Grandma's Choice

When the restaurants closed to walk-in business, our eating out routine changed to curb-side pickup Tuesdays and Saturdays. The dining room is always the same. The server, busboy and dishwasher are always me. So it's easy to compare just the food. Noodles & Company forgot to put cheese in my mac and cheese. By the time we noticed, it was too late to fix it. The bacon cheeseburger salad from Black Bear Diner was missing bacon. In fact, it was nearly all lettuce. Our order from Rumbi Grill was thirty minutes late, and stone cold. Good Wood didn’t have what we wanted to order, but the rack of ribs they DID have was awesome. Our side dishes from Oak Wood Fire Kitchen came with name tags: “Hello, I’m SALAD (or SOUP). Nice to meet you.” Olive Garden sent enough food to last half the week. (The ducks loved the bread sticks.) And everything from Cheesecake Factory was heavenly. What should we try next week?

The Baldwin

Several friends report they’re dealing with stress and anxiety by baking. It reminds me of something Thoreau said – that wood warms you twice: once when you’re splitting it, and once while it’s burning. Home baked goods are comfort foods. A hot gooey cookie with a cold glass of milk, a warm piece of apple pie with vanilla ice cream, or a slice of pizza fresh from the oven can go a long way towards making you feel better. But the act of baking can be therapeutic as well. If you’ve ever rolled out pie crust or gingerbread cookie dough, or kneaded dough for dinner rolls or a loaf of whole wheat bread, you probably know what I’m talking about. Plus it's fun to include the kids, and the aroma fills the whole house. It’s said there are no atheists in foxholes. I suspect there are also no ketogenic dieters in quarantine. Or, at least, there shouldn’t be.

Card Trick

Like many kids his age, Will Brown looked forward to getting his driver’s license as soon as he reached his sixteenth birthday. That milestone has been delayed for a time, as the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles has announced there will be no more driver’s tests (for regular licenses, at least) until “an unknown date.” But Will is clearly not the kind of guy who lets little setbacks get him down. He looked for something he could do to celebrate turning sixteen. When he discovered that sixteen-year-olds can donate blood (with their parents’ permission), he scheduled an appointment. Then he talked every one of his eligible family members into doing the same. Eighty percent of the local blood supply comes from blood drives, and those have all but dried up – like new driver’s licenses – as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. If you’re not feeling unwell, you really should consider giving blood.

Twenty-five Courthouse Steps

“With constant prayer, a determination to keep our covenants, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, we navigate our way through life. When personal difficulty, doubt, or discouragement darken our path, or when world conditions beyond our control lead us to wonder about the future, the spiritually defining memories from our book of life are like luminous stones that help brighten the road ahead, assuring us that God knows us, loves us, and has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to help us return home. And when someone sets their defining memories aside and is lost or confused, we turn them toward the Savior as we share our faith and memories with them, helping them rediscover those precious spiritual moments they once treasured.” - Elder Neil L. Andersen

Washington Sidewalk

We live in confusing times. We’re told to stay at home, unless we’re “essential.” Masks are useless, but don’t go anywhere without one. Gloves are also useless, unless they’re not. The virus can stay active on different surfaces for hours or days or maybe not. It might be airborne, unless it isn’t. Watching the news causes depression and anxiety; check regularly for updates. There’s a test shortage: sick humans can’t get tested, but a tiger in the Bronx zoo can. There’s no treatment for this, except maybe there is. It’s important to eat well and exercise to stay healthy. But grocery stores are breeding grounds for disease, the gyms are all closed, and you should really avoid city parks. Make a 2-week shopping list so you don’t have to go to the store as often. But the store will be out of half the items on your list. I’m tired just thinking about it. Wait. Is that a symptom?

Sixteen Courthouse Steps

While re-watching Hugh Grant in “About a Boy” the other day, I noticed a quote that hadn’t meant much to me before now: “I find the key is to think of a day as units of time, each unit consisting of no more than thirty minutes. Full hours can be a little bit intimidating and most activities take about half an hour. Taking a bath: one unit, watching "Countdown:" one unit, web-based research: two units, exercising: three units, having my hair carefully disheveled: four units. It's amazing how the day fills up, and I often wonder, to be absolutely honest, if I'd ever have time for a job; how do people cram them in?” Okay, until they reopen all the beauty salons and barber shops, you’re stuck with carefully disheveling your own hair. But other than that, this list still works. What will you be doing with all your units today?

Green House

In the early 70’s, there was a half-hour children’s PBS show called Hodgepodge Lodge. It was no Mr. Rogers or Sesame Street, or even Reading Rainbow. But it was an introduction to the wonders of nature. Each week the host, “Miss Jean” Worthley, would introduce a different topic, like birds, trees, aquatic animals, or stinging insects. Miss Jean was a kinder, gentler Bill Nye the Science Guy with a shoulder parrot (except she was an actual scientist). Hodgepodge Lodge is a “lost” series. Many of the master tapes on which it was recorded were erased and reused to save money, and many more were destroyed in a storage fire. The series ran before home video recording became popular, so it’s unlikely there are copies out there, saved to share with children and grandchildren. But the theme song is indelibly etched in my head: “We’re off to the forest to see Miss Jean. She lives in a house that is mostly green…”