Three Dozen Delectable Mountains

 

To hear our tour guide tell it, Peter the Great was a visionary. He foresaw St. Petersburg as a destination for tourists, a “Venice of the North,” and a jewel to rival the many western capitals he’d visited. So, Peter built his palace there – she never mentioned he had to steal the land from Sweden first – and he began digging canals all over the place. I don’t think she bothered to tell us canals make much more sense in southern Italy than in places that are well below freezing several months of the year. But I suspect her dialog was as carefully restricted as the rest of our visit. Another thing the guide didn’t mention was the wildly unpopular taxation the Tsar enforced to make Petrograd happen. One of these was a tax on beards, along with forcibly shaving – in public – anyone who refused to pay. Maybe the visionary foresaw lots of Russians with clean-shaven faces.

Bloom & Grow

 

Valentine’s Day is fifteen days away. There’s still plenty of time to make a nice dinner reservation, or to pick up some lovely flowers or a box of chocolates. With a little creativity and some craft supplies, you could make a Valentine’s Day card that’s both unique and personal. But if that’s not exactly what you have in mind, there are other choices out there. For instance, the SPCA in Adams County, Pennsylvania has an interesting suggestion. For a donation of twenty-five dollars or more, they’ll name a feral cat after the ex-partner of your choice. And then, once the cat has a proper name, it will be neutered and released as part of their TNR (trap-neuter-return) program. At the end of every surgery day, Tuesday through Thursday until Feb. 14, the shelter will list the first names of the "exes" who got neutered that day. To submit your name and donation, go to www.adamscountyspca.org.

Four Red Houses

 

One of the casualties of this month’s California wildfires was the 31-room mansion that once belonged to Will Rogers (1879-1935). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the mansion and the surrounding ranch have been a state park since 1944. If you have no idea who Will Rogers was, these quotes should give you a clue:

“When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.”

“I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.”

“I know worrying works, because none of the stuff I worried about ever happened.”

“Last year we said, ‘Things can’t go on like this,’ and they didn’t. They got worse”

“There are three kinds of men: the one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.”

Eight Barrel Cactus

 

Sharon Christa Corrigan was born in 1948. Her father was a college sophomore when she was born, and her mother became a substitute teacher. They planned to call her Sherrie, but decided her middle name suited her better. In fact, she didn’t know Christa wasn’t her first name until she was practically an adult. Christa married her high school sweetheart in 1970, and they had two children together. Christa taught American history, civics, and English in high school and middle school. In 1984, President Reagan announced the Teacher in Space program, and Christa applied. On her application, she wrote, “I watched the Space Age being born, and I’d like to participate.” The following year, Christa was selected from more than 11,000 applicants to become the first teacher in space. January 28, 1986, Christa McAuliffe was one of seven crew members lost when the Challenger broke apart. In 2004, she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Two Dozen Diversions

 

“I urge you to devote time each week—for the rest of your life—to increase your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My heart aches for those who are mired in sin and don’t know how to get out. I weep for those who struggle spiritually or who carry heavy burdens alone because they do not understand what Jesus Christ did for them. Jesus Christ took upon Himself your sins, your pains, your heartaches, and your infirmities. You do not have to bear them alone! He will forgive you as you repent. He will bless you with what you need. He will heal your wounded soul. As you yoke yourself to Him, your burdens will feel lighter. If you will make and keep covenants to follow Jesus Christ, you will find that the painful moments of your life are temporary. Your afflictions will be swallowed up in the joy of Christ.” – President Russell M. Nelson

Lucky in Love

 

This is the last of the twelve 2024 Riley Blake door banners. I made ten of these wall hanging quilts exactly as their patterns directed. But the first and last (April and March) just didn’t suit me. So, I designed my own. For April, I re-drafted the blocks from The Buggy Barn’s Bunny Trail quilt (2005) so they’d each measure 10x12” instead of 11x14”. I used the prints from the April kit, and I’m very happy with the results. March was a bit more complicated. The original design had eight flowers, six stars and five diamond shapes, all in gold, grey and greens. I knew I wanted to replace them with Irish chain blocks, but there are so many different ones, with different dimensions. It took me a while, but I finally settled on simple 6” four-patch chain blocks using the kit’s solids, with seven intermittent sawtooth stars using the prints. The hearts inside the stars were just a lucky whim. 

Thirty Delectable Mountains

 

One of my husband’s favorite movies is Idiocracy (2006). I’ve never seen it. I probably don’t have to, as he’s so fond of quoting it. From what I can tell, it’s a dystopian sci-fi comedy about a librarian who’s put into suspended animation for 500 years. He wakes up in a world where for generations, only stupid people procreated. I read somewhere that the producers asked the movie’s costume designers to find “futuristic, but goofy-looking” footwear for the cast to wear during filming. They found a small, obscure company in Colorado that made soft clogs out of polyethylene vinyl acetate foam. The costume designers decided “nobody in their right mind” would ever wear these ugly shoes, so they’d be perfect for the movie. At some point, they were asked what would happen if these odd shoes ever took off, and they doubled down, saying there’s no way anyone would seriously buy these. The shoes in question were Crocs.