Forty-Nine Echoes

 

History is weirder than you realize.

Abraham Lincoln was a twelve-year-old growing up in a cabin on the frontier when Napoleon Bonaparte died.

Joseph Stalin, Sigmund Freud, Josip Broz Tito, Leon Trotsky, and Adolf Hitler walked into a bar. Well, not really. But it could have happened, because they all lived in Vienna in 1913.

In 343 BCE, King Philip II of Macedon hired the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to educate his thirteen-year-old son. That son would grow up to be Alexander the Great.

The first Egyptian pharaoh ruled around 3150 BC. Woolly mammoths lived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until about 4,000 years ago. So, there was a time when pharaohs and mammoths both lived on Earth.

Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452; a year after the birth of Christopher Columbus.

Oxford University was founded in 1249; the Aztec Empire crumbled in 1545. So, both existed for 296 years.

Four Woven Hearts

 

We have Sunday dinner together as a family every week – all sixteen of us. We’ve been doing it for years. When one of us celebrates a birthday, for dessert we do the light-a-candle, sing-a-song, blow-it-out thing. For the past several months, I’ve let the one with the birthday select the dinner’s menu. I don’t know if everyone appreciates the opportunity to choose. But maybe it gives everyone a glimpse of the mental effort involved in a weekly family dinner. My own birthday is about a dozen weeks away. I’ve been thinking about what I want for Sunday dinner, and I keep leaning toward Brazilian churrascaria: grilled pineapple, pão de queijo, boiled quail eggs, fried bananas, etc. My grocer doesn’t carry quail eggs. I found several for sale online. But they’re not for eating; they’re for hatching. Hmm. If I buy the hatching kind, I might eventually get more quail eggs, right?

March Door Banner

 

“’Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.’ The key question in this inquiry by the Lord is “Lovest thou me more than these?” We show love to the Lord when we put Him above ‘these.’ ‘These’ can be anyone, any activity, or anything that displaces Him from being the most important influence in our lives. There will never be enough time in a day, a week, a month, or a year to get done all we want or need to accomplish. Part of the test of mortality is to use the precious resource of time for what is most important. President Russell M. Nelson said, ‘The question for all of us is the same: Are you willing to let God be the most important influence in your life?’” – Elder Steven C. Barlow

Maple Star Variation

 

When I think of Mary Steenburgen, I think of Time After Time (1979), One Magic Christmas (1985), Back to the Future III (1990), and Elf (2003). I’d seen some of her work since then, but none of it left as big an impression as those four movies. Last week I learned at age 54 the Oscar-winning actress had undergone what should have been an unremarkable surgery on her arm. When the general anesthesia wore off, she heard music in her head. They were tunes she’d never heard before, and they never stopped. At first, it was debilitating. She couldn’t focus. Acting was next to impossible. Mary called a musician friend and asked for help transcribing the music she was hearing. That summer she wrote hundreds of songs. In 2019, She won best original song for "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" in the movie Wild Rose. Mary Steenburgen is living proof we’re never finished becoming who we are.

Nine Flags

 

Shortly after World War II, many places in the U.S. experienced a housing boom. McCall, Idaho was one of these places. The trouble was McCall was also dealing with a beaver boom. Beavers toppled newly planted orchards and built dams which flooded new basements. When beavers set up housekeeping in the wilerness, they improve the ecosystem. When they move into subdivisions, they can be terrible neighbors. So, Idaho Fish and Game decided to move 76 beavers to the back woods. By dropping them from a plane. They built special beaver parachute boxes designed to securely land the semi-aquatic rodents and burst open, so they'd essentially hit the ground running. Their test “pilot,” nicknamed Geronimo, was safely dropped so many times, he actually liked it and would waddle back to his beaver box for another ride. All but one of the 76 urban beavers were relocated without incident to the Chamberlain Basin, where their descendants are probably still redecorating. 

Song Bird

 

More thoughts on motherhood:

“Kids humble us. The other day on the flight home, Olympia insisted on running up and down the aisle. When I finally got her to sit still, she threw up all over me.” – Serena Williams

"Twelve years later the memories of those nights, of sleep deprivation, still make me rock back and forth a bit. You want to torture someone? Hand them an adorable baby they love who doesn't sleep." – Shonda Rhimes

“Motherhood is tough. If you just want a wonderful little creature to love, you can get a puppy.” – Barbara Walters

"Becoming a mom to me means you’ve accepted for the next 16 years of your life, you’ll have a sticky purse." – Nia Vardalos

"Sleep at this point is just a concept, something I'm looking forward to investigating in the future." – Amy Poehler

“When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out.” – Erma Bombeck.

Forty-Two Echoes

 

More work than most slow cooker meals, but worth it.

 

Slow Cooker Kung Pao Chicken

 

1 1/2 pounds chicken, cubed

3 tablespoons oil, divided

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons hoisin

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon grated ginger

6 dried red chili peppers

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1 zucchini, cubed

1/3 cup peanuts

 

Heat half the oil over medium-high heat; brown chicken. Place in slow cooker with dried chilies. Combine water, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, garlic, and ginger in bowl. Stir until combined. Pour over chicken and peppers in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Whisk cornstarch into 2 tablespoons water; add to chicken. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté pepper and zucchini in remaining oil. Add peppers, zucchini and peanuts to slow cooker and stir. Serve over hot rice.