Three Dozen Echoes

 

Squash Alfredo

 

1 large spaghetti squash

2 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper to taste

4 tablespoons cream cheese

1 cup mozzarella

1 cup baby spinach

 

Preheat oven to 400F. Fill a baking sheet with about an inch of water. Cut spaghetti squash in half crosswise, scoop out the seeds. Place cut side down in the prepared baking sheet and bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Use a fork to pull apart the strands of squash and set half of them aside. Season squash halves with salt and pepper, and then add butter, cream cheese and half the mozzarella. Stir to combine. Add spinach and reserved spaghetti squash; top with remaining mozzarella. Broil for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Makes 2 generous servings.

Tiny Green Nine-Patch

 

I’ve been a quilter since 2004. My first quilt was a sampler made with civil war reproduction prints. I keep it near my front door, to remind me of how far I’ve come. As with any endeavor, there are inherent risks. I have several friends who’ve sliced themselves badly with rotary cutters. I haven’t done that, at least not yet. I know more than a few quilters who’ve machine-stitched right through their own fingers – another experience I hope to avoid altogether. On occasion, I’ve mishandled hot irons, but never so badly to need anything more than an ice cube and a little aloe vera. For me the real danger is needles and pins. I don’t seem capable of handling either without repeatedly stabbing myself. It happens frequently while I’m piecing tops, and every single time when I hand stitch binding. I guess you could say blood sweat and tears have gone into every quilt I’ve made.

Ombré Dash

 

“Listening to and acting on the words and invitations of the prophets and apostles can fill us with hope, confidence, and strength, resulting in our faith becoming unshaken. I have learned that a desire to be reconciled to God must be accompanied by a desire to repent. Repenting and experiencing the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ lead to unshaken faith. Unshaken faith leads to a desire to always be reconciled to God. This is a circular, or iterative, pattern. Brothers and sisters, I invite you to be reconciled to God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I testify that making and keeping covenants makes our connection to the Savior strong, thereby avoiding becoming ripe for destruction. I testify that this reconciliation to God, through Jesus Christ’s Atonement, leads to unshakable faith.” - Elder Kelly R. Johnson

Tender Heart

 

"To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides." —David Viscott

"I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you." —Roy Croft

"Where there is love there is life." —Mahatma Gandhi

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." —Dr. Seuss

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." —Audrey Hepburn

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." —Emily Brontë

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." —Lao Tzu

"I have, for the first time, found what I can truly love. I have found you." —Charlotte Bronte

"Love is friendship set to music." —Joseph Campbell

"My soul and your soul are forever tangled." —N.R. Hart

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." —Aristotle

Flag Block

 

The first Friday of the year that falls on the thirteenth day of the month is “National Blame Someone Else Day.” This is a holiday you can really get behind. If anything goes wrong today – and let’s face it; something ALWAYS goes wrong – all you have to do is point the finger of blame at someone else. No matter what brainless thing you did today, you can find someone to take the fall. This holiday was created in 1982 by Anne Moeller from Clio, Michigan. Anne’s alarm clock failed on the morning of the first Friday the 13^th of the year, setting off a domino effect of bad luck. If you’re having trouble finding a suitable target for your blame, typical scapegoats include your children, your siblings, your spouse, your neighbors, your co-workers, the weather, or faulty technology. The only downside of this holiday is while you’re laying the blame elsewhere, someone else might also blame you.  

Four Tilting Valentines

 

The average steam iron lasts about seven years. If you buy a reliable brand, empty the reservoir after use and periodically descale it, your iron might work a bit longer. If you use it daily (as I do) you can expect it to fail sooner. I’ve run through my fair share of irons. They all serve me well, and then one day they just stop heating up. Until this week. My seven-year-and-one-month-old Rowenta iron, which used to make a soft “bink” sound when it turned on and a “pop” when it turned off, suddenly began saying “bink-pop-bink-pop-bink-pop” until I unplugged it. I waited a few minutes, plugged it in again, and the same thing happened. I replaced it with an identical model, but it cost almost exactly twice what I paid for the old one. Rowentas are made in Germany, so it could be tariffs. Or inflation. Probably both.

Thirty-Five Echoes

 

When Edgar McGregor was a teenager, he joined in the Fridays for Future school strikes inspired by Greta Thunberg. He looked for ways to make a difference in his own community. In May 2019, Edgar toted a five-gallon bucket and a pair of gloves into Eaton Canyon, a popular hiking spot near his home. He figured he could single-handedly clean up the canyon in a week or two. He pulled out bottles, cans, old tires, cell phones, and cigarette lighters. After two weeks, he’d only scratched the surface. Edgar kept at it every day for nearly two years, through 117-degree summer days, snowstorms and a pandemic. Edgar, who has autism, found satisfaction in the rhythm of the work and the beauty of his surroundings. He intended to return and continue keeping the park clean on a weekly basis, but the 2025 Eaton Fire and the subsequent closure of the park may have interfered with his plans.