Crossroads

 

With 836,330 square miles, Greenland is the world’s largest island. Only about 57,000 people live there, so it’s also the least densely populated country. Only one of those people is Muslim. Wassam Azaqeer moved from Lebanon to Nuuk, Greenland’s capitol, in the early 2000’s. He opened a Lebanese restaurant here serving about 200 people a day. In spite of the harsh weather – the average temperature in Beirut is 70F; in Nuuk it can dip to minus 58F – Wassam says he doesn’t regret coming here. He doesn’t even mind practicing his religion alone, except during Ramadan. Muslims around the world observe the month of Ramadan by fasting between sunrise and sunset. The Muslim calendar is lunar, so its dates shift compared with the Gregorian calendar. When Ramadan falls during the summer, Wassam finds himself fasting up to 23 hours a day. Luckily for Wassam, next year it happens in February, when the days are eight hours long.

Flying Dutchman

 

In 1924, fourteen bison were transported to Catalina Island, 22 miles off the coast of southern California. The bison were meant to be extras in the movie, “The Vanishing American” with Richard Dix and Noah Beery. (Gary Cooper was also in this film, but he, like the bison, was just an uncredited extra.) If any scenes were filmed with the animals, they never made it into the movie. There was no room in the studio’s budget to return the bison to the mainland, so they stayed on the island. Over the years, the herd grew to over 600 – too many for the small island’s fragile ecosystem. The Catalina Island Conservancy took charge of the bison in the 1970’s. Their goal is to keep the herd at a manageable size. Some were sold at auction; others were shipped to South Dakota. The remaining bison get birth control injections. The last bison calf born on Catalina Island was in 2013.

Magenta String Block

 

“Is there anything sweeter, more pure, or more humble than a child at prayer? It is as if heaven is in the room. God and Christ are so real, but for others later on, the experience can become more superficial. As Elder Richard L. Evans quoted: ‘Many of us profess to be Christians, yet we don’t take Him seriously. We respect Him, but don’t follow Him. We quote His sayings, but don’t live by them. We admire Him, but don’t worship Him.’ How different life could be if the world esteemed Jesus above the level of a profane swearing streak from time to time. But children really do love Him, and that love can carry over into their other relationships in the playground of life. As a rule, even in their youngest years, children love so easily, they forgive so readily, they laugh so delightfully that even the coldest, hardest heart can melt.” – President Jeffrey R. Holland

Twenty LeMoyne Stars

 

Lemoyne Star

 

Starlings are one of the most common birds in America, but they’re actually a harmful and invasive species here. As the story goes, a man named Eugene Schieffelin – amateur ornithologist and Shakespeare lover – decided in 1890 to introduce all the birds the bard mentioned to this continent, beginning with the starling. It’s a quirky tale, and over the years it’s been repeated many times, by some very reputable sources. But it isn’t true. Yes, there was a New Yorker named Eugene Schieffelin, and he did import about a hundred starlings and released them in Central Park. But he was actually one of many who tried this, and there’s absolutely no evidence any of them were motivated by the works of William Shakespeare. Ecology was barely a thing in 1890; the term was only invented a decade earlier. No one imagined the aggressive, tenacious starling would outcompete many native species here and drive them to extinction.

Indigo String Block

 

Our oldest son and his wife have the same birthday. Our families were close friends for years. More than a decade ago, they decided to celebrate their shared day together, and a romance kindled. We were thrilled to add her to our tribe, and every year we sing “Happy Birthday” to them both. When you consider most people know about 600 people, and there are only 365 available birthdays (unless it’s a leap year), chances are everyone knows at least one person with the same birthday. But most people aren’t married to someone born on the same day. An Ohio couple – Scierra Blair and José Ervin – were both born August 18. They started dating a few days after Scierra turned 31 and José turned 30. August 18, 2023 was the first time they observed their birthday together. They celebrated in the maternity ward, welcoming a twin son and daughter. Now their entire family has the same birthday!

Chimney Sweep

 

This isn’t really a quilting blog. It’s pictures of what I’ve been doing (yeah, they’re usually quilt blocks) and some words about whatever’s on my mind. It’s seldom ABOUT quilting. But this week I found a foolproof way to make a ten-inch (finished) Chimney Sweep. Chimney Sweep is based on 4-patch symmetry, so 8”, 6”, and 12” blocks are fairly simple. 10”, not so much. Worse, many of Chimney Sweep patterns leave you with a block whose outside edges are cut on the diagonal. So later, when you’re joining blocks together, there’s lots of cursing going on. This pattern avoids that.

Background

(2) 2-1/2" squares, each cut diagonally once = (4) triangles

(3) 4" squares, each cut diagonally twice = (12) triangles

(1) 2-1/4" X 5-3/4" rectangle

(2) 2-1/4" squares

Red

(2) 2-1/4" X 5-3/4" rectangles

(2) 2-1/4" squares

(6) 2-1/4" X 4" rectangles