him, including a delightfully whimsical drawing of the White Mountains’ Mt. Eisenhower, which Alex has climbed many times. The book can be pre-ordered.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Thought of the Day

“Democracy Needs Defending”

October 20, 2022

 

“The capacity to combine commitment

with skepticism is essential to democracy.”

                                                                                                        Mary Catherine Bateson (1939-2021)

(Daughter of Margaret Mead)

Composing a Life, 1989

 

The question: Will young people schooled to disdain America for her racist and imperialist past, and her misogynist and non-inclusive present be willing to defend her in time of war?

 

………………………………………….

 

The United States has long shunned standing armies. Such an attitude is in the “American DNA,” as Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) stated in an interview a week ago in The Wall Street Journal. Nevertheless, the military was respected. That appears to have changed. A recent annual poll by the Reagan Institute, showed a “great deal of confidence” in the military at 45%, down 25% in three years – victim of “woke ideology,” according to Representative Gallagher.

 

Is this lack of respect for the military symptomatic of a greater problem? Historically, a positive aspect of democracy has been the ability to criticize it. Yet we now live in an Orwellian world, defined by identity politics, where truth is not based on historical or empirical evidence, but on what we are told. Identity politics is a way of relegating the individual to the group, a precursor to authoritarian rule We should be able to love something, yet criticize it, with the goal of making it better. Now, discrimination has taken on a new look. Instead of racial or gender discrimination, we have discrimination against dissenting opinions – the censoring of conservatives on college campuses, and the blocking of political opinions that do not conform to a prescribed message.  

 

Yet, regardless of our political persuasions, it may become necessary to defend this nation, which means that critics must be willing to pick up arms, to defend what they have been taught is indefensible. So, the question must be asked. Is it possible to defend a nation where partisanship has given birth to hatred? Our internecine bickering has been noted by leaders in China, Russia, and Iran who use our own words to drive deeper the wedge that separates us. When we claim our nation is racist, inequitable, and imperialist, they agree – we are the “Great Satan,” as Iran’s leaders say. Now, with so many pundits, politicians and teachers declaring we are a nation born on the backs of slaves, it is difficult for many to recognize how fortunate they are to live in this land. And it may prove difficult for them to recognize that freedom is not free, and that there are times when it must be defended.

 

An irony of those on the Left who seek diversity, inclusion and equity is their failure to recognize the role the military has played in promoting equity. Most people spend their lives with others like themselves, whether it is in communities, clubs, colleges, or workplaces. In the army, especially in basic training, recruits are thrown together, regardless of differences or similarities. In my basic training company of just over 200 young men, we were of different races and religions; we came from cities and farms. We had young men off streets in the Bronx, from farms in Tennessee, three recent graduates of Harvard Law School, and a college dropout (me).  The army taught us to get along. It taught us that the United States was bigger and more diverse than we had realized. It taught us that the army was a better equalizer than any legislation passed by Congress. As I look through scrapbooks at the faces of those who were with me sixty years ago, I am reminded of past friendships. A return to the draft would do more for diversity, inclusion, and equity in our nation than all the demands of smug elites. It would instill patriotism and a better understanding of what has made this country special, while making it stronger. 

 

In the current milieu, patriotism is scorned.  Yet, even Samuel Johnson, famous for saying “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,” was not denouncing patriotism per se, but was criticizing his nemesis William Pitt, the elder, (1708-1778) whom he accused of using patriotism to cloak his self-interest. That problem was not limited to the UK in the 18^th Century. There are in the U.S. today many Little Jack Horner’s who wrap themselves in the flag and say: “What a good boy am I!” Pride is considered the worst of the seven deadly sins, as it manifests arrogance and hubris. Excessive nationalism, a consequence of authoritarian governments, blinds those who express it, just as self-pride blinds individuals. But self-esteem and love for one’s country, combined with humility, is a positive trait. 

 

Today, we face perilous times, and our country’s military needs our support, in equipment (material depleted in Ukraine has not been replaced) and in men and women (recruitment continues to lag expectations). Russia, now targeting civilians, seems determined to stay the course in Ukraine. Europe is being held hostage to climate extremists and may suffer a winter with insufficient energy. In Asia, China is a rising force that would like to dislodge the U.S. from where it sits. Iran and North Korea remain threats. “War,” wrote Will and Ariel Durant in their 1968 book, The Lessons of History, “is one of the constants of history, and it has not diminished with civilizations or democracy.”

 

Democracy and free-market capitalism are being attacked – from without by those who fear freedom might spread to their shores, and from within by those ignorant of history. We don’t want blind patriotism, but we do need a citizenry knowledgeable about our nation’s past – its flaws and its strengths – and a sense of the rarity of individual liberty in the long history of mankind. And we need those willing to defend this nation. We need leaders who recognize that our success has been and will be dependent on a free people, free to debate, free to take chances, unafraid to lose and free to succeed. Lincoln’s “better angels of our nature” can only prevail when a free people are backed by a strong economy and by military might.

 

…………………………………………………..

 

If we achieve that, the question posed in the first paragraph can be answered in the affirmative.

"Open Letter to Grandchildren"

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Essay from Essex

“Open Letter to Grandchildren”

October 8, 2022

 

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths,

but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”

                                                                                                                                Anne Frank (1929-1945)

                                                                                                                                The Diary of a Young Girl, 1952

 

I last wrote you as a group in May 2017, over five years ago, when you ranged in age from nine to seventeen. Now, you are between fourteen and twenty-two. That first letter was to tell you something of what it was like to grow up in the 1950s. This letter is an open letter (meaning it will be available to others), which offers advice, but which is mindful of the risk of an older generation advising a younger. The opportunities you have, and the challenges you face, are not the same as what I had and faced. Much has changed in the past six and seven decades. But the emotions that govern our behavior are the same. We are unique individuals, but sadness, doubt, and stress are common to all, just as are joy, trust, and relaxation. It is how we handle myriad emotions – some good, others not – that help determine what kind of a person we become and what kind of life we will lead.

 

………………………………………………..

 

Coco and I could not be prouder as to how you have navigated childhood and begun to enter adulthood. The pressure on youth – always high – has intensified, as communication and social media have intruded in ways unimaginable when I was a child. It is important to maintain perspective – easier said than done – for the road of life is long. It traipses through open fields and into dark woods, past extensive vistas and around blind corners. Along its path will be experiences, places to visit, and thousands of people to meet. 

 

All of this adds to self-understanding, something the Ancients recognized as critical to a happy life. The first of the three maxims at Delphi is “Know thyself.” You will be tested and tempted. But in keeping one eye on the future and the other on your values will allow you to maintain your moral compass. While experimentation is fine, recognition of the long journey ahead will help distinguish the good from the bad, the safe from the dangerous – the helping hand versus the proffered, proverbial apple. 

 

Each of us is unique, with our own talents and aspirations. The goal should be selfless self-satisfaction, ensconced in realism – what is possible that fulfills and makes you happy. If you find a spouse to love and to share your dreams (which I hope you do), your goals will be shared ones. But there is no right goal, no one better than another. It is personal. If not in family, you may find happiness in work, in sport, or perhaps in faith. What brings you satisfaction may not apply to a sibling or cousin.

 

Through family, friends, reading, school, and college, young adulthood is the time to realize and appreciate one’s unique talents, where lie one’s abilities, and what are one’s limitations. Be mindful of your needs, enthusiastic about what you love, but exercise restraint toward what you want. A few of you may know how you would like to spend your life, but for most the quest will take longer. It is best to play to your strengths, to enforce them through study and work. And it is important to understand your weaknesses, to correct them if possible, but to avoid the unreachable, like Stuart Little’s elusive search for Margalo. As you follow your dreams you will be tested, as were King Arthur’s knights in their search for the Sangreal. As well, keep in mind the old adage that perfection is the enemy of the good.  

 

Luck plays a big role as our lives unfold – people we meet, friends, coaches, and teachers; accidents and where we live. There are events over which we have control, but much of life is based on chance. There is an old saying that we make our own luck, and there is some truth in that. We should each be responsible and accountable. But chance over which we have no control can alter one’s life. Sixty-four years ago, then thirteen-years-old, a cousin dove into what turned out to be a shallow pool; her life changed – through no fault of her own. A month shy of my 21^st birthday I met the woman who became my wife. At the time, my moral compass was faltering. But, in meeting her, the arrow spun to true north. Despite my youth, I immediately knew she was the woman for me. In order to win her, I had to straighten myself out. One blessing has been each of you. My first job after college was with Eastman Kodak. They posted me to Hartford. Would my life have taken different turns had they moved me to Nashville, Detroit, or San Francisco? Probably, but I don’t think about what might have been. Every day, we make hundreds of decisions. Most we make instinctively, unconsciously, yet all have consequences, some significant, others not. We decide and move on. It is the moral compass, gained in our early years, that guides us through life’s myriad challenges and decisions.

 

……………………………………………

 

We rarely think of how lucky we were to be born. The right sperm and the right egg, stretching back millions of years to the very origins of life. The odds against that are incalculable. Thus, to not make the most of our time on earth is a mistake. While you ten are all related by blood, either as siblings or cousins, each of you is a special individual. As citizens of this country, we are equal in our rights, but we are not equal in our abilities or aspirations. It is why knowing who we are, being honest with and about ourselves, is so important. None of you are likely to play professional football, for instance. But each of you will have opportunities to use your innate talents that have been honed at home, in school, and in college. Success to one may not be success to another. But that is no matter; a productive life, well-lived, should be the goal.

 

As I come to the end of this pontificating sermon. I cannot help thinking about life, how exciting it is, with its valleys and peaks, with its tears of sadness and joy, with its hazards and opportunities. In the final act of my life, I envy you still in your first. Keep in mind, the one constant in your life is character. Guard it with care. Do not let it be diluted. Try not to follow the mob. Do not be seduced by suggestive slogans, bewitching words, or tantalizing offers.  Keep in mind Anne Frank’s advice in the rubric that heads this letter. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius speaks to his son Laertes, as he is headed to France: “To thine own self be true.” That is all you need to know.

"Is Goldilocks Dead Politically?"

 

Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“Is Goldilocks Dead Politically?”

October 7, 2022

 

“Goldilocks was very tired by this time; she went upstairs to the bedroom. She lay down

on the first bed, but it was too hard. Then she lay on the second bed, but it was too soft. 

Then she lay down on the third bed and it was just right. Goldilocks fell asleep.”

                                                                                                                Robert Southey (1774-1843)

                                                                                                                The Three Bears, 1837

 

It is the Goldilocks search for the right balance between too much government and individual freedom that foments so much political division: Have Washington’s entitlements and its marriage with social media made government intrusive? Has defunding the police, and the subsequent rising street crime, caused us to become anarchial?

   

No matter one’s political leanings, we all recognize the importance of federal government: to provide defense against foreign enemies; to maintain civil order at home; to care for those unable to care for themselves; to permit and encourage interstate commerce and transportation; to provide an agency to collect taxes and fees; to have a legislature to enact laws, an executive to carry them out, and a court system to adjudicate differences. At the same time, we believe in the ideals of independence and self-reliance, that we are individuals, free to think, speak, write, assemble, and pray as we will. Our differences are where we place ourselves along those dual (and sometimes dueling) spectrums, of government dependency and individual freedom. As government expands, freedom shrinks.

 

Political differences, driven by identity politics and ad hominem attacks, have become so venomous that a Cato Institute poll in July 2020 showed that 62% of Americans feel they cannot freely express their political preferences. Would anyone argue that number has lessened in the last two years? Most affected are conservatives (77%), then moderates (64%), and liberals (52%). The only group willing to freely express itself are “staunch” liberals, at 58 percent, not a surprise given their support from mainstream media. However, a New York Times/Sienna College poll taken last March found that 84% of Americans said being afraid to exercise freedom of speech is a “serious problem.” 

 

Unfortunately, it is natural for government to get bigger. A federal bureaucrat knows she will personally benefit as her department expands. An op-ed in last Tuesday’s The Wall Street Journal compared the inevitable growth of government to the ratchet – a tool that allows movement in only one direction. Gerard Baker wrote that government expansion is abetted by the media where the “dominant voices … [believe] publicly funded services are morally superior to private sector activity...” Nevertheless, both parties have been guilty of government expansion, but it has been the Left that has been most aggressive. Ironically, it has also been Democrats – the party of “big” government – that has been using the slogan “Our democracy is under threat” for the 2022 midterms. 

 

Conservatives prefer less government, progressives more. While those differences have been exaggerated by political parties who see job security in running attack ads and damning opponents, and by a media that sees revenue increases in partisan reporting, what is needed is compromise. “Without cooperation,” wrote Micah Mattix, in a review of The Death of Learning in last week’s National Review, “there is no civilization.” The risk is we fall deeper into the abyss of prejudicial political hatred. Keep in mind, authoritarianism, whether Fascism or Communism, comes from more government, not less. 

 

An increase in government means an increase in spending. Since FDR and the Depression days of the 1930s, augmented by Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s and added to by both Parties over the past several decades, the federal government has assumed more and more responsibility for our health and welfare. Now, via indoctrination in our schools about critical race theory and gender identification, they are molding our children’s moral characters. What is taught in school in one generation becomes political ideology in the next.

 

Yet, since capital markets have done well over the past eight and nine decades, have we not been living in a Goldilocks moment? Perhaps, but questions need be asked. Has the quest for “clean” energy sources hindered long term economic growth? Has the financial band of borrowing been stretched too taut? Has government intrusion gone too far, stripping away our independence? Are too many of us too dependent on government largesse? Would Lee Childs’ Jack Reacher be possible in today’s continuously connected world, with ‘Big Brother’ keeping constant watch? Are not proposals to do away with the filibuster and “pack” the Supreme Court actual threats to democracy? 

 

Has our national debt become unsustainable? Since 1947 and through the first decade of the 21^st Century, the national debt to GDP ratio ran between the mid 40’s and high 60s. In 2014, it exceeded a hundred percent of GDP for the first time since World War II and has been increasing as a percent ever since. But the Federal Reserve kept interest rates abnormally low for the past dozen years, so the effect of higher debt has not been fully felt by the American taxpayer. Interest expense in the fiscal year ending September is expected to account for about 7% of the federal budget. Next year, the number is likely to be substantially higher. Will the defense budget be cut? Will transfer payments be reduced? Or will we just borrow more, passing on obligations to future generations?

 

Externally and internally, there have been a growing number of attacks on capitalism and Western culture. A 2018 poll showed that only 45% of young Americans (ages 18-29) have a positive view of capitalism. Will today’s anti-capitalist youths become tomorrow’s budding entrepreneurs? High school and elementary school courses, like the 1619 Project that offers a distorted view of U.S. history and gender identification studies in grade school, have been accompanied by a decline in traditional reading and math scores. Family and faith have given way to globalization and multiculturalism. Have we slayed the goose that laid the golden egg?

 

In this tug-a-war between government dependency and personal independence, Goldilocks’ porridge is not “just right.”

"October"

The third quarter is now in the books. Year-to-date has been troubling globally, rancorous politically, and not good for financial markets. The DJIA is down 18.7%, the S&P 500 down 24.8% and the NASDAQ down 32.4%. It is possible the fourth quarter may see a snap-back rally, but the picture does not look great, (though I hasten to add the future is always unpredictable). But inflation remains stubborn; price-earnings multiples are still high, at least historically; interest rates, which have backed up as bond prices have fallen, remain high relative to inflation, and an inverted yield curve (the Ten-year at 3.83% versus the Two-year at 4.27%) is often seen as a precursor of recession. Global tensions are high, at a time when, economically, the world is increasingly interdependent. The annexation of eastern provinces in Ukraine by Russia, and the verbal threat of tactical nuclear weapons by Putin have not eased tensions.

 

Nevertheless, we live in the times we do, and. Looking back on history, most of the Western world should be thankful for when, where, and how we live. This short essay is a diversion from real world troubles, at least it was for me as I wrote it over the past month. I hope it will be for you.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Essays from Essex

“October”

                                                                                                 October –

                                                                                                                     Cool nights

Tales of Ghouls

Orange foliage

Baseball’s world series

Eating apples

Raking Leaves

 

October 1, 2022 

 

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November.”

                                                                                                                             Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)

                                                                                                                             Anne of Green Gables, 1908

 

My maternal grandparents were born in October – he on the first of the month in 1878 and she, ten years later, on the 30^th. They were married on October 9, 1907. For their 25^th wedding anniversary my mother wrote “Ode to October,” a pictorial poem, which celebrated their years together. Our 6^th grandchild, Margaret, was born on October 6, 2003. The framed ode now hangs in her bedroom.

 

October transitions hot summer days to cold winter nights. Growing up in New Hampshire, most Octobers included a few days of what we called “Indian Summer,” unseasonably warm weather after the first frost. It is a month loved by New England’s inn keepers, as leaf peepers travel to view the foliage – God’s parting gift, when summer packs up to allow winter’s return.

 

The month evokes memories: of rolling in leaves and, later, of tailgating at football games and listening to baseball’s final games and, even later, of watching our sons’ row in Head races on the Charles, the Schuylkill, and the Connecticut, and now, seeing the finish of grandchildren’s cross-country races and watching their lacrosse games. It was not just on the playing fields of Eton where leadership was born. 

 

October is the month when leaves turn color and fall to the ground, letting their summer’s hosts conserve energy through the upcoming winter. It is the time when many mammals, amphibians and reptiles hibernate. Their heartbeats and breathing slow and body temperatures drop, to survive long, cold months. 

 

Like all months, October is filled with history. On October 1, 1908, Henry Ford introduced a car for the masses – the Model T. Forty-one years later, Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China. On October 31, 1940, the Battle of Britain concluded, a battle that inspired Churchill to utter his famous line: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” October 31 is when we celebrate Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, the date in the Christian liturgical calendar dedicated to remembering the deceased, especially the saints (hallows).

 

In an unpredictable world – What will be the consequences of high inflation and rising interest rates? Which Party will hold Congress on January 1? Will the war in Ukraine intensify? – there is comfort in the predictable succession of seasons and months.

 

October is a time to celebrate our passage through winter, spring, and summer. It is a month of cool nights and warm days, a time when glorious colors adorn deciduous trees. But it is also a time when we experience shorter days and longer nights. Robert Frost, in “October,”[1]expressed our desire to hold back the ever-earlier setting sun: “Retard the sun with gentle mist;/Enchant the land with amethyst. /Slow, slow!” 

 

As we age, time moves with increasing velocity. We sympathize with Frost’s sentiment: We should slow down and absorb the scents of Autumn. Longer days will return after winter’s rest.

 

May the month bring peace and joy.