... in Vincennes, Indiana (a place named after François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes, who was burned at the stake in 1736, "during the French war with the Chickasaw nation").His name glows on a vibrant mural:
We set up on the lush grass by the county courthouse, which looked like this at 3:01:51 — 3 minutes before the beginning of the total eclipse:
And here it is, at the very beginning of the totality:
I don't know if this is the town's official motto, but we talked a lot about it: "Where everyone fulfills their God-given purpose!"
It seemed to be a grandiose claim, but I said maybe the people interpret God's requirements narrowly, so that it's not understood to be terribly difficult. My son Chris, texting, said, maybe God does not give them any particularly challenging purpose. I contemplated whether Chris was saying something different from what I'd just said and decided he certainly was. My idea was that people are self-serving, and his idea was that God was easy-going and pretty darned nice. Hearing that, Meade noted that "fulfills" could mean that citizens are simply wherever they are in a process of fulfilling.
It seemed to be a grandiose claim, but I said maybe the people interpret God's requirements narrowly, so that it's not understood to be terribly difficult. My son Chris, texting, said, maybe God does not give them any particularly challenging purpose. I contemplated whether Chris was saying something different from what I'd just said and decided he certainly was. My idea was that people are self-serving, and his idea was that God was easy-going and pretty darned nice. Hearing that, Meade noted that "fulfills" could mean that citizens are simply wherever they are in a process of fulfilling.We walked through the festival atmosphere on historic Main Street, by the Wabash River, but given the hubbub and live, loud rock music, we kept moving until we arrived at the memorial for the men who died in the War of the Union....
We set up on the lush grass by the county courthouse, which looked like this at 3:01:51 — 3 minutes before the beginning of the total eclipse:
And here it is, at the very beginning of the totality:Thanks to Vincennes for hosting us and many others. The show was free and the number of dollars we spent was equal to the number of minutes of the totality of the eclipse. Meade bought a pulled pork sandwich at a food truck:
The text at the pig silhouette in the lower right corner of the truck deserves contemplative comparison to the aforementioned "Where everyone fulfills their God-given purpose!" It says: "Every butt loves a rub."
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39 comments:
Your photos and commentary of Vincennes made me think — just for a moment — that I was on James Lileks’ Bleats site!
Vincennes, IN, home town of Red Skelton.
If one’s God-given purposes to have this experience of a contrived life of opposites, designed to give us the opportunity to make choices using one’s free will, and be agents of ourselves, is that is each person’s god-given purpose, then everyone is fulfilling it.
Pitmasters smile a lot because rubbing butts IS their God-given purpose.
It says "every butt loves a rub", not what you said.
No visit to the Red Skelton Museum of Comedy?
I interpret, "Where everyone fulfills their God-given purpose" as you do you.
Food is cheap...
Chris, texting, said, maybe God does not give them any particularly challenging purpose.
Its like listening to cats discuss space travel.
*Love your neighbor as yourself.
*Thyne will be done, not mine.
*Be of service to others.
This has never been complicated
What a nice-looking place!
Nice! We were in (ok, 10 mins south of) Vincennes too! On a little hill behind a gas station along the river. Coincidentally right next to another group also from Wisconsin.
“It says "every butt loves a rub", not what you said.”
Thanks. Fixed.
I’d just written “deserves” in the previous sentence and it stuck in my head.
Beautiful spring day to watch darkness. But as Charles Barkley says, just wait until nightfall and you’ll get to see 10 hours of it.
Back home again in Indiana,
And it seems that I can see
The gleaming candlelight, still burning bright,
Through the sycamores for me.
The new-mown hay sends all its fragrance
Through the fields I used to roam.
When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash,
How I long for my Indiana home.
RIP Jim Nabors
The building displaying the "where everyone fulfills their God-given purpose!" banner, along with the building next to it, is the former home of the now-defunct Bible Bookstore & Gifts, and is now for sale for $399,900, currently configured for retail but ready to transition to housing or office space.
"My idea was that people are self-serving, and [son Chris's] idea was that God was easy-going and pretty darned nice. Hearing that, Meade noted that "fulfills" could mean that citizens are simply wherever they are in the process of fulfilling."
And for the nonbelievers in God and his self-appointed son Donald, woe be unto us saith the MAGA cultists, for he shall inherit the Earth.
Having been at ground center of eclipse totality in the past I'm thinking a good pulled pork sandwich would be just the ticket for the lastest occasion of the same. Never had Indiana Q. Does it have pride of place that we in the Southland bestow upon the endeavor and result?
It says: "Every butt loves a rub."
Strangely this is also the motto of the NY subway.
An old work colleague of mine had a saying : "No one is completely useless -- they can always be used as a bad example."
As I sit here on another morning, holding my head in one hand, my coffee mug in the other, occasionally releasing both of them to type some comment here or there, I wonder, am I fulfilling my God-given purpose?
Beavis and Butthead say "Longest darkness. Every butt loves a rub. Heh heh."
"We experienced the longest darkness in Indiana..."
That happened to me once.
"every butt loves a rub"
That's good too. Should be a sampler.
I like the "I'd smoke that!" motto over the pig drawing.
I thought Indiana had Daylight Savings Time.
@iowan2
Your comment reminds me of the law school exams written by students who wouldn't follow my primary rule: Answer the question asked. You can make the exam easy by answering a question my question reminds you of and that you know how to answer. But the point of asking the question is that it's hard. You get a bad grade if you take the liberty to make it easy.
Here, the implied question is what is the meaning of "God-given purpose" if everyone has one and everyone is currently fulfilling it?
You've set out some simple and familiar rules of behavior, but that leaves open a series of questions that you either don't notice or are avoiding: 1. Did you mean to imply that that following those rules is the purpose God has given to everyone — that's it, some behavior rules, the same for everyone, just follow them, and you've fulfilled the purpose God gave you? 2. If the answer to question 1 is correct, how could the assertion be true, that everyone is already doing that, at least within Vicennes city limits? Are there no selfish jerks, no thieves and liars here? 3. Do you think the town intended to have a motto that states an obvious falsity?
The conversation I had with my son and my husband was premised on the presumption that the motto was intended to be true. So how was that possible? It was a challenge to interpret the motto so that it could be true. You didn't even try. Plus, ironically, you were not fulfilling your own idea of your God-given purpose even in writing that one comment. If I had to identify your God-given purpose based on your comment and the presumption that you were fulfilling it, I'd have to say God intended contemptuous sanctimony for you.
rhhardin said...
"I thought Indiana had Daylight Savings Time."
Some counties bordering Illinois opted out of DST for a while because they were closer to Central Time. Knox County remains on Eastern Time, but all counties in Indiana observe DST since 2006. Some counties in southwest and northwest Indiana are on Central Time.
Ann Althouse said...
"The conversation I had with my son and my husband was premised on the presumption that the motto was intended to be true."
I'll go with the presumption it's intended to be true. Here are some examples:
Queen Esther "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
Saul/Paul "And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ “And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
C.S. Lewis "...drug into the kingdom kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape.”
I believe that there is both a general purpose and a specific purpose, and have seen that play out in my life and the lives of others.
Great photos. The town looks attractive. Personally, I would've stayed the night. But then I can only drive X number of hours and I'm done for the day.
Every Butt deserves a rub will never be forgotten.
Something else to consider about Vincennes.
"In February of 1779, American Col. George Rogers Clark besieged the far frontier town of Vincennes held by the British. After two days of the siege, British commander Lt. Col. Henry Hamilton surrendered to the Patriots."
Geoge Roger Clark was a badass.
"Where everyone fulfills their God-given purpose!"
So does every rock.
"Here, the implied question is what is the meaning of "God-given purpose" if everyone has one and everyone is currently fulfilling it?"
Wasn't it to go forth and multiply and renew the earth and make it bountiful. Or some such bullshit?
"It seemed to be a grandiose claim, but I said maybe the people interpret God's requirements narrowly, so that it's not understood to be terribly difficult."
Tell that to Francois-Marie Bissot.
I’m a day late commenting on the eclipse. I came up to southeast Michigan to visit Mom, and we drove down to Tiffin, Ohio for the eclipse. There were some clouds, and we were a bit worried about seeing it, but we got almost four minutes of totality. It was unforgettable. Traffic down to Toledo was terrible, but south of there we were off the beaten path. We found a city park with picnic tables and a porta-potty, and it turned out great. We saw reddish dot that the bottom of the sun that turned out to be solar prominences. My pictures weren’t great, but a friend of a friend of a friend took a nice picture that showed what we saw. I did get a picture of the 360 degree sunset with streetlights on. It was worth the hassle of the traffic.
Daylight Saving Time. Not Daylight Savings.
Ann, I live in Vincennes and hope you had a good time in our little city.
The good thing about planning to view the eclipse from Vincennes is that we are on the border of a time zone change, so if you miss the eclipse in Vincennes you can just hop a few miles to the west, leaving the Eastern time zone for the Central, and catch it an hour later.
"Ann, I live in Vincennes and hope you had a good time in our little city."
Yes, we thought it was lovely!
I saw the signs for the Red Skelton museum, but we didn't take time for that. I loved RS when I was a kid, and I sincerely believed that everyone loved him.
And for the nonbelievers in God and his self-appointed son Donald, woe be unto us saith the MAGA cultists, for he shall inherit the Earth.
Do you ever hear yourself? I mean, is there any subject you won't turn into some sort of Trump fetish?
Where every(singular)one fulfills his (or her) God-given purpose.
God would like singular pronouns to match a singular subject.
However, God loathes the obnoxious, passive-aggressive people who go around correcting grammar.
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