Right Hand of Friendship

 

Maria Mitchell was born the third of ten children in Nantucket in 1818. Her mother was a librarian and her father a schoolteacher and amateur astronomer. Both her parents were Quakers who believed in educating their daughters as well as their sons. Nantucket was a tiny island whose economy relied on whaling; most of the men would be away for months at a time. Maria grew up with many strong, independent women as role models. Her father taught her to use chronometers, sextants, and telescopes. When she was 29, Maria discovered a comet using a two-inch telescope. She was awarded a gold medal by the king of Denmark, and became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. One of the craters on the moon is named for Maria Mitchell. She’s quoted as saying, “When we are chafed and fretted by small cares, a look at the stars will show us the littleness of our own interests.”

Three Bats

 

When we moved next to the wetlands, it was a very different place. There were three ponds: one full of cattails, red-wing blackbirds and bullfrogs; a deep one surrounded by ancient cottonwoods; and a wide one where kingfishers, pelicans, and blue herons caught their lunch. Bats and mud swallows darted about after dusk, keeping the mosquito population in check. The cattail pond is gone now; a victim of invasive species and drought. A pair of beavers wiped out the old cottonwoods. For the past few summers, yellow algae have killed off most of the fish. I guess the fisher birds found other places to grab lunch. Even the swallows seem to be dining elsewhere. But we still have bats. You spot them well after sunset, just as it begins to get too dark to see. I, for one, am really glad they’re still feasting on our mosquitos. If not, the chief item on the menu here would be me. 

Four Sunflowers

 

How to Tell You’re an Adult:

You can gain thirty pounds overnight.

You’d rather get a good night’s sleep than go out.

You buy your own toothpaste and underwear. And you pay for them.

Everything hurts, all the time.

You start cushioning all vacations with an extra day off for “recovery time.”

You prefer comfort over style.

You find yourself looking forward to trips to Ikea and Home Depot.

You have a favorite spatula.

Everything you do feels like a chore.

Binge-watching an entire series in a day no longer feels like an accomplishment.

Getting your second leg into your underwear without loosing your balance DOES feel like an accomplishment.

College students suddenly look like they’re twelve years old.

You choose what to do Saturday night based on how you’ll feel Sunday morning.

You’re always annoyed at something.

You finally understand what your parents meant when they said, “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Nine Ovens

 

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

 

2 cups half-and-half

2 cups mayonnaise

2 tablespoons grated yellow onion

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon freshy ground black pepper

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1 pound elbow macaroni

1/4 cup cider vinegar

5 green onions, thinly sliced

2 large celery ribs, thinly sliced

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup peas (optional)

 

In a medium bowl, whisk together first six ingredients; cover and chill. Cook macaroni until just past al dente stage. Drain and return to warm pot. Stir in vinegar. Cover and allow to rest 20 minutes. Stir in half the dressing. Cover and rest another 20 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and dressing. Chill at least two hours before serving.

Sunflower

 

Helium was the first element NOT to be discovered on earth. It was found on the sun in 1868 using a spectroscope during a total eclipse. Our sun produces some 700 million tons of helium per second. Helium wasn’t found on earth until 1895. It is the second most abundant element in the galaxy, but on our planet, it’s pretty rare. Because it’s the galaxy’s second lightest element, earth’s gravity isn’t strong enough to hold it here. We find helium in pockets in the earth’s crust, alongside natural gas. Qatar currently supplies 30% of the world’s helium. We use it for party balloons, but also for MRI machines, deep-dive tanks, NASA space launches, computer chip manufacturing, and arc welding. It’s not really a renewable resource (unless we find a way to harvest it from our sun), and it’s been estimated that the earth will run out of helium in thirty years or less. 

Bat

 

“We, of course, affirm that the scriptures, ancient and modern, clearly teach the origin and need for a church directed by and with the authority of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We also testify that the restored Church of Jesus Christ has been established to teach the fulness of His doctrine and to officiate with His priesthood authority to perform the ordinances necessary to enter the kingdom of God. Members who forgo Church attendance and rely only on individual spirituality separate themselves from these gospel essentials: the power and blessings of the priesthood, the fulness of restored doctrine, and the motivations and opportunities to apply that doctrine. They forfeit their opportunity to qualify to perpetuate their family for eternity. Another great advantage of the restored Church is that it helps us grow spiritually. Growth means change. In spiritual terms this means repenting and seeking to draw nearer to the Lord.” - President Dallin H. Oaks

Six Ovens

 

Curried Squash Soup

 

1 butternut squash, about 3 pounds, seeded and quartered

2 shallots, sliced in half

3 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

Zest of one lime

Juice from one lime

2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

1 tablespoon red curry paste

1 cup (or more) vegetable broth

 

Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange squash, shallots and garlic on baking dish; drizzle with oil. Cover with foil and roast 40 minutes. Scoop flesh from squash and process with garlic and shallots in blender until smooth. Blend in remaining five ingredients, along with enough broth to reach desired consistency. Serve while still warm.