In the Bleak Midwinter
by Christina Rossetti
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Author Archives: L. G. William Chapman, B.A., LL.B.
What’s new?
Taiwan (its capital Taipei shown in the featured image above with one of the tallest buildings in the world) is an island in the East China Sea, north of New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines. It’s south of Korea and Japan in the southern part of the North Pacific Ocean. It is east of Viet Nam, Thailand and China. Russia hovers above it all. India, Africa, South America and North America are continents away to the west.
A young man who spent several years working at one of Taiwan’s largest electronics companies agrees: “I think Taiwan’s companies are bad at making big breakthroughs in technology. But they are very good at taking someone else’s idea and making it better. This can be done by trial and error, continuously tweaking small things.”
December philosophy
I was born in the month of December. Serendipitously I know of six other people (family and friends) who were born in the month of December. I am especially empathetic to these people though for reasons I could not reasonably or logically assert. There may be others within my proximate sphere who were also born in December but these six are people to whom I ritually send a birthday greeting or to whom I have lately taken to do so. The majority of them were born precipitously close to Christmas Day. That detail, as you might imagine, works against the celebration of their birth. I find the social conventions surrounding Christmas start early in the month of December; and accordingly collide as an interruption of one’s natal anniversary. It is a tangent especially toxic to gift giving (if anyone is counting).
Where does the time go?
It would be a distortion to say that I am busy throughout the day; nonetheless I regularly find myself asking, “Where does the time go?” It’s now late afternoon. The sun has already set in league with the approaching hibernal solstice on December 22 at 0:3:28 (when either of earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun depending whether in the Northern or Southern hemisphere).
Have yourself a merry little Christmas!
My sister telephoned today. It was before noon. That speaks to the intensity of the season! Sh-h-h! She is a late riser (if the truth be told). But today is the 14th of December and the Christmas season is upon us with its pitiless flood and urgency. She accordingly wasted no time addressing the purpose of her call other than first to inquire i) if I were at home or in the car, and ii) whether I were having lunch. I replied I was at my desk absorbing the dynamic view upriver. In fact I had only just finished my breakfast. So much for the slur about early risers. With those formalities conveniently and speedily disposed of, we then entertained the tenor of her call; namely, to invite us to their home in the Glebe for luncheon on Christmas Day, December 25th @ 12:30 pm.
Identity
Identity in my vocabulary is more about selfhood (as in “personal identity”) than similarity. A related definition is the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is; as in, “a distinct Canadian identity”. The singular nature of the word identity is peculiar because it derives from the Latin idem which means the same; as in, “the identity between the city and suburbs”.
Identity (noun) c. 1600, “sameness, oneness, state of being the same,” from French identité (14c.), from Medieval Latin identitatem (nominative identitas) “sameness,” ultimately from Latin idem (neuter) “the same” (see idem).
Why it is that having a personal identity is so important I can only attribute to the fact that, unlike bees in the hive or ants in the nest, we humans are not identical. Among humans the adoption of identity is far from internalized only. It extends outwardly for example to political identity, “the tendency to base one’s politics on a sense of personal identity—as gay, as Jewish, as Black, as female ….. [Diana Fuss, Essentially Speaking, “1989]”. Indeed at almost every stage of the evolution of a particular person it is not difficult to define some notable identity. Granted, the definition of that identity may be distorted or discoloured by those imposing the particular identity; but it is never obstructed. It is safely assured that each of us has a yearning to establish, define and preserve our own identity whether for ulterior purposes or merely for self-satisfaction. Sometimes our personal identity matters only to ourselves; at other times it has a bearing upon what others think of us. Sometimes we seek to disguise our identity; at other times, we seek to promote it. Personal identity remains however an internal mechanism to which we are inextricably attached and from which our character derives and our music is heard. Make no mistake the seeds were planted within long ago!
Personal identity is seldom static even if it remains unprovoked by our internal mechanism. To that extent identity is not unlike any other living thing in that it may one day blossom, another day droop; or, merely evolve from active to passive, bright to dull, life to death. Throughout the process however we maintain our allegiance to the determination of our personal identity because we are not unwitting bystanders but instead creatures who derive stimulation from our changing personal identity. We are driven by an innate mandate; one which seeks resolution of dilemma (whatever that may be for each of us). At times the personal identity may define what we feel to be distinct improvement or betterment. In that regard personal identity is always about growth (which once again I remind you is derivative not manufactured).
There is however some risk associated with the advancement of personal identity. It is by no means an entirely natural process; by which I mean to emphasize that certain personal identities may be fabrications not descriptions of solely “personal” identity. Nonetheless both evolutions go hand-in-hand; hence the quip “You can take the boy out of the country but not the country out of the boy!” Personal identity is thus conjoined to the rudimentary realities of one’s life, from beginning to end, a conglomerate of successive transformations.
As for the catalysts of these transformations I suggest the following (in order of priority of influence though not necessarily manifestation):
- family (including ancestors and heirs);
- education;
- employment/career;
- possessions;
- social contribution (financial and volunteering); and,
- legacy (financial or intellectual).
Certainly not everyone aspires to leave a legacy of any nature whatsoever to the planet. Some may wish to be remembered in a particular way. Others will devote themselves to fulfillment of what they believe to be their particular talents. Yet while each of us is alive we harbour an undeterred sense of personal identity which unwittingly or otherwise we seek to fulfill. Whether this knowledge is sufficient to disturb our activity or enterprise is another question. As one grows older the possibility of wistful regard upon the past is not lost. The nostalgia may be reflective only, not doleful. In either event one must confess that historic credentials (as generous or otherwise as they may have been) are not prescriptive of the future. The point to keep in mind at all times is that the definition of personal identity is strategic only to oneself in spite of our past association of that identity with external causes, people, events and materiality (commonly called “appearances”). Identity like time itself transitions along a scale and never reverts to what it once was. Sometimes the effect of these transitions is corrupted by overpowering elements like alcoholism, murder, catastrophic accident, severe illness or surgery. But it is nonetheless highly unusual for one’s personal identity to be smothered entirely no matter what happens. It is for this very reason that one’s personal identity is so deeply embedded within us – and thus equally nutritious given the strength of even the most moderate wholesomeness.
Measure of Change
There are moments when everything is in apple pie order, when the weather is likable, one’s bowels are serenely digested, the car is scrubbed and running up to snuff (or what the late Hughie Whitten distilled as a “clean windshield and a full tank of gas”), when there are no animosities or misunderstandings in sight, when one feels an unrestrained tenor of well-being and perhaps a drift of magnanimity.
Shopping Malls
Perhaps it is unfair to blend Bergdorf Goodman (what is called a “luxury department store”) with Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s or a shopping mall but they all retain predominantly one thing in common; namely, in-person shopping. It is an element critical to the endorsement of the shopping model to which they are attuned.
Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman. Since the early 2010s, Bergdorf Goodman has been a subsidiary of Neiman Marcus, which is owned by the private equity firm Ares Management.
Macy’s has conducted the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City since 1924 and has sponsored the city’s annual Fourth of July fireworks display since 1976. Macy’s Herald Square is one of the largest department stores in the world. The flagship store covers almost an entire New York City block, features about 1.1 million square feet of retail space, includes additional space for offices and storage, and serves as the endpoint for the Thanksgiving Day parade. The value of Herald Square alone is estimated at $3 billion.
The best birthday ever!
Tomorrow December 11th I turn 75 years of age. I feel it is to be a momentous event. Not because I or anyone else will be celebrating the day in any remarable fashion. Currently I have only to get my car serviced. I just like the alignment of the count with three-quarters a century. To me it sounds highly profitable. Indeed it is. Which is why I want to write about it. I would like to record my reasons for thinking so. I’ll start with the easiest details first.
Allow me therefore to begin by considering my things. Why things should be important is naturally a matter of debate among right-thinking people. But on balance I must confess that the things in my life are not entirely ignorable. Indeed if I were to ignore them I would only be foisting a deceit of false morality upon you, dear Reader. Now having said that, upon reflection, I will say that things haven’t always preoccupied me as they now do or as they have lately done (that is, for the past 60 years roughly).
Billy Bi Soup in the country
Chef Barthe’s Cream of Mussel Soup soon became such a favorite of William B. Leeds, Sr. that it was kept permanently on the menu at Maxim’s. Sadly Billy, as his friends called him, died in 1908 of a stroke at the Hotel Ritz in Paris. He left behind his wife and a son, also named William. William B. Leeds, Jr., was at that time the richest child in the world. Later, at the age of 18, he would also marry a Greek princess and gain worldwide fame as a hunter and yachtsman. Like his father, he would call both Europe and America home – especially Paris and Maxim’s during the early days of the roaring 1920s.
Craig Claiborne, who brought this amazing cream of mussels soup to The Times in the 1960s and refined it over the years with his longtime kitchen collaborator Pierre Franey, once called it “the most elegant and delicious soup ever created.” It is also one of the easiest to make. Use wine to steam open some mussels beneath a blanket of aromatics and use the resulting stock as a base for cream. Add the mussels and perhaps a grind of pepper. “One of the sublime creations on Earth,” Claiborne wrote.