Nine Wild Geese

 

“How we live may be the best, most genuine form of worship. Showing our devotion means emulating the Father and the Son—cultivating Their attributes and character in ourselves. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then we might say with respect to Deity, emulation is the sincerest form of veneration. This suggests an active, sustained effort on our part to seek holiness. But becoming more Christlike is also the natural outcome of our acts of worship. True worship is transformative. This is the beauty of the covenant path—the path of worship, love, and loyalty to God. We enter this path by baptism, pledging to take upon us the name of Christ and to keep His commandments. We receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the messenger of the Savior’s grace that redeems and cleanses us from sin as we repent. We could even say in repenting we are worshipping Him.” – Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Half a Dozen Flag Days

 

We had a small heat wave last week. For a few days, a hot, dry south wind blew and temperatures hit triple digits. Our city warned us to keep pets and children indoors during the hottest parts of the day, to wear loose clothing, and stay hydrated. Our power company reminded us to avoid using appliances that draw lots of power – like electric ovens, dryers, and dishwashers – between 3:00 and 8:00 p.m. They also said outages are common during the summer, and we should be prepared to be without electricity for up to 72 hours. They said tuning and cleaning our A/C unit, changing our air filter frequently, and setting the temperature a bit higher can help. It’s also important to consider places to go when the air conditioner fails, like restaurants, rec centers, senior centers and libraries. Temperatures this high are unusual here in June, but common in July/August. So maybe last week was a dress rehearsal.

Boo!

 

Last November, I dragged Heather and John to the Intermountain Foundation Quilt Show. There were so many lovely hand-quilted coverlets. One of them was made by the Corner Canyon Quilt Guild: thirty-six grey pine trees with half a dozen red ones thrown in. I’d pieced several of the trees using fabric from my own stash. It was fun to point them out in the finished quilt. This year’s guild quilt is a blue-and-white delectable mountain design. The fabric was precut and made into block kits. I did piece a couple of them, but I doubt I’ll recognize my own blocks. Next year, we’ll be making an applique quilt with two dozen different monsters. I’ve never been confident about my applique skills, and I’m never very pleased with the results. But tried to do my best, and this is what I’ll submit. Unless, of course, I decide to try again with foundation paper piecing.

Two Dozen Log Cabins

 

A few quotes from my favorite banned books:

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” – To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered?” – Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” – The Giver, Lois Lowry

“Believing takes practice.” – A Wrinkle in Time, Madleine L’Engle

“The smarter you are, the more things can scare you.” - Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson

“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – Prisoner of Azkaban, J. K. Rowling

Two Dozen Rolling Stones

 

John loves fly fishing, primarily because if it’s done right, you don’t have to take the fish home. You remove the hook quickly and carefully, and both fish and fisherman can go about their business. Most of the time he catches trout. On those rare occasions when he’s brought them home, I clean, cook and eat them, because John doesn’t care for fish. Once, years ago, he brought home a catfish. I had to watch YouTube videos to learn how to deal with it. I made some very tasty catfish tacos, but it was SO MUCH WORK! Today is National Catfish Day: a good day to consider catching and/or eating catfish. There is a restaurant near us that serves cornmeal breaded catfish along with other soul food. We could stop there and let someone else do the heavy lifting. But I seriously doubt there’s anything on the menu that fits anyone’s diet.

Sawtooth Star

 

When I die, I’m going to leave my body to science fiction.

If I ever had twins, I’d use one for parts.

Right now, I’m having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.

Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.

I busted a mirror and got seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.

I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, ‘Hey, the sign says you’re open 24 hours.’ He said, ‘Yes, but not in a row.’

You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?

I installed a skylight in my apartment. The people who live above me are furious!

I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn’t park anywhere near the place.

I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done. – Steven Wright

Six Wild Geese

 

“In the spring of 1820, a young boy named Joseph Smith went into the woods near his home to pray. He had questions regarding the salvation of his soul, and he yearned to know which of all the churches was right, that he might know which to join. Joseph trusted that God would answer his prayer and direct him. Please note that Joseph did not pray merely to know what was right. Rather, he prayed to know what was right so he could do what was right. Joseph asked in faith and was determined to act in accordance with the answers he received. In response to his sincere prayer, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph and inaugurated the ‘restitution of all things’ (Acts 3:21) as foretold in the Bible.” – Elder David A. Bednar

Endless Summer

 

As the saying goes, you get eighteen summers with your kids. It’s a reminder to cherish every moment, because you’ll get no do-overs. For most of my grandkids, most of those eighteen summers are already gone. Today’s the first day of summer, and in ninety-three days, it will be autumn. Even worse, school starts in fifty-seven days. A lot of my plan for this summer involves food: picking berries and making jam, roasting wieners and s’mores, homemade lemonade, root beer floats, watermelon, peach pie and ice cream. We’ll have at least one picnic in the park. We plan to watch fireworks (from a greater distance than last year). We’ll visit the farmer’s market, the zoo, the aquarium, the planetarium and at least one museum. There’s the swimming pool, the water park, and a couple of splash pads. We could have a campout in the back yard. And the last week before school starts, we’ll spend together at Bear Lake!

Eighteen Rolling Stones

I’ve helped to stage several musicals in local amphitheaters, like Scarlet Pimpernel, Guys and Dolls, Brigadoon, Peter Pan, Sound of Music, Once Upon a Mattress, Drowsy Chaperone, Seussical, and Into the Woods. My very favorites have all been Disneys: Beauty and the Beast, Aida, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Little Mermaid. Outdoor productions come with unique problems. The weather can (and frequently does) shut everything down on a moment’s notice. The sun beating down on concrete walls can turn the orchestra pit into an oven. And then there’s the wild life. Mosquitoes and gnats take an interest in my stand light and music. Every time I open my score, I find more “notes” stuck between pages. Last summer, a huge beetle landed in my hair during act two, and wouldn’t let go. But I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Tomorrow is closing night for Something Rotten!, and Monday we start rehearsals for Hairspray.

Twenty Log Cabins

 

Alexander Hamilton’s Dutch in-laws held lots of land in upstate New York. Much of it was rocky, heavily forested, and without roads. Hamilton cooked up a way to improve and profit from this land without personal expense. He helped the Van Rensselaers draw up leases binding tenants and their descendants in perpetuity. The tenants were to clear, improve and work the land, while paying steep rents (often more than their farms could produce). If they were unable to pay in full, they were simply evicted without compensation. If tenants sold their leases, they were to forfeit a quarter of the sale price or an additional year’s rent. Often, the tenants were unable to read the language in which their leases were written. After a conflict known as “the second American revolution,” this sadistic feudal tenure system was finally abolished. My point is, if you only know Hamilton from the musical, you really don’t know Hamilton. 

Four Flag Day Blocks

 

A week and a half ago, Heather and I had an unpleasant encounter with a vending machine. She wanted a bag of white cheddar popcorn. I paid the machine and made the selection, but the bag got stuck. I assumed buying the bag behind it would allow both bags to fall, but instead both bags stuck. When her dad came to pick us up, Heather told him about the popcorn tragedy. We went back to the vending machine, and both bags were still hanging there. He bought the third and fourth bags of popcorn, and both got stuck behind their brothers. Finally, he rattled the machine until all four bags dropped. The other day I read you’re more likely to be crushed by a vending machine than bitten by a shark. That makes perfect sense. I run into evil vending machines all the time. How often do you meet homicidal sharks?

Economy Block

 

Heather’s been bugging us to book another cruise. It’s her favorite way to travel, and it isn’t hard to see why. Once you’ve made it aboard, you’re ON VACATION. You can visit any number of amazing places and only unpack once. But any cruises going forward, she’ll be traveling with people over the age of 65. That takes slightly different planning. Older people manage better on smaller ships. Twenty years ago, we deliberately hiked up and down stairs and jogged the promenade to offset over-indulging at the buffet. But our knees and hips are less cooperative now. We were quite content with an inside cabin on lower decks. Now, our happy place has a private balcony with an ocean view. On our first cruise, we were thrilled by the buffet and the busy pool with the jumbotron. Now, we’re happier with quiet restaurants, peaceful libraries and adults-only retreats. Maybe it’s time for an over-sixty cruise.

Four Wild Geese

 

“Have you ever wondered why we are asked to do things in God’s kingdom that feel beyond our reach? With life’s demands, have you asked why we even need callings in the Church? Well, I have. And I got an answer in general conference when President Russell M. Nelson said, ‘Now is the time for you and for me to prepare for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.’ When President Nelson said this, the Spirit taught me that as we participate in God’s work, we prepare ourselves and others for Christ’s return. The Lord’s promise is compelling that callings, ministering, temple worship, following promptings, and other ways we embark in God’s work uniquely prepare us to meet the Savior. When we say yes to serving, we are saying yes to Jesus Christ. And when we say yes to Christ, we are saying yes to the most abundant life possible.” – Elder Steven D. Shumway

Flag Day Block

 

Last week, a friend of a friend suggested rather than take our kids to a Disney park this summer, we should consider visiting a civil war battle site, or maybe a battle field from the revolutionary war. The idea was we should be raising children who are proud to be Americans. This is sort of how I was raised. I’ve seen the Liberty bell, Old Ironsides and Independence Hall. I’ve been to a great number of civil war battlefields. But I’ve also seen the site of the Mountain Meadow massacre. I’ve been to places where indigenous people were slain and where enslaved people were bought and sold. I know it’s important to teach history, even when (maybe especially when) our history isn’t something to be proud of. And I’ve been to enough similar historic places in other countries to know we don’t have a monopoly on virtue. I’d still rather visit Disney.

Two Dozen LeMoyne Stars

 

For the 2018 Olympic games in Pyeongchang, the Norwegians tried to order 1,500 eggs. (That seems reasonable. They were feeding 109 hungry athletes. We go through 18 to 24 eggs weekly, and there are only three of us.) When their order arrived, they received 15,000 eggs. (I’m trying to wrap my head around this. How much space do 15,000 eggs take up? Would delivery require more than one refrigerated truck? What would 15,000 eggs cost?) Korean numbers are confusing. Most of the world uses Arabic numbers and a base 10 numbering system. If we want ten times as much of something, we add an extra zero. But Korea uses two systems: Native Korean for general counting, and Sino-Korean for dates, money, addresses and numbers 100 and above. I’m surprised mistakes like this don’t happen a lot more often. Luckily for the Norwegian team, the supplier allowed them to return the extra eggs. All 13,500 of them.

Sixteen Log Cabins

I learned to drive in a Mercury Bobcat. If you’ve never heard of it, I’m not surprised. It was a rebranded Ford Pinto. Pintos were notorious in the early 70’s, when it was found rear-end accidents – even at moderate speeds – caused them to explode. Ours was a wagon, not a sedan, so maybe the fatal design flaw didn’t apply. (We never actually got rear-ended, so I don’t know.) It was a powder blue woodie, but the “wood” was stickers applied to the sides. There was a hatch for loading things (or unsecured people) in back. It had only two doors, which meant if you wanted access to the back seat, the person sitting in front had to exit and fold the seat in half first. When I earned my first driver’s license, my car was even worse: an ugly Toyota subcompact with a standard transmission and a cowardly engine. I think I know why I’ve never liked driving. 

 

Meet in the Middle, Again

 

In early autumn, 2021, fifty-year-old Beyhan Mutlu went drinking with friends at the edge of the forest near his home town of İnegöl, Turkey. At some point, Beyhan stood up and walked into the trees, quite drunk. Later that night, his wife discovered he hadn’t come home and he wasn’t answering his phone. She called his friends, but none of them knew where he was. She reported him as missing, and the police organized a search party. Beyhan had stumbled to a hut he knew in the woods, gone inside and passed out. When he woke up and headed for home, he ran into a group of people looking for someone who was lost. He decided to help them. They hadn’t gone far before one of them called Beyhan’s name. He answered, “I’m here.” After being confirmed as the person they sought, Beyhan told police, “Don’t be too hard on me. My dad’s gonna kill me.” 

Ohio Star

 

You probably know “Famous Amos” as the founder and face of the brand of chocolate chip cookies. But there’s much more to his story. Wallace “Wally” Amos was born in Tallahassee in 1936. His parents divorced when he was twelve, and Wally went to live with his aunt in NYC. She taught him to bake before he dropped out of school to join the Air Force. He served in Honolulu and earned his G.E.D. before he was honorably discharged. Wally took a job in the mailroom at the William Morris Talent Agency, where he worked his way up to become their first African American agent. He attracted clients by sending them chocolate chip cookies along with an invitation to visit him. Wally signed The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Simon & Garfunkel. A friend told Wally he should set up a store to sell his cookies. The first Famous Amos cookie store opened in L.A. in March, 1975.

Wild Geese Flying

 

“Moroni exhorts us to ‘deny not the gifts of God but to ‘come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift. You can come to Christ with confidence in His loving-kindness and receive all His gifts of joy, peace, hope, light, truth, revelation, knowledge, and wisdom—with your head held high, your arms outstretched, and your hands open, ready to receive. And you can receive these gifts because you are secure and grounded in the knowledge that you are a beloved daughter of God, you are a cherished son of God, and He has gifted you His perfect, holy Son to redeem you, justify you, and sanctify you. You are a child of God. This is not just a nice song we sing. Will you please accept, open, and receive this gift of knowledge and understanding from Him? Will you hold it close as the precious treasure it is?” – Elder Patrick Kearon

Cardinal

 

When we lived in England, our entire back garden was bordered with a luxurious hedge of English laurel. It was an evergreen with broad, dark green leaves that smelled faintly of almonds. In the spring, it sprouted sweet-smelling white blossoms, and in the autumn, there were black berries the birds just adored. I told a neighbor how much I loved my English laurel, and she looked genuinely confused for a moment or two. “Oh!” she exclaimed, “You mean cherry laurel!” Then it was my turn to be confused. I should have realized the name English laurel would only make sense if you weren’t in England. The whole world calls the game with helmets, shoulder pads and a prolate spheroid “American football.” The whole world, that is, except us. And no one in France would order French fries. They’d ask for pommes frites, which means “fried potatoes.” Okay, technically it means “fried apples,” but that’s another story. 

Pointing Home

 

In 1766, Martha Washington started work on a set of twelve needlepoint cushions with an intricate shell design. She probably meant to use them as seats for side chairs in the front parlor at Mount Vernon. At some point, Martha set the project aside. It happens. The pattern may have been more difficult than she’d imagined. She may have had less time on her hands than she’d expected. Maybe she got tired of the red, orange and yellow threads. Twenty-nine years later, Martha was our country's first first lady, living in Philadelphia. (President Washington occupied the Philadelphia President's House from 1790 to 1797. He oversaw construction of the White House, but never lived there.) Martha asked her niece at Mount Vernon to send her the unfinished set of cushions, “if they’re not eaten up by moths.” And Martha did actually finish all twelve before her death in 1802. So, maybe there’s hope for my projects.

One Dozen Log Cabins

 

In June, 2019, an exotic-looking bird was spotted along the A41 (a major artery connecting London with Birkenhead, England). The bright orange bird appeared to be having trouble flying, and seemed to be in distress. Motorists stopped, captured the colorful bird, and took him to the nearest animal rescue. Tiggywinkles, the world’s leading wildlife hospital was named for Beatrix Potter’s hedgehog laundress, as its first patients were hedgehogs who’d had unfortunate encounters with cars. Started nearly half a century ago by the Stocker family in their back garden, Tiggys has treated over 300,000 patients! The orange bird turned out to be a common herring gull who’d somehow become completely covered in powdered turmeric (a pungent, vivid orange ingredient in curry). The spice made it difficult to fly, but otherwise, the bird was perfectly healthy. Workers scrubbed him clean and named him Vinny after vindaloo curry, a popular Indian dish. Once he could fly again, Vinny was released.

Center Star

 

I wanted strawberry shortcake for dessert last Sunday. I meant to pick up angel food cake or pound cake at the grocer, but they were out of angel food and their pound cakes looked pathetic. Last time I made angel food at home, it overflowed and burned all over the oven floor. So, I made this:

 

Easy Pound Cake

 

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup sour cream, room temperature

 

Preheat oven to 350F; coat 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray (I also used parchment paper). Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, vanilla and almond. Stir in dry ingredients, then fold in sour cream until combined. Bake 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before cutting.

Old Maid's Puzzle

 

The twin earthquakes near the Turkey/Syria border in February 2023 were listed as 7.5 and 7.8. They were responsible for over 55,000 deaths. Rescuers searched for days through the collapsed buildings for victims. Among those rescued was a six-week-old infant girl who’d survived alone beneath the rubble 128 hours. It was assumed any family she had was killed in the earthquake. She was called “Gizem,” a Turkish word meaning “mystery.” She was taken to a hospital in southern Adana, then transferred to a larger facility in Ankara associated with Turkey’s Ministry of Family and Social Services. Meanwhile, a woman undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the earthquakes kept asking if her baby had been found. Healthcare workers performed DNA testing on all the babies who’d been saved, and a match was finally found. After 54 days, nearly four-month-old Gizem – whose real name is Vetin Begdas – was reunited with her mother, Yasemin Begdas. 

June Door Banner

 

“I remember like it was yesterday walking through the cemetery before burying our second child, who was born prematurely and did not survive, while my wife was still recovering in the hospital. I recall praying to God with great fervency and reverence, asking for help to cope with that challenging trial. In that instant, I received a clear and powerful spiritual assurance in my heart: Everything will be fine in our lives if my wife and I endure, holding on to the joy that comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. What seemed like an overwhelming, sorrowful challenge at the time turned into a sacred, reverent experience, a capstone that has helped sustain our faith and has given us confidence in the covenants we have made with the Lord. Reverence for the sacred fosters genuine gratitude, expands true happiness, leads our minds to revelation, and brings greater joy to our lives.” – Elder Ulisses Soares