Four Cotton Reels

June 8 1949, the FBI released a report naming several prominent Hollywood actors, writers, producers and directors as communists. One of the accused, Edward G. Robinson, claimed: “These character assassinations can only emanate from sick, diseased minds of people who rush to the press with indictments of good American citizens. I have played many parts in my life, but no part have I played better or been more proud of than that of being an American citizen.” In a country founded upon political freedom, people were sent to prison for refusing to divulge their political leanings and for refusing to name others who might be communists. I’m reminded of the McCarthy era when I hear about football players being called un-American for kneeling in protest. Or about a president who says, “You HAVE to stand proudly for the national anthem.” And, “Maybe they shouldn't be in the country.” Isn’t protest one of the most American things we do?

Nine Crosses & Losses

For decades all that Zachary Ellis knew about his birth mother was her name: Hermalinda Parra Rodriguez. The American Fork resident had hunted for her for years without success. Then this January he tried a DNA test. “It was like, ‘what do I have to lose?’” said Ellis. “I’ve done everything, so I might as well give this a shot too.” The test connected Ellis with four siblings in Mexico, a sister in Arizona, and a second cousin in Utah. His newfound relatives helped him locate his birth mother, who he finally met last month. He’s planning a trip to Mexico to visit the rest of the family. My husband’s father was an orphan who never knew the names of either of his parents. For decades we’ve searched for them, trying to fill the huge gaps in our family tree. I suppose that’s why stories like this mean so much to me.

Pinwheel

The Utah Shop Hop began a week ago today on May 30 and ran through Saturday, June 2. The theme this year was: It’s Time to Party. Each store was decorated like a different kind of celebration.  Quilter’s Lodge in Draper threw a Hawaiian luau. My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe in Logan hosted a tailgater. The employees at My Heritage Fabrics in Ogden dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland for their tea party. Somehow the most memorable thing about any shop hop is always the food. Just like last year, Davidene’s Quilt Shop served up fresh hot dogs – a welcome treat after a long trek to Park City. Sandy’s Quilt Etc. gave us chocolate doughnuts at their Halloween party (especially appropriate as Friday was chocolate doughnut day). But Corn Wagon Quilt Company in Springville wins the prize for most creative snack. They offered fish and chips at their beach party: Goldfish crackers and Lay’s potato chips.

Four Crosses & Losses

Chances are you’ve already seen the shaky, cell phone camera footage of a young man scaling the side of a building to save a four-year-old dangling from the fourth-storey balcony. (For my American friends, that means he was five floors from the ground.) Mamoudou Gassama fled Mali when he was still in his teens. He made his way across the Sahara through Niger and Libya, crossed the Mediterranean to Italy and has been living with his brother in France since autumn. He arrived in the country illegally and has been working odd construction jobs, paid in cash because he’s undocumented. Since his heroic rescue last month, he’s been granted citizenship and offered a paid internship with a Paris fire brigade. If you haven’t caught the film yet, you really should check it out. It will amaze you to see what a refugee has to do to be treated like a human being.

Counterpane

“Any work you do in the temple is time well spent, but receiving ordinances vicariously for one of your own ancestors will make the time in the temple more sacred, and even greater blessings will be received. The First Presidency has declared, ‘Our preeminent obligation is to seek out and identify our own ancestors.’ Do you young people want a sure way to eliminate the influence of the adversary in your life? Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors, prepare their names for the sacred vicarious ordinances available in the temple, and then go to the temple to stand as proxy for them to receive the ordinances of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. As you grow older, you will be able to participate in receiving the other ordinances as well. I can think of no greater protection from the influence of the adversary in your life.” – Elder Richard G. Scott

Crosses and Losses

As far as anyone can tell Barnum never actually said, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” although he may have believed it. Here are a few things he really did say: “If you hesitate, some bolder hand will stretch out before you and get the prize.” “No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.” “I don’t care what you say about me. Just spell my name right.” “Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself.” And “The noblest art is that of making others happy.” June 2, 1835, Phineas T. Barnum began his first tour of the United States with his circus. The legacy of the greatest showman finally died on May 21, 2017, when the last performance of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus ended at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Cotton Reel

I was perhaps fifteen when I first heard of Henry David Thoreau. I wasn’t impressed. It sounded as if he was a self-satisfied grumpy old man – a hermit who shunned society, technology and progress. And a freeloader. Wasn’t he living rent-free on someone else’s land? I couldn’t see why anyone would view him as a role model. But then, another fifteen years later, I actually read his book. I’ve learned more about him since then. For one thing, I’ve been pronouncing his name wrong. When present-day family members say their last name, it rhymes with Zorro. His Walden home wasn’t in the wilderness; it was an easy fifteen-minute walk from town. Thoreau frequently entertained guests in town and at Walden pond. He built the little house with the consent of the land owner, and it was given over at the end of the experiment. Moral of the story: making assumptions about people you don’t know well can be a dangerous habit.