Orange Teapot

 

Marriage isn’t for sissies:

“My advice to you is get married. If you find a good wife, you’ll be happy. If not, you’ll become a philosopher.” – Socrates (He may or may not have said this. If he did, it was in Greek.)

“If you want to be sure that you never forget your wife’s birthday, just try forgetting it once.” – Aldo Cammarota

“Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow Internet service to see who they really are.” – Will Ferrell

“Never criticize your spouse’s faults; if it weren’t for them, your mate might have found someone better than you.” – Jay Trachman

“Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.” – Phyllis Diller

“Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and give her a house.” – Rod Stewart

“Behind every great man is a woman . . . rolling her eyes.” – Jim Carrey, from Bruce Almighty

Eighteen Rail Fences

 

Tuna Salad in a Tomato

 

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon Dijon

Fresh black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon chopped dill or parsley (They’re both great!)

2 5-ounce cans white albacore tuna in water drained (I found low-sodium and used that.)

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 tablespoons red onion minced (Any onion works, but red is sweeter and prettier.)

4 large ripe tomatoes

 

In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, mustard, and seasonings until well combined. Add tuna, celery and red onions. Gently stir until combined. Turn tomatoes upside-down and cut 3/4 of the way towards the blossom end, twice. Separate the four quarters to make a tomato “blossom.” Scoop salad into blossom center and serve.

Twenty-Five Friendship Stars

 

“Ordinances and covenants are not big or small. Please let us never speak of a temple as big or small. Let us always only speak with love and gratitude for the House of the Lord. Wherever we live, let us be grateful for the gifts of eternity sacred temples bring. New converts sometimes testify family on the other side of the veil led missionaries to find and baptize family on this side so their family could be united. Some new converts feel alone. But you are part of Heavenly Father’s family. When you take family names to the temple, your eternal family extends on both sides of the veil. My father and mother joined our Church as the only members in their families. Today, family history and genealogy help connect many Gong and Char family generations. Whatever generation you are in the Church, in the chain of your eternal family, please be a strong link.” – Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Halloween Checkerboard

 

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L.M. Montgomery

"Just because I cannot see it, doesn't mean I can't believe it!" – Jack Skellington, The Nightmare Before Christmas

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." – Ariel, The Tempest

"Where there is no imagination, there is no horror." – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"Halloween was confusing. All my life my parents said, 'Never take candy from strangers.' And then they dressed me up and said, 'Go beg for it.'" – Rita Rudner

"My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage." – Aunt Frances, Practical Magic

"Every day is Halloween isn't it? For some of us." – Tim Burton

"We're all mad here." – The Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland

“Magic is really very simple. All you've got to do is want something and then let yourself have it.” – Aggie Cromwell, Halloweentown

Twelve Pinwheels

 

Marie Wilcox was born on a ranch in Visalia, California in 1933; the youngest of seven children. She was raised by her grandparents in a one-room house. Her grandmother spoke Wukchumni, a dialect of Tule-Kaweah, which is a Yokutsan indigenous language spoken by the Tule-Kaweah Yokuts of California. After completing the eighth grade, Marie left school to become a farm hand and fruit-picker. She married Joe Garcia and together they raised four daughters and one son. After her grandmother died, Marie began working on a dictionary of her language as a tribute. She included audio recordings of each word. There was a New York Times documentary of her work in 2014 that inspired interest among tribe members in reviving their native tongue. Marie was teaching classes at the Owens Valley Career Development Center when she died in 2021 at the age of 87. In 2014, Marie was the only fluent speaker of Wokchumni. Today, there are three.

Dark Teal Butterfly

 

I wanted to share a story about a Kansas cinema owner named Dexter who invited elderly patrons to bring pets to his mid-week matinees, just to get people through the door. I meant to add Dexter shares old blankets with his canine customers, so they don’t spoil the velvet seats. I was eager to tell you Dexter’s “Dogs Welcome Wednesdays” often outsell Saturday nights. It’s a great story, heart-warming and fun. It just isn’t true. I found it online, and it’s been shared by multiple sites. But somehow, Dexter never has a last name. The town in Kansas and the movie house are nameless, too. All the details I could use to either corroborate or disprove any of it are simply missing. Every time I find the tale, it’s accompanied by an obvious AI-generated photo or video of seated theater patrons with their doggy companions. Maybe, when robots dream, they imagine movie theaters full of dogs.

Yellow Teapot

 

Broccoli Chickpea Salad

 

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

3 cups raw broccoli chopped into small florets

2 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 medium red onion finely chopped

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

 

Dressing

 

Zest and juice from one lemon

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Optional kosher salt to taste

 

Add rice, broccoli, chick peas and onion to large bowl; toss to combine. In a smaller bowl, whisk together lemon juice, zest, oil and vinegar. Pour dressing over salad and add feta. Gently toss and serve.