Bow Tie Quartet

Monday, June 12 was sunny and warm in Polk County, Georgia. Six inmates were on a work detail in a local cemetery. It was 76 in the shade, but the humidity was 100 percent. And no one was working in the shade. Suddenly the deputy charged with watching the men collapsed. At first he didn’t seem to be breathing. “When he started breathing, it was just real fast,” said Greg Williams, one of the inmates. The men removed the deputy’s vest and loosened his shirt to try and cool him off. One of them grabbed the officer’s phone and called 911. “They stepped up in a time of crisis to show they care about my officer,” said Polk County Sheriff Johnny Moats. The deputy’s family agree. They provided the six inmates with lunch and dessert as a small token of their appreciation.

Father's Choice

The best part of the New York summer hikes of my youth was wild strawberries. The shrubs were unassuming, tucked among sumac and fiddlehead ferns. The berries themselves were scarcely bigger than peas, but so flavorful. My mouth waters just from the memory. Commercial berries may come the size of hen’s eggs, but they can’t touch the taste of the wild ones. As far as I know, wild strawberries don’t grow in Utah. (I would LOVE to be proven wrong.) So the closest I can come is to grow my own. Last spring I bought a dozen strawberry plants that promised to bear white, pineapple-flavored fruit. They broke that promise, but the plants are still thriving. This year I added a hanging basket full of ever-bearers that’s already producing a good crop. I may harvest a few handfuls today to celebrate National Strawberry Sundae Day. Or I may just stand in the garden and eat as I pick them.

Penny Basket

A friend and I do weekly singalongs at local nursing homes. She chooses about a dozen different songs each month (usually golden oldies she knows her audience will find familiar), makes word charts, and engages and entertains the residents. I sightread at the piano. Among last month’s songs was “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” One of the residents – a bomber pilot from World War II – asked about the origins of the song. Was “Yellow Rose” a real person? Was her name really Rose? I promised to look it up, and almost instantly regretted it. It’s a folk song, meaning its author’s name is lost in time. But it was used in blackface minstrel shows in the early 1800’s. A white entertainer pretending to be a black man would have sung, “No darkie ever knew her” as he longed for his yellow (mulatto) girlfriend back home. Suddenly it’s not the innocent little tune it seemed to be.

Four Lucky Clover Blocks

Joe DiMaggio hit his first grand slam July 5, 1939. A grand slam is when the batter hits a home run with bases loaded. Like most of what happens on the ball field, it sounds more exciting than it is. The ball disappears. Four men trot in a circle while the opposing team stands around looking awkward. I can count the professional baseball games I’ve seen on the fingers of both hands. For at least half of them I was there to sing the national anthem on the pitcher’s mound. (That actually is pretty exciting. Try it sometime.) I don’t think I’ve ever stayed to the bitter end of any game. I used to wonder why the national pastime is so boring. Now I wonder, if it’s so boring, why is it the national pastime? I imagine it has something to do with the food, the foam fingers, the mascots, and the possibility of catching a foul ball. 

Basket of Triangles

Continental Congress met in Philadelphia June 7, 1776, where Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee introduced a motion calling for independence from Great Britain. July second the vote in favor of his motion was nearly unanimous. (New York initially abstained, but eventually went with the crowd). On that day, John Adams wrote his wife Abigail, saying July second would be celebrated for generations to come with “pomp and parade, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations (another word for fireworks) from one end of this continent to the other.” The Declaration of Independence was formally adopted two days later, and July 4 became the official holiday. Adams was irritated beyond reason, and would routinely turn down invitations to celebrate the Fourth of July in protest. He died July 4 1826, presumably as annoyed as ever. Here’s to a happy and safe Independence Day for all of us, even if we are two days late.

Lucky Clover

“Jesus achieved perfect unity with the Father by submitting Himself, both flesh and spirit, to the will of the Father. His ministry was always clearly focused because there was no debilitating or distracting double-mindedness in Him. Surely we will not be one with God and Christ until we make Their will and interest our greatest desire. Such submissiveness is not reached in a day, but through the Holy Spirit, the Lord will tutor us if we are willing until, in process of time, it may accurately be said that He is in us as the Father is in Him. At times I tremble to consider what may be required, but I know that it is only in this perfect union that a fullness of joy can be found. I am grateful beyond expression that I am invited to be one with those holy beings I revere and worship as my Heavenly Father and Redeemer.” - D. Todd Christofferson 

Coronation

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a blockhead. That is, I’m a member of the more than 13,000 devoted quilters who are following the free block-of-the-month program called Moda Blockheads. Beginning March 8 this year and continuing each Wednesday for forty-eight weeks, I receive a free pattern download for a 6” block. Most of them involve traditional piecing techniques, but there have been a few that require needle-turn applique. When I’ve completed a block, I can post it on the Blockhead Facebook page and almost immediately receive at least seventy responses. Talk about instant gratification! Just like last year’s 365 Challenge, I’m putting my own twist on the patterns. Mine won’t all be made with the same colors, and they’ll be whatever size suits me. https://www.bearcreekquiltingcompany.com/moda-blockheads-2017/ defines blockhead as “a quilter who likes to make a wide variety of quilt blocks, who has lot of random quilt blocks but still wants to make more.” Yep, that’s me.