Four Chain Blocks

 

Adam Gillian, a homeless man, was going through trash bins in Edmonton when he found it; a picture of a cartoon deer in a broken frame. He thought he might get a few bucks for it, so he took it to Alexander Archbold at Curiosity Inc. The antiques dealer though it was an 80’s replica worth about $80. He gave Adam $20. But while cleaning it, he discovered a certificate of authenticity from 1937. It was an original animation cel – a hand-drawn image on a celluloid sheet – from Disney’s Bambi. The piece sold on eBay for $3,700. “I knew it wasn’t right to take it all,” he said. He decided to split the profits with Adam. But how do you find a man with no address? It took some doing, but Alexander did manage to give Adam his share. “I was homeless when I was in grade seven,” Alexander said. “I helped pay my parents’ bills selling antiques on the side.”

Another Butterfly

 

“We don’t know the details of family connections in the spirit world or what may come after we are resurrected. But we do know that the prophet Elijah came as promised to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. And we know that our eternal happiness depends on our doing our best to offer the same lasting happiness to as many of our kindred as we can. I feel the same desire to succeed in inviting living family members to desire to become worthy to receive and to honor the sealing ordinances of the temple. That is part of the promised gathering of Israel in the last days on both sides of the veil.” – President Henry B. Eyring

Chain Block

 The first thing most people notice about you is your smile. Just like fingerprints, your teeth are uniquely your own. Because we’re more likely to visit a dentist than to be fingerprinted (and because teeth don’t decompose as fast as skin), dental records are often used to confirm identity. Teeth are a bit like icebergs: at least two-thirds of them are under your gums. That’s why it’s important to keep your teeth and gums healthy and clean. Teeth are useful for more than just chewing. They help you speak clearly and they give shape to your face. Unhealthy teeth and gums can negatively impact your overall health. 90% of systemic diseases, like diabetes and heart disease, are connected to oral health. Unless you’re missing a few, you have eight incisors, four canines, eight premolars and twelve molars. That’s thirty-two teeth! Most jaws stop growing around age 18, but wisdom teeth tend to erupt a year or two after that.

Dizzy Pinwheel

 

During their 1804-1806 expedition, Lewis and Clark encountered an animal that reminded them in some ways of a goat and in others of an antelope. But pronghorns aren’t related to either of these animals. Their closest living relatives are giraffes. Pronghorns first appeared here 30,000 years ago, when other large herbivores included mastodons and giant sloths. They’ve survived this long in part because nothing can catch them. Pronghorns are the second fastest land mammal, clocked at 61 mph. The world’s fastest, African cheetahs, can reach speeds of up to 80 mph. But unlike pronghorns, cheetahs can’t maintain their top speed for more than thirty seconds. We met several wild pronghorns while riding ATVs near Bryce Canyon earlier this week. One of the babies – only a few days old – decided to chase us through a field, just for the fun of it. It was a joy to witness his obvious pleasure and boundless energy.

Six Allison Stars

 I wrote in this space about Panguitch, Utah and “The Miracle of the Quilts” almost a decade ago (https://mombowe.blogspot.com/2011/12/indian-mats.html). I mentioned their Quilt Walk Festival, and said I was looking forward to attending. I still am. I had hoped to go last year, but of course 2020 was the year that nothing happened. It will happen this year, about a week later than it would have been convenient for me. There will be quilting retreat classes, a silent auction, a quilter’s trunk show, a fair with vendors, a Lion’s Club pancake breakfast, a guided tour of local pioneer homes, and a Dutch oven dinner show. There’s even a tractor pull, an antique transportation parade, and something called “quilt races.” I’m not sure what that last event is all about, but I’m dying to find out. Maybe this is a good time to make plans for the second week in June, 2022.

Bryce Canyon

 Ebenezer Bryce was born in Dunblane, Scotland in 1830. He trained to become a ship’s carpenter. At seventeen, he met missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was the only member of his family to join the church. Ebenezer married Mary Park in Salt Lake in 1854. They were sent to Pine Valley in southern Utah, where he designed and built the oldest LDS chapel in continuous use today. He ran a sawmill that provided lumber for the St. George temple. The Bryce family then moved to Paria Valley, where they built a ranch, a lumber road and an irrigation canal. Newcomers to the area called it “Bryce’s Canyon,” but it isn’t a canyon at all. It’s actually a collection of natural amphitheaters. Bryce himself called it “a helluva place to lose a cow.” It was designated “Bryce Canyon National Monument” in 1923, “Utah National Park” in 1924, and “Bryce Canyon National Park” in 1928.

Capitol Reef

 

Torrey, Utah is made up of about fifty families, many of whom are direct descendants of the Scandinavian and British Isle pioneers who settled in this area in the 1880s. This place was originally named Youngtown, after LDS apostle John Willard Young. For some reason the name was rejected when the town applied for a post office, and it became Torrey instead. No one really knows where this name came from, but prevailing opinion leans toward Jay L. Torrey. Torrey served in the Wyoming legislature when it created three volunteer cowboy cavalry regiments. Torrey became colonel of the second regiment, the “Rocky Mountain Riders.” Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of them. They never actually saw any action. The only regiment that did was the first, the “Rough Riders.” Torrey still has its original one-room, log-built school/meeting house, built in 1898. Their 1914 brick schoolhouse is also still standing. Today it serves as a posh bed and breakfast.