Rolling Star

Our new favorite library has a dragon suspended from the ceiling, and these quotes decorating the entrance:

“In a library we are surrounded by hundreds of dear friends imprisoned by an enchanter in paper and leathern boxes.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Books became her friends, and there was one for every mood.” – Betty Smith

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” – Ernest Hemmingway

“The dearest ones of time, the strongest friends of the soul . . . books.” – Emily Dickinson

“When I didn’t have friends, I had books.” – Oprah Winfrey

“Next to acquiring good friends, the best acquisition is a good book.” – Charles Caleb Colton

“My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.” – Abraham Lincoln

“He was fond of books, for they are cool and sure friends.” – Victor Hugo

“You can find friends between the pages of a book, wonderful friends.” – Cornelia Funke

Bewitched

I’m not a huge fan of peanut butter, but it does have its uses. It’s great for separating chewing gum from hair and for removing adhesives. It’s far better mouse trap bait than cheese. It can disguise the pill your dog doesn’t want to take (be sure it has no artificial sweetener). In a pinch, it substitutes for butter or WD-40. It can remove windshield bugs. It’s great in mole and satay sauce, and in this kid-friendly recipe:

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 box yellow cake mix

1/3 cup water

1 1/3 cups peanut butter

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

Heat oven to 375F. In large bowl, beat half of the cake mix, the water, peanut butter, butter and eggs until smooth. Stir in remaining cake mix. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Flatten in crisscross pattern with fork dipped in sugar. Bake about 10 minutes.

Homemade Pie

As the story goes, The Beatles were nearing the end of a 2-week tour that crisscrossed the US – it might have been 1965. They stopped at a little eatery in California where they found excellent pie. (I’ve never met a Brit who didn’t get really excited about a good pie.) Ringo was positively over the moon about it, and made a big deal about the restaurant in an interview afterwards. He had no idea Marie Callender’s was a chain, or that it got about as much respect here as Little Chef back home. There used to be a Marie Callender’s in Midvale (I believe there’s a steak house there now) where we would pick up pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. All the remaining Utah Marie Callender’s closed months ago, when their parent company went bankrupt. The Millcreek location was reopened by popular demand last week, just in time for the holidays: another thing to be thankful for.

LeMoyne Star

I was staying with my family in upstate New York during the summer break in 1978. We went to church on Sunday – a tiny chapel that I’d help to build – and my mother introduced me to a tall young man who’d recently joined the congregation. We went roller skating, to a rock concert, and to a picnic in the park. Then John and his Ford Mustang left for BYU. He stopped to call (this was when long-distance phone calls cost real money) several times along the way. I remember my grandma saying, “Linda, I think that boy likes you.” We were married before the year was out. I like to joke that the only thing we had in common was the same wedding day. But we had very similar taste in books, music and movies. We still do. Tomorrow we’ll have been married forty years and eleven months. But today is his sixty-fifth birthday. Happy birthday, John!

Shoo-Fly

Two Sundays ago, Elder Neil Andersen spoke at our stake conference. I played the organ, so I had a bird’s eye view as the seats filled with people eager to hear an apostle speak. One of the topics he covered was a recent study about the rapid decline of Christianity in the US. It reminded me of a discussion I’d had on a quilting Thursday shortly after we’d moved to England. We were talking about how Mothering Sunday differs from Mother’s Day. Originally, Mothering Sunday was a day to revisit one’s “mother church,” the church where you were christened. I’d asked my fellow quilters about their mother churches. One had been converted into a series of flats, and another was now an Indian restaurant. A third had been torn down to make a car park. It’s sad, but all the more reason to find out what you really believe, and find courage to share your faith with others.

Another Flock

“The Savior finds joy in bringing to pass our immortality and eternal life. In speaking of the Savior’s Atonement, President Russell M. Nelson said: ‘As in all things, Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. Think of that! In order for Him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured on earth, our Savior focused on joy! What was the joy that was set before Him? Surely it included the joy of cleansing, healing, and strengthening us; the joy of paying for the sins of all who would repent; the joy of making it possible for you and me to return home—clean and worthy—to live with our Heavenly Parents and families.’ Similarly, the joy set before us is the joy of assisting the Savior in His work of redemption. As the seed and children of Abraham, we participate in blessing all the families of the earth.” – Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Tiffany

Last month the Norman Central Public Library – which serves three counties in Oklahoma – posted on Facebook that they were ready to move from their old brown brick building to a shiny new edifice down the street. They asked for volunteers to help move books from their old shelves to the new ones. Over 650 readers of all ages showed up and made a human chain to span the quarter-mile distance between the two libraries. As the old saying goes, many hands make light work. The entire process took about 45 minutes. The library managed to capture the magic of the event by attaching a GoPro camera to a copy of Steven Kellog’s picture book “Chicken Little” as it was passed from hand to hand down the line. The resulting video is almost as fun as actually being there. You can find it on YouTube under the name of “Book Brigade: A Traveling Book Video.”