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By In Books, Culture, Family and Children

Swinging at Cheese

cheeseball

Cheese Ball

Folks who knew a younger me
remember that I was a fast runner
but not remarkable on defense
Not enough time spent in practice
No batting cage in my backyard
I could throw a one-hopper
from the centerfield fence to the catcher’s mitt
but had to be told, in vain,
what a cut-off situation was
that strength was not always strategy
that patience at the plate passes on cheese

I never hit a home run, in my short stint as a Dixie League ballplayer, though I do maintain that I did get an in-the-park homer in T-ball but had to be called back to second base for some reason that is still not clear to me. I do have images in my memory of pretty regularly getting myself caught out by popping up infield fly balls. You see, in my lack of experience, I was often guilty of zealously swinging at cheese. Oh well. I did get to watch Murphy play in the Astrodome. You can’t take that away from me.

cheesewheelsCheese – I like cheese with a fondness that has far outlived any interest that I may have once had in chasing balls. I remember walking down the street with my grandmother and ordering grilled cheese sandwiches at a diner that is no longer there. Cheese toast was her breakfast specialty. Cheese and crackers for an afternoon snack. Meager selections perhaps, but necessities from the days when parents wanted only to get calories into children whom they thought too skinny, who pediatricians thought were too fat. These days, I have the opportunity to sample respectable cheese just often enough that it remains a luxury and maintains it’s place in my heart – and perhaps in my arteries. I digress.

I am trying to instill in my four children an appreciation for a perfectly grilled cheese sandwich. I’ve given up on my wife. She’s still afraid of fat – turns up her nose at store-bought mayonnaise (except when I use it as the heat-conducting lipid on the outside of the bread). In my efforts to mold my children’s habits, I am being reminded just how intimidating something like cheese can be.

“Why is blue cheese blue,” eldest daughter asks.
“Because of mold,” comes mother’s reply.

Penicillium to be exact. A smelly bacteria found, like most wonderful things, by accident in the damp caves where cheese makers stored their cheese. The idea of good mold is a tough sell. Would you try that stuff if someone you trusted wasn’t shoving it under your nose? How hungry would you have to be?

If wine is glorified grape juice, then I offer that cheese is glorified milk. And fit for a kingly meal of bread and wine. The stuff of maturity. Stuff that takes time and know-how. Stuff that you have to develop a taste for.creamery9.jpg / Wensleydale Creamery

 “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese,” wrote G K Chesterton, who was clearly a turophiliaca, around the turn of the 20th century. This may have not been the case even before his time, as has been pointed out in the excellent article Cheese Poet, over at Patheos, which pits Chesterton against 19th century poet James McIntyre.b At any rate, poets have certainly rectified the oversight with more than enough cheesy poetry since Chesterton’s time.

As one might suspect, Robert Farrar Capon had a thing or two to say on the subject of cheese. He saw food as ministry, and ministries aim to increase fellowship and return thanksgiving where it is due. The table provides just such an arena.

“He told his readers to save money by throwing the junk food (such as supermarket cheese with ‘the texture, but nowhere near the flavor, of rubber gloves’) out of their shopping basket. Then they could buy something decent instead—such as the best available butter. ‘The realm of the irreplaceable is no place to count cost,’ he wrote in Supper of the Lamb, a metaphysical treatise on cooking published in 1967 and popular ever since.” c

Capon1

In her book Eating With Joy: Redeeming God’s Gift of Food, Rachel Marie Stone writes:

“Once, when I still feared pleasure in food as potentially dangerous, I tried to make macaroni and cheese. But instead of good old-fashioned elbow pasta, I used whole wheat noodles. Instead of whole milk, I used soy milk. I did put a bit of real cheese in there but cut the amount by three-quarters and replaced the rest with pureed carrot. It was awful, truly awful, and not the kind of accidental awful that happens to every cook occasionally. It was awful by design, awful because it wasn’t intended to bring enjoyment — it was intended to be *healthy*…Maybe it was, in a limited sense, nourishing — bring necessary vitamins, minerals and every to the body and staving off hunger pangs. Certainly I was grateful to have it. It was a better meal than many people in the world would enjoy that night. But it certainly wasn’t satisfying in itself. If it was satisfying at all, it was only because of an *idea*: ‘I’m doing something that’s good for my body by ingesting this…This kind of cooking — cooking that is motivated by an idea, rather than by the wondrous materials of food — is a kind of asceticism, an exaltation of an idea (in this case, healthfulness) over pleasure, and indeed, over the sensory experience of food and eating. This approach to food is, as Robert Farrar Capon wrote, an ‘intellectual fad, imposing a handful of irrelevant philosophical prejudices on a grandly material business.’…But does the same God who calls us to his kingdom with words like ‘Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food’ (Is 55:2) also call us to dietary asceticism, to perfect adherence to regimens of health?” d

Pastor Randy Booth reminds us that the family table is the rehearsal hall of the the Lord’s communion table:

churchfriendly“The Table is the meeting place where we remember who we are and what has been done for us…that we are dependent and that God is our provider…We enter into fellowship with God as He serves us and with one another as we share…Similar things should be taught and received at our daily family tables…The meal is simple, but the lessons are large.” e

Some cheeses coat the palate, yield under the finger. Some have little flavor crystals that burst under tooth. Some challenge the olfaction. They draw the eye and enliven the salivary glands – signaling what is still to come over the remainder of the meal. But be patient. Pace yourself. Man best not try to live by cheese alone. I must say that for some time now, the promise of fried cheese curds is perhaps enough to one day tempt me to travel above the Sweet Tea Line, and visit friends to the bitter north. But perhaps it will take a little more than a fried appetizer. Maybe if it were promised as midpoint in a full course meal – maybe. You see, while some cheeses take time to create and practice to fully appreciate (and are perhaps best left to the experts), I have recently learned how relatively quickly some kinds (such as mozzarella) can be made at home. f. So, maybe later y’all. Till then, increase the feast.

bluecheese

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  1. a lover of cheese  (back)
  2. http://bit.ly/1aXXErQ  (back)
  3. read more here http://econ.st/1lgZVoN  (back)
  4. HT: Pastor John Barach  (back)
  5. pp 53-54, authors Randy Booth & Rich Lusk, edited by Uri Brito  (back)
  6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS_K9nVkAjE&feature=youtu.be  (back)

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By In Culture, Family and Children

The Center

I am no poet nor am I the son of a poet. I have never studied poetry, in any substantive way, and I claim to know little-to -nothing about the different types of meters, styles, etc. Yet, I have impulsively promised to you with a poem on food this week, and it is delivery that I have attempted. I will say that I am good with food, so I assumed, perhaps foolishly, that I would be good if poetry and food were combined. Quickly, I learned that having the relative capacity to enjoy a good meal does not mean that you know how to express your thoughts about it in any effective or artful way. Yet, my vow to deliver has been given, and so, here is my ode to food.  All of the food listed, excepting the collard greens, are the kinds of stuff my wife currently cooks. The collards are a link to my childhood in Mississippi where we would pick them from beside the woods and take them home where they would be lovingly prepared and eaten. It is my hope that, as you read on, you will get a feel for my own table  and what kind of food shows up there.

The Center

Cabbage and carrots shredded in piles
Potatoes and eggs on the 4th of July
Parmesan and croutons named for a tyrant
Lettuce and tomato heaped on a plate
With dressing poured like lava

To make us fat.

Angel rolls one per hand
Steaming wheat from the oven
Sourdough torn and dipped
A loaf from France sprinkled with garlic
Mounds of yellow heaped on top

To make us fat.

Collard greens rise from the South
Black-eyed peas sing in the mouth
Mashed spuds covered in cheese
Refried beans cooked in bacon grease
Each one baptized in salt

To make us fat.

Spinach lasagna with ricotta
Beef roast 8 hours in the pot
A rack to eat without a fork
Fennel and cream on flattened pork
Seconds added to each platter

To make us fat.

Olives planted around the sides
The vine laughing at the end
The king seated at the head
Merry making wine in the middle
Grace given from the Creator

To make us fat.

“My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.” ~ Psalm 63:5

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By In Culture, Family and Children

Bill Banning Homeschooling Proposed in French Senate

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Recently a bill was introduced into the French senate that proposes banning homeschooling in France, except for in the case of disability. The bill was registered with the senate on December 18, 2013.

In the above picture, the motto of the French Republic is visible for those entering, or perhaps exiting a doorway, and this is not an uncommon place for placing such a political and philosophical reminder. However much liberty may be called upon by the walls and friezes of French institution, if this bill is passed, then liberty is diminished for a false version of “equality.” Maybe everyone can have equal say about his neighbor’s children and their education. Or maybe it is false fraternity. We are all brothers. No man is a father, and no child is a son. Fathers are masters over sons. In this case no man is master over his son, but every man is a collective master over his neighbor’s son.

The bill, found here, gives this “collective” reasoning:

Education is for socialization which (more…)

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By In Culture

Apéritif: A Poem About Pre-Meal Drinks

by Joffre Swait

Here’s the first of a series of poems on food to be published throughout this week by several Kuyperian authors.

We will follow the general course of a meal. It therefore gives me pleasure to open the proceedings by opening a bottle of dry sherry as a little  apéritif. A little something to get us started.

Apéritif

“La manzanilla de Sanlúcar y Los Puertos alegra a los vivos y resucita a los muertos.”

The insurance salesman and process management consultant

Will tell you that it’s best to trip light. Carry-ons, kid.

An acquaintance took bags to Rome, which with ancient

Tradition the natives stole while giving lodgment.

     Someone took my CDs in Madrid.

 

How like an avaricious hotel clerk

Is every meal you’ve taken in all your life.

The majority dashed off some sugars, and tried not to work.

And you, complicit or embarrassed fell asleep to their smirk,

     And blamed your schedule, or maybe your wife.

 

The very best meals have worked to impress and to wow

The sleepy tourist who fatly steps up to the table.

Because you travel heavy, with a weight on your brow,

The meal sneaks your time, your most valuable now,

     And sells to his cousin as quick as he’s able.

 

It is wiser to travel as if eating a five-course meal,

To show up with an empty stomach and an edge for appetite.

If you’re to eat the entire world with zeal,

To devour all they offer in Des Moines or Castile,

     Come wakeful-eyed with spine upright.

 

Travel light to your meals. Check in no worries or cares.

Simplicity and joy are the carry-ons you need.

If you don’t speak the language, listen and be aware.

Show up to the table ready, awake and légère.

     Let nothing be stolen from you while you feed.

 

If your palate is training, your start and first step must be bright.

Make yourself time to choose an apéritif,

Something dry and clean, to start up your tongue with light.

Calvados, or maybe champagne, or any wine that is white.

     Gin and tonic wakes your tongue before beef.

 

I remember the start a manzanilla sparked in my mouth.

This friend and I sat on the lawn, our wives cooking young,

Ten years ago. He in Minnesota now, I the South,

Our first children just babies, kept in the house,

     Our new lives on the tips of our tongues.

 

Which seems heavy, but tastes just like chamomile tea.

I still own that time, the little dry apples still carry

Lightly in the throat, an entire meal now free

To travel through time, not trapped by dull inattentive me,

     But wakeful once waked by a sherry.

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By In Books, Culture, Politics, Theology, Wisdom

City of God: An August Enterprise

No man can be a good metropolitan if he loves his title but not his task

No man can be a good metropolitan if he loves his title but not his task

First Things contributor Collin Garbarino has started an admirable undertaking for the year ahead, and it’s not too late to join in the fun. Participants will be reading St. Augustine’s City of God over the course of a year. And a Facebook Page has been created for reading schedule updates, supporting commentary & readers’ notes, and group accountability. The group has amassed over 1300 participants to date.

Resources:

The Reading Schedule
http://collingarbarino.com/reading-city-of-god/

Translations & formats:

Book list from Amazon
(The moderator of the project is using the Penguin Classics translation)

A digital copy of the 1871 Dods Translation is in the public domain

As well as a Librivox audio version, if you’re into that sort of thing

On Augustine the Man:

An introduction

The Great Courses also has a course on Augustine: Philosopher & Saint (that periodically goes on sale)

There are also great lectures available at WordMP3 from Pastor Steve WilkinsChurch Fathers series and a lecture from Pastor Douglas Wilson to the ACCS

As well as Dr. George Grant on Augustine’s Theology of Wonder

Other Resources:

Dr. Peter J Leithart, Senior Fellow at New Saint Andrews College and President of of Trinity House Institute, has many articles about St. Augustine and his writings over at First Things

Mentalfloss will even help you fake your way through a conversation about St. Augustine

Augustine

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By In Culture

Going To The Pub “Boosts Men’s Mental Health”

Cross-posted at Joffre The Giant.

pub

Going out to the pub “boosts mental health” in men, according to The Scotsman.

Well, yeah.

The reason given, however, is weirdly male-stereotypical: it’s because the pub lets men open up about their emotions.

Researcher Dr Carol Emslie asked about drinking habits and was surprised they said pub visits benefited their mental health.

“The most surprising thing was the way drinking opened up a space for men to behave in alternative ways that aren’t so associated with masculinity,” she said. “There was the idea if you’ve had a few drinks it really helps you to express emotion in a way you might not in your everyday life. I did not ask about mental health. This they raised themselves.

“There is a stereotype that men are strong and silent about their mental health and it is something they never talk about. This wasn’t what we found. It was very much the idea that alcohol or drinking in these communal groups had this positive effect on your mental health.

“You’re drinking together, you’re laughing and joking and it’s uplifting. It helps you to open up and relax. Also men talked about it being a way of looking out for each other.”

What a feminist perspective. What a crock.

Look, I’ll concede that the “I love you, man” moment comes more easily when the beer is flowing, and that they can sometimes be salutary. But what I’m really reading here is this: women interact with each other in a healthy way; men are incapable of interacting like women unless alcohol is involved; therefore women and men can now rejoice, send your pet man down to the pub for his girl-circle time with the boys.

It’s not complicated, Ms. Lady Scientist. Men, like women, are human. They like to have freedom. They like to have friends. They like to have affirmation and acceptance. You don’t want to be a hothouse wife; nor do we wish to be hothouse men.

Wise women have always approved of husbandly pub time. One of the weird side effects of the feminist revolution and its radical individualism is the idea that when hubby and wifey are not at their wonderfully satisfying jobs far from the house, they should both be spending all their time at home together. All hubby and wifey are is two individual particles who decided to hang on to each other for a time; they are not part of a broader society and community, except as consumers. Wives resent their husbands absences because there is little security or society in their marriages.

Well…healthy humans continue to be as they have been. They make families in towns and communities, and have friends and hangout spots and extended family nearby. In that setting, men like to go to the pub to receive the “hail, fellow, well met” reception that is so satisfying.

Going to the pub is about camaraderie, not confession.<>созданиепоисковая оптимизация а топ

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By In Culture, Politics, Pro-Life

Liberal Jesus Strikes Again

Three weeks ago, Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson caused quite the controversy over his comments on homosexuality. Media and social networking sites were outraged. Robertson was called a homophobic bigot by critics while fans of the show supported Robertson by wearing camouflage to church and buying a lot of Dynasty merchandise. And as one might expect from a nationwide frenzy centered around the Bible and sexual ethics, it was only a matter of time before Liberal Jesus showed up.

What do I mean by “Liberal Jesus”? I’m talking about internet memes that paint Jesus as a pro-gay, pro-abort, long-haired, socialist hippie. These memes attempt to demonstrate just how stupid conservatives are for basing their views on the Bible when Jesus supposedly never advocated conservative views himself. I’ve addressed memes like this before (here and here), but I couldn’t resist saying something about the newest Liberal Jesus that popped up following the Duck Dynasty fiasco.

This meme (seen below) comes to us from comedian John Fugelsang, the guy who co-hosted America’s Funniest Home Videos in the late 90s. He’s no Danny Tanner, that’s for sure, and if this meme tells us anything, he’s no biblical scholar, either. (more…)

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By In Books, Culture

The Missing “Missing Link”

by Marc Hays

Followingexploring creation biology cover is a collection of passages from Wile and Durnell’s, Exploring Creation with Biology. Classical Conversations uses the Apologia series of textbooks for their “Research Strands” through high school. I grow increasingly thankful for the fine work Apologia has done by providing our high school students with these invaluable science texts.

These quotes are from Module 9: “Evolution: Part Scientific Theory, Part Unconfirmed Hypothesis.”

“The lack of intermediate links was the most vexing problem that Darwin had with his hypothesis. In fact, in his book, he stated:

Geological research, though it has added numerous species to existing and extinct genera, and has made the intervals between some few groups less wide than they otherwise would have been, yet has done scarcely anything in breaking the distinction between species, by connecting them together by numerous, fine, intermediate varieties; and this not having been affected, is probably the gravest and most obvious of all the many objections which can be raised against my views. (Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, 6th ed, {New York, NY: Collier Books, 1962}, 462)

“Well, what of these missing links? Has paleontology uncovered them? The answer to that is an unequivocal no. Read, for example the words of Dr. David Raup, the curator of the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History and an expert on the fossil record.

Well, we are now about 120 years after Darwin, and knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded…ironically, we have even fewer examples of evolutionary transition than we had in Darwin’s time. By this I mean that some of the classic cases of Darwinian change in the fossil record, such as the evolution of the horse in North America, have had to be discarded or modified as the result of more detailed information. (David Raup, Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin, 50:25, 197 – emphasis added)

“Since Dr. Raup’s quote is more than 20 years old, you might wonder whether paleontology has discovered anything in the past two decades to make the situation better for macroevolution. The answer is a clear and convincing no. Consider for example, this summary of the state of paleontology in regard to macroevolution:

…according to Darwin…the fossil record should be rife with examples of transitional forms leading from the less to more evolved…Instead of filling the gaps in the fossil record with so-called missing links, most paleontologists found themselves facing a situation in which there were only gaps in the fossil record, with no evidence of transformational intermediates between documented fossil species. (Jeffrey H. Schwartz, Sudden Origins, [New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1999], 89)

“Now think about this for a minute. The hypothesis of macroevolution tries to explain something about earth’s past. Since no one was around back then to tell us whether or not macroevolution actually happened, it is necessary to look for data that either support or contradict the hypothesis. Well, if you’re looking for data about earth’s history, where is the first place you would look? You would look in the fossil record! What does the fossil record say? It says that macroevolution never happened! Do you see what we mean when we say that scientists don’t belive in macroevolution today because of evidence? If the fossil record (the main place you look for information about earth’s past) shows no evidence for macroevolution, scientists simply should not believe in it.” (Wile & Durnell, Exploring Creation with Biology, 2nd Edition, [Anderson, IN: Apologia Educational Ministries, 2005], 274-275)

Wile & Durnell then point out that Schwartz and Raup are pointing out the lack of evidence for Darwin’s transitional forms in order to posit the notion of “punctuated equilibrium.” This spin on evolutionary theory tries to reinterpret macroevolution so that the lack of evidence for evolution becomes the evidence that evolution occurred. The idea being that transitional forms are by their nature short-lived, and therefore missing from the fossil record.

Or in other words, “the macroevolutionary emperor has no clothes, so we thought we’d cover him up with some fresh expert opinion.”

This is not intended to be the answer to the hypothesis of macroevolution, but this can serve as fodder for discussion with many people in our society. If they’re well-read, then they may have a reply, but I daresay many people in our culture are tickled pink to remain Darwinian, without any punctuated nuances. Their belief in evolution may make them feel better about their personal disbelief in the God who created them, but it does so based on their own religious presuppositions, not on any sure footing in the fossil record. Their faith may be in science, but their god has failed them.

(Advertisement: If you’re looking for a fantastic high school science curriculum, look no further. Check out the Apologia series here.)

 

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By In Books, Culture, Family and Children

Free Copy of Pastor Uri Brito’s “The Trinitarian Father”

Hello dear Kuyperians. You might have noticed some recent excitement here at your favorite Kuyper-inspired website over the publication of Uri Brito’s booklet The Trinitarian Father. As Steve Wilkins said, “Pastor Brito helps us to see what God’s nature implies for us and requires of us as fathers. His essay is an excellent beginning to getting us into Trinitarian shape.”

You can buy the book here, for a mere $8, and it is well worth the purchase, dear friends.

Even more exciting than that, however, is the prospect of getting a free copy. Which you can now do by making sure you’ve joined our current book giveaway. There are now two prizes, the first drawing being for Bread & Wine and Watch For The Light, and the second drawing being for The Trinitarian Father.

Even if you’ve already entered, share the contest. The more people join through your link, the more entries you have. Contest ends on Sunday the 5th.

As the Huguenots probably never say, bonne chance!

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By In Culture

The Hills Are Alive With “The Gift Of Music”

The Gift of Music

by Marc Hays

Over the holidays I began reading The Gift of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence, by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson, both of whom worked at L’Abri with Francis Schaeffer. The book is a collection of biographical sketches of the great composers of Western music, but that categorization does not do justice to what these two ladies have accomplished. Please allow me to explain.

Upon perusing the table of contents, the reader will find 44 chapters in a book that is only 300 pages long. Yep, that’s right: the chapters average only 6 to 7 pages long. My initial reaction was that this book might be attempting to accomplish too much, which could result in accomplishing very little. I was very wrong. The biographical sketches are short, but they are short because of a pithy, conservative use of words, not from a lack of information or insight.

However, while being short, the chapters are not encyclopedia entries. This book was not designed to be an information download from one, human hard-drive to another. Rather, each chapter is brimming with the love that these ladies have for the composers and their work. These passionate authors follow lock step in the footprints of their mentor, Francis Schaeffer, and their work is undoubtedly an extension of the work he began. He revealed how the 20th Century was an era of decadence. The Gift of Music is a positive tool for rebuilding that which has been disintegrating in the post-modern era.

I have not finished reading the book yet, so this is not a book review, per se, but I am enjoying it so much that I didn’t want to wait until I was done reading it to share some quotes from it.

So, without further ado, here’s Betty Carlson from the Prelude to the Third Edition:

Most of all, the purpose of this book is to encourage listening to the finest music with understanding and pleasure and to stretch one’s imagination. The more people acquaint themselves with what is truly great and beautiful, the more they will dislike and turn away from that which is shallow and ugly. Also we want to show that what each artist believes in his heart and mind affects his creativity and influences those who follow him.

In the Introduction, the authors demonstrate how God’s hymnbook, the Psalms, has been a direct influence in the development of Western musical literature.

The key word of the book of Psalms is “worship,” and this is heightened by musical settings. Poetry is the form of expression most appropriate to describe feelings, and with music added, the emotional intensity is increased. The word “psalm” comes from the Greek “psalmoi,” meaning “twangings of harp strings,” which reminds us that psalms are meant to be sung.

When God decided to give the Israelites a theology manual, he inspired David, Asaph, and others to write songs. Through this, God showed us that theology class was never meant to be abstracted from choir practice. If it can be said truly, it should be sung gloriously. Truth is conveyed via harp and trumpet and timbrel and drums, as much as it is declared by the words being sung. The psalms are living proof, and Betty Carlson and Jane Stuart Smith do not miss this pivotal point. The introduction extrapolates the pivotal role the psalter had in the development of Western music.

The Gift of Music jumps into the story of Western music at the beginning of the Baroque era: Schutz, Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel are introduced in the first four chapters.  The chapters are each so densely packed with quotable insight, but I don’t want to ruin it by overstaying my welcome with you, dear reader. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some of my favorite quotes in our Scribblings column. “The Gift of Music” will be in the titles of my posts, if you are interested in keeping up as I progress. Better yet, go to Amazon, get this gem of a book for yourself, and share some of your favorite quotes with all of us here at KC.

Here’s a link to The Gift of Music at Amazon.com

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