Due West

by Carla Ceballos

“A cup of tea would restore my normality.”

― Douglas Adams

Cheerio again, dear readers!

As promised, this month’s post from yours truly will finish out my thoughts and observances from my experiment of taking afternoon tea. Last time I had mentioned that tea time is more than a snack the British take that gets you through till supper: it is an experience that can be shared in by all! So put the kettle on, whip up a snack (try one of mine or whatever sounds good) grab a friend (or your summer reading book!) and enjoy an afternoon!

Below is a list of snacks that I tried:

• Standard fare: Shortbread cookies! The teatime experiment needed to get going so these came from the store. The point was not to be fancy: the point was to do it and enjoy it! And I thoroughly enjoyed these gluten-free pecan shortbread cookies
• 
• Standard fare: bulk cookies! I will forever keep a bag of these on hand for when company comes by!
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• Scones! My husband described these traditional English-recipe scones as “fancy biscuits.” That is pretty much what they are, but they make wonderful tea-time fare because they can be healthy or more dessert-like, savory or sweet, hot or cold, plain or with jam or clotted cream and they are always satisfying!
• Scones! Here is an example of fancy scones: gluten-free lavender white chocolate!
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• Out of the ordinary: sardines and crackers. You have to like the taste of fish to even consider this, but I was quite impressed with how well sardines went with traditional English Breakfast tea!
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• More like dessert: St. Clements Cake. This recipe came from Jaime Oliver’s Great Britain, and was my favorite because I have never, ever made a recipe that looked just like the picture before… until this cake! I was completely elated and could not wait to share this cake that tasted of sunshine with friends, family and coworkers!
• 
• More ideas (but no pictures): cucumber sandwiches, banana bread,  meat with cheese and crackers, toast with jam, and tea/coffee cake.

“When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Where is beauty to be found? In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment?”

― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Tammy Surline

Of all the machinations in the English language, none are more fascinating than old sayings and cliches.  It’s hard to believe when listening to some groups talk, but there are actually more clever responses in conversational banter than “whatever”, “duh”, and the newly androgynous “dude”.

In fact, a study of cliches is quite daunting.  There are as many pearls of wisdom as there are grains of sand.  So I thought maybe I’d just start with those from my childhood that have stuck with me over the years.  Back then I assumed these sometimes goofy but always entertaining witticisms came from someone in our family, or at the very least distant relatives in the sepia-toned photographs in dusty albums that none of us could identify.

Grandparents are a great source of old expressions and mine were no exception.  “Pretty is as pretty does,” my grandma used to say.  Also one of my personal favorites, “if you dance, you have to pay the fiddler,” which is so much more memorable than just saying, “hey, you’ll be sorry!”  My grandpa always told a more cautionary tale with things like “live in hopes, die in despair.”  Or if I was contemplating something daring, such as jumping off a ladder or roller skating down a big hill, he’d say “go ahead, I’ll catch you on the second bounce.”  

While my dad has never been short on saying anything, he does come up with quite a few good phrases now and then.  Much to my surprise, some of those phrases actually come from somewhere other than his own mind.  “A busy blue jacket is a happy blue jacket.”  Apparently, this originated with the U.S. Navy and that’s where he picked it up.  Obviously something said to get sailors to work harder, similar to another expression a former supervisor of mine used to say, “idle hands are Lucifer’s workshop.”   That same supervisor motivated us with “plan your work and work your plan.”    It didn’t really motivate us much, but I sure motivated him when I quoted it back to him during a project.

Over the years, I’ve found that a well-timed old quote can end (or start) any argument better than facts or logic.  “The opposite of bravery is not cowardice, but conformity.”  This one has been on the tip of my tongue during many encounters with figures of authority who were just trying to get me to “shape up or ship out”.  Hey, that’s a good one, too!

Family friends also provide a wealth of humorous chestnuts, although some a bit too colorful to print here.  My favorites are those that people don’t get quite right.  One of our dear friends used to entertain me with something like, “that man couldn’t pour water out of a boot with handles.”  (I’ve cleaned this up a bit.)  The actual saying is “that man couldn’t pour water out of a boot if the directions were printed on the heel.”  (Think about it, it will become clear.  And again, I’ve sanitized it for prime time.)

Some quips come from classic literature and The Bible.  Others from famous people and scholars.  Even movies and television provide us with some very wise and timely verbiage that will last for years to come, like “go ahead, make my day,” or die out fairly quickly, like “talk to the hand”. 

Song lyrics are also a good source.  My mom is famous for misquoting song lyrics, but that’s a whole other blog.  It was the title of a song that got my husband and I into an argument that goes on to this day about a Judas Priest song entitled “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming.”  My family used that quote numerous times, but I always thought it was “another think coming”.  After much deliberation and a thorough internet search, we found that either one is correct although the original is “thing”.  I’m sticking with “think” since it’s more amusing.

Famous people usually get credit for very old ditties.  Socrates said “eat to live, not live to eat”.  I don’t really care for this one.  Ben Franklin had a few annoying tidbits like “a penny saved is a penny earned.”  He could be a bit of a know-it-all, mainly because he knew something about it all.  “An empty bag cannot stand upright” came to me in a fortune cookie, but amazingly enough, Mr. Franklin coined that one and not Confucius (or the cook down at Wonderful House).

I checked out a book from the library entitled The Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches.  Ironically, many clichés I mentioned here are not in this book, but a whole host of others are.  So before you roll your eyes and chant “not that old nugget again” when your Uncle Nabob delivers one of his tired old locutions, dig around a little and find out its true origin.  It just may surprise you.

Silence is golden. – obscure origin, but possibly from the poet Thomas Carlyle.  (This one comes to me when Justin Beiber or Taylor Swift come on the radio.)

Pride goeth before a fall. – The Holy Bible

It takes all kinds to make a world – similar version of a quote from The Book of Common Prayer.

The lesser of two evils, is still evil – unknown origin, but I like it, especially during election season!

Vita privata, vita beata – Italian proverb meaning keep your private life private and be happier for it (and it sounds so cool in Italian!)

By Carla Ceballos

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” C.S. Lewis qtd in The Essential Tea Companion

These days it is far too easy to get far too busy. I realized this just after college when I looked up and found myself working 60-hour work weeks–and this is before kids or a dog or owning a home, which I knew were going to come and would exacerbate the situation. Ever since that moment, I have been making a solid effort to slow down and enjoy things I would never have noticed or tried otherwise. 4 weeks ago I decided to try the time-tested British tradition of afternoon tea to help remind me to slow down.

This project was also inspired by the fact that I am secretly an Anglophile: I love Charles Dickens, Douglas Adams, Monty Python, Downton Abbey, Simon Pegg, and Doctor Who. Doctor Who has been my latest obsession and since the most recent lead actor, Matt Smith, sat down with Victoria Wood to discuss tea time (which can be found here: http://www.nerdist.com/2013/04/matt-smith-talks-about-tea/) I decided that tea was something I had to try. According to the book Jamie Oliver’s Great Britain, tea time became popular for the British during the reign of Queen Victoria, when an afternoon snack was necessary to make it to dinners which were notoriously late at the time (around 8pm). Nowadays teatime has become synonymous with English culture, not only providing much needed nourishment for the body but also rest for the mind and soul. The Essential Tea Companion points out that “[tea time] is an occasion, a moment of calm to which the harsher realities are simply not invited.”

My goals were as follows:

1. Have tea at least 4 afternoons a week
2. Not worry about loose-leaf teas: becoming a tea snob will be something I do later as this project is more about the ritual and experience than the tea itself
3. Try new recipes and treats, with an emphasis on traditional, every-day British tea time fare
4. Try to get as many people involved as possible, but never slack on my project even if I have to take tea alone

I met my first two goals easily and I will talk about my adventures in the food of teatime next month in Part 2, but I was most pleasantly surprised by goal number 4: Tea time was a moment of connection. The Essential Tea Companion again observes that “ever since this beguiling beverage from China was introduced to Holland and England, teatime has been a social and civilizing event, a chance to deepen old friendships and develop new ones.” Personally, I love Matt Smith’s observation about the social aspect of tea time: “If I was making a tea advert I would want to communicate about tea is that it can console you, it can start your day, there is the warmth and the ritual and you can share it, you make someone a cup of tea and you offer it to them. You have got to boil the kettle, you have got to ask them what they want and engage with them.” Connection is something that we as humans need, and my friends, family and coworkers were always enthusiastic about sharing in the afternoon’s reprieve (which you can see by these pictures!).

Even the few afternoons I took tea alone, I found it was still a chance to connect with myself–to calm down and evaluate life in big and small ways.

Yes, I think that teatime is a habit I am going to have to continue!

To check out Doctor Who, Downtown Abbey, Jamie Oliver’s Great Britain, The Essential Tea Companion: Favorite Menus for Tea Parties and Celebrations or any other books on British culture, come see us at the library!

by Tammy Surline

This Tuesday, April 23rd, marks an event entitled World Book Night.  This event is designed to give specially printed paperback books to individuals who normally don’t engage in reading.

Reading is more important than ever today.  In a world of texts and tweets and abbreviations that boggle even the most clever of minds, to sit down with a collection of well-written, thoughtful prose is a treat that cannot be denied.  Kindles and Nooks are a nice way to provide this experience, especially in our gadget-oriented society.  But at the risk of sounding as corny as Kansas in August, there is no other substitute for picking up that first book, holding it in your hands, smelling it and opening up a world of possibilities.

My mom took me to the public library when I was quite small and got me my first library card.  I remember it to this day.  She was friends with the children’s librarian so we had connections (wink, wink).  It was always a treat when my aunt came to visit in the summer because I knew we would walk together to the downtown library.  Then when I started kindergarten, the teacher took us to the school library.  I remember thinking, “wow, they have one of these at school, too?”  I couldn’t believe my good fortune.

Despite my auspicious introduction to books, I almost fell off reading for a time.  My English teachers had a nasty habit of assigning classic works that slowly eroded my enthusiasm.  Though Dickens never failed to entertain, the lofty, high-brow language of Shakespeare at first left me cold.  The Grapes of Wrath seemed dry as dust (wink, again) and Of Mice and Men almost put me in therapy.  I admit, I’ve blocked out most Of Mice and Men, but I do remember some ugliness concerning dead mice and the killing of puppies.  (Fade to black…)  Beowulf was the final straw.  To me, the prose did not even resemble English and couldn’t have been worth much since the author didn’t even have the guts to reveal himself.

Alas, a persistent English teacher handed me a copy of The Great Gatsby and told me I would love it.  Had it not been for that insightful educator, I would never have turned that corner and gotten back into reading and exploring books, even Shakespeare.  After all, he is the Beatles of literature.

My husband’s mother spent many years trying to turn her son into a reader.  Finally, when he drove his parents to Salt Lake for his dad’s eye surgery and had to spend many hours in waiting rooms and motels, his mom handed him a detective novel.  The heavens opened up right along with the cover of that book and voila!  Her long awaited dream was finally realized.  She even took a picture of him reading in the motel to show me as proof of her accomplishment.

Thus, World Book Night is an opportunity to provide that same turning point to others who are turned off of reading.  All it takes is the right book given to the right person and another bibliophile is born.

In fact, Rock Springs Library will be hosting this event from 6-8 pm this Tuesday evening, April 23rd.  We will be giving away books to folks who may have never thought of reading for pleasure, and even maybe a few who do.   Come join us for books, cake, punch, and fun!

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.  –Mark Twain

“An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told.” –Act IV, Scene IV, King Richard III, Shakespeare

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” — Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid

You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture.  Just get people to stop reading them.” –Ray Bradbury

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read.  One does not love breathing.”  –To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee

By Carla May Ceballos

In all my time spent as a bibliophile, cinephile and just an all-around STORY-phile I have come to a conclusion about some of my favorite stories: good stories need good heroes. Of course, every story has to have a hero when we define hero as  “the principle character in a story or play” but I am talking about hero as “a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.”  Since stories are art that reflects (and then usually affects) culture, I have realized that we all need good heroes, too.

Of course, what it means to be a good hero is wonderfully flexible, depending on what our needs are at the time. And I see the need for a lot of different heroes:

• Just yesterday I was at dress rehearsal for the annual Ice-Hibition for the city’s Learn-To-Skate program. When the house lights went out for grand entrance, a four-year old boy calmly told me he was afraid of the dark. When I asked why he was being so brave, he gestured to the super-hero cape that was part of his costume: “Super heroes don’t get scared” he matter-of-factly replied.

“Courage is found in unlikely places.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien

• Meanwhile I see another little boy go running by with a Captain America shield (oh wait—that’s my nineteen-year-old brother)—a hero of courage, loyalty and country. Captain America and The Avengers (or any brave super hero with a cape!) are examples of how heroes can capture our imagination and inspire us at any age.

“As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary.”

― Ernest Hemingway

• Heroes can also come from unexpected places. Personally, I am looking forward to cheer my heroes tomorrow at Wrestlemania XXIX. It has been a while since we thought of professional wrestlers as heroes, but characters like John Cena with mottos like “Hustle Loyalty Respect” are easy to cheer when they enter the ring. I am inspired by Shawn Michaels and how he has overcome real-life obstacles to become one of the greatest WWE stars of all time. I am also equally inspired by his real-life friendship with Triple-H—after all, the only thing better than cheering for a hero is cheering for two.

“A faithful friend is a strong defense;

And he that hath found him hath found a treasure.”

― Louisa May Alcott

• When we need a hero for the underdog and someone for the child in us to look up to, we have Atticus Finch—Harper Lee’s wonderful, humble hero of the falsely accused who also takes time to read with his children on the porch.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.

It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

• Which leads right into my next hero: when you need a hero of the English language and American Literature, who creates memorable characters and gives voice to a national struggle, I give you Harper Lee. She is my hero for her work, To Kill a Mockingbird.

“Real heroes are men who fall and fail and are flawed, but win out in the end

because they’ve stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and commitments.”

― Kevin Costner

• But really I do not have to look very far find heroes: my husband, mother, father, brother and sister are all my heroes for the obstacles that they have faced and overcome in life.

“I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes

are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel.”

― Florence Nightingale

So take the time to identify and appreciate the heroes who add color, meaning and inspiration to your life, whether they are in real-life or found in a story.

“Even though we don’t admit it, every single one of us aspires to be like somebody,

whether they live in the world today, within the bard’s lyrics, or on the pages in the Library”

― Evan Meekins,

by Tammy Surline

As my esteemed colleague pointed out in the last blog, the Ides of March bears several holidays, but St. Patrick’s Day marks the most widely celebrated of them (unless Easter happens to land during the last weekend).  The only day of the year when everyone is Irish, or wants to be.  Though I sadly packed away my “Fighting Irish” sweatshirt when Notre Dame surrendered their winning football streak too many weeks ago to count, I will be digging it out once again for the wearin’ o’ the green.  This holiday brings out phrases and words and foods that we never see or hear any other time of the year.  Traditions like green beer and eating corned beef & cabbage wouldn’t take place on October 6^th, for example.

It’s surprising how many of our words are of Irish descent, however.  From the more obvious, like shillelagh (a wooden club), shamrock (a clover), and hooligan (a rowdy person), to others that are more ambiguous.  The words galore (plenty), phoney (fake), and kibosh (end) are all from the Emerald Isle.  A favorite from my childhood is banshee.  My grandma used to say things like, “stop screaming like a banshee, the whole neighborhood will hear you!”  Now I find out that the word actually means “woman of the fairies”.  I didn’t know fairies screamed.  It seems I also remember her warning me about my shenanigans (mischievous prank, or other display of high spirits), too.  Smithereens, most commonly remembered by some of us from Yosemite Sam (“I’m a’gonna blow you to smithereens, you varmint!”), is actually Irish in origin.  Whiskey, which is no doubt a beverage staple in Ireland, means water of life.  And whenever you’re trying to get through those pesky advertisements on television, know that slogan (word or phrase used by a specific group) is a gift from our Irish ancestors.

My husband is of Irish descent.  One of the first years we were married, I was inspired to make a traditional Irish feast for he and his parents on St. Patrick’s Day.  Instead of settling for the usual corned beef, I decided to dig deep into Wikipedia and find something uniquely Irish for the meal.  However, the fare in pre-potato Ireland looked rather dubious.  Though they made their living herding cattle and pigs, the prime cuts of meat were meant for the wealthy.  The poor had to make due with lesser cuts. The blood leftover from bleeding the animals was mixed with barley and seasoning to make black pudding.   Usually using the word black to describe something you’ve cooked is not a good thing.  So I pressed on.

Those lesser cuts of meat consisted of organs and feet.  Crubeens is a dish of boiled pigs’ feet, blood sausage and tripe.  Ah, no.  Skirts & Kidneys, an Irish stew from Cork, the southern coast of Ireland, made of trimmings from the ribs and backbone and, you guessed it, kidneys was also not an option.  Especially when I further read that the kidneys needed to be carefully washed in “copious amounts of fresh water to ensure that all traces of urine are washed away.”

Figuring that none of us would be particularly delighted with eating any of the cleansing organs, I opted for post-potato Ireland.  The potato arrived in Ireland in the 16th century. Thus, dishes like colcannon made from potatoes and kale, boxty, a potato pancake and shepherd’s pie came into being.  Finally I felt I’d found something that wouldn’t send us into the open arms of the pizza delivery man.  But in the end, my jitters got the best of me and I opted for the tried and true corned beef & cabbage with soda bread.  It worked out so well then, I’m making it for my parents this year.

So if you find yourself hankering for some Irish fare, don’t get bogged down (as in a wetland) and begin keening (wailing).  There are several Irish cookbooks available at the library.  And with enough green beer and Irish whiskey, you can’t go wrong.   (But I still don’t want to eat feet.)

 Some Irish sayings and witticisms…

“You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.”

“My mother’s menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.”

“As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction!”

“He is bad that will not take advice, but he is a thousand times worse that takes every advice.”

“A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.”

by Carla Ceballos

During this second full week of March, 2013, we have several holidays to look forward to, according to holidayinsights.com: On the 11^th it’s Johnny Appleseed Day; the 12^th is  Girl Scouts Day and Plant a Flower Day;  Ear Muff Day is March 13^th; the 16^th is Freedom of Information Day as well as National Quilting Day. Personally, I am looking forward to March 14^th: Pi Day. No, not pie day. Pi Day! The date—3.14—is a day to make pie and celebrate one of math’s most famous numbers! (Another reason for nerds to celebrate: Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day)

The search for pi began as people noticed that as a circle grew, its radii and diameter grew proportionally. The Greeks, with their pursuit of geometry, were especially enamored with the concepts of ratios and congruency, which can be seen in their architecture as well as their mathematics. The Greek philosopher and mathematician Archimedes was the first to find out that “the ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter is less than 3 1/7   but greater than 3 10/17” which would be roughly 3.1419. Archimedes was also the first to label this ration pi.

Further investigation by great mathematical minds such as Newton, Leibniz and Euler worked to calculate more digits of pi and by the eighteenth century mathematicians had discovered the first 100 digits of pi. Of course, super computers have now given us over 51 billion digits of pi and we have barely scratched the surface of this beautiful number! When we look at pi in all its glory we are confronted with something beyond us—powerful and beautiful and awe inspiring. Math, like art, science or literature, makes our lives richer.

Your local library will have many splendid resources for investigating the beautiful and perplexing topic of mathematics, including The Joy of Pi by David Blatner (whom I paraphrased heavily to write this article). Other books I recommend are The Joy of X by Stephen Strogatz and Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy. Former child actress-turned-mathematician Danika McKellar has written several books for junior and senior high students to help combat math anxiety.

Mathematics is essential for the informed citizen’s studies because math teaches us to thing logically, creatively, empathetically and abstractly. Learning to appreciate math is like learning to appreciate Moby Dick: it is not required that you love it, but through investigation you learn something about life, humanity, courage and—hopefully—yourself, making you a better person in the process.

Your local library will also have many resources for making the perfect pie! So come to your library, pull out your circular pie pan, and participate in the enjoyment of math’s most famous number!

By Carla Ceballos

Have you ever stopped to wonder How and Why We Read? I have, and it turns out I am not the only one. Author and video blogger John Green (check out his books at the library!) has a delightful YouTube video that discusses this very question, too (Follow the previous link to hear his enthusiasm on the subject! I am so affected by John  Green and his writing and blogging I acknowledge him as the inspiration for most of this post–so it is not plagiarism  Thank you, John Green!) If I had not fallen in love with math when I did, I probably would have chosen English as my major.  I love books and reading.

Author John Green

Reading and writing are considered markers of civilization but they also connect people. It makes no sense to write unless you are going to have a reader. We read a story and–as author C.S Lewis said–we cry “You too? I thought I was the only one!”  Human and cultural connection is important in a state like Wyoming; not only is our half-million population spread thin across this great land, but here in Rock Springs we find it hard to make connections as we hustle and bustle with the next boom and bust as we live our lives. Thank goodness for reading!

Writing also lets us communicate across barriers– barriers of distance, culture and time. It does not matter what the medium is for that writing. The cuneiform writing on baked clay from Mesopotamia is just as valid as the Gutenberg Bible which as as much merit as the novel on your eReader. I do not worry that eReaders and the internet will put libraries out of business or eviscerate language; we humans need to communicate and we will always find a way to tell our side of the story, whether that is by keyboard or ink or scratchings in stone. 

Even fiction stories are a method of communication. When we read a story critically (as John Green points out) we

1. have a fuller understanding of lives other than our own
2. learn to empathize
3. can gain the linguistic tools to share our own story with more precision. It takes a good reader to make a good writer, after all.

 As I said before, this connection is important for us to maintain in this wild west state. I love Wyoming, and I encourage everyone to learn more about this beautiful state and its fascinating people. My resolution for 2013 is to read more of the books from the Wyoming History Section, the crown jewel of our little library. This is a wild, beautiful and not easy land to live in, so maybe I can find a connection with those who have been here before?

Southwest Wyoming

by Tammy Surline

Everyone is probably expecting and yet dreading an article about Valentine’s Day.  Well we’re in the business of pleasing patrons, so no Valentine’s Day.  But the impending holiday did get me thinking about relationships.  No more impressive bond exists than that between women friends.  Probably because our fair sex is often credited with not getting along very well in enclosed spaces for too long.  My favorite official definition of a friend is “a person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection, and loyalty; an intimate, an ally in a fight or cause; a supporter”.   The best of friends are those  people we can talk to about everything (even some things we shouldn’t) or nothing.

After my latest viewing of “The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” and reading a book entitled “The Wednesday Sisters” by Mae Waite Clayton (both of which can be found at the Rock Springs Library), memories of a dear friend came calling again.  Sometimes we can’t recall what exactly brought us together, but we know it was significant.  Thus was the case with my friend, Mary.  We haven’t been in each others daily lives for almost a quarter-century now.  That was when she left to be a nun in a cloister convent.  We were inseparable practical jokers back then, so it was difficult to figure how my undying friend was going to last in the convent.  Her devotion to God was never the question, just her off-beat personality fitting in the placid and pious atmosphere of the Carmelite Order.

Recently I dreamed of Mary.  In my slumber-enduced tale, she was having a conversation with the Mother Superior.  It went something like this.

MOTHER:  Sister Mary, have you said your Hail Marys today?

MARY:  (belch)

MOTHER:  Pardon me?

MARY: I mean not yet, Mother.  I was in the kitchen looking for some tea bags. 

MOTHER:  You know we don’t have tea until 4:00, after our late afternoon prayers, My Dear.

MARY: Oh, I wasn’t having tea.  The tea bags were going to go inside the shower heads in the south wing bathroom.

MOTHER:  What on earth for?

MARY:  Sister Margaret stole all my socks last week and tied them together.  I thought I’d get back at her tomorrow morning when she wants to take a hot shower.

MOTHER:  Sister Mary, Sister Margaret took those socks to finish the blanket she was making for the orphanage.  You had forgotten to make your donation.

MARY: Well, pooh!

MOTHER: Let’s just stick to business, shall we?  And about that snowman on the front lawn.  It really isn’t appropriate, My Child. 

MARY:  What seems to be the problem? 

MOTHER:   The black coat and priest’s collar reflect badly on the attitude of our Order, Sister.

MARY:  Heck!

MOTHER:  Sister!

MARY:  Well, I just wanted to liven up things around here a little.  It’s really been somber since that water balloon incident with Sister Ann-Katherine last Tuesday.  It was an accident, you know.

MOTHER:  Sister Mary, really!  Father O’Flannigan didn’t need a demonstration of those creative baptismal methods you came up with.

MARY:  I just want us all to enjoy life.

MOTHER:  All right, My Child.  Maybe after choir we’ll all go out and make angels in the snow.  At least we’ll be sticking with the theme of our mission.

MARY:   Great!  I also have some new tune suggestions for the Day of Ascension.  Perhaps Sister Augustine would like to hear them at choir today.

MOTHER:  What might those songs be, Dear?

MARY:  I thought we could sing “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your eyes”.

MOTHER: Oh, Father, forgive her.

The sound of Mary’s signature breathless laughter awakened me.  Mary writes to me every Christmas and Easter as her Order allows, and she tells me of her on-going  hijinks.  I am proud to count Mary as one of my dearest friends to this day.  It’s important to hold our friends close to our hearts and treasure every moment like a memory. 

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What!  You too?  I thought I was the only one.” - C. S. Lewis

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience:   this is the ideal life.” – Mark Twain

By Carla Ceballos

2012 was a big year for science, and as we forge ahead in 2013, I would like to take a moment to celebrate a scientific breakthrough I found particularly exciting!

On July 4^th, 2012, the elusive and mysterious higgs boson particle was found with the use of the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva Switzerland by particle physicists. Most people in America probably just celebrated Independence Day on the 4^th of July this year, and never gave a thought to the discoveries in Geneva that caused such glee for nerds globally. Does this discovery affect you? Should you—the reader of this blog—celebrate? I stand with my fellow nerds with an emphatic YES! Celebrate and be in awe for the Higgs Boson was found! Our world as we know it has become richer and more wonderful!

“Was this Higgs Boson even missing?” you may ask. Not really, it was just hiding. If you can recall from high school science class, we know that everything we see is made of something smaller: people, plants, animals, etc. are composed of molecules, which are composed of atoms, which are composed of electrons, photons, quarks. But particle physicists have wondered for decades: “Is there anything more basic than electrons, photons and quarks?” (For further information, I recommend MinutePhysic’s video, linked below)

So again, why should those that are not particle physicists, theoretical physicists, mathematicians, or just nerds care? Science, like art, shows us that there is more to this world than what we take for granted and captures the imagination. Verifying basic theories of how the universe works, such as gravity or relativity, allows for unimagined discoveries for future generations. For example, the seemingly irrelevant discoveries of electricity lead to modern conveniences; Einstein’s discoveries of General relativity paved the way for quantum mechanics, which make modern technologies—from medicine to computers—possible. These technologies and understanding of the universe allowed the space race of the 1960’s to be possible, capturing the imaginations of a nation and the world. This discovery of the particle in Geneva has the potential to again capture the imaginations of a whole new generation of scientists.

Right at this moment there are layers upon layers of things happening that we do not even know about; these interactions will take us places that we cannot even imagine. The computer you are on breaks down into molecules, which breaks down into atoms, which breaks down to photons, electrons and quarks, which is made possible in the Higgs field, which brings the same particles together into atoms, which come together to make molecules, which come together to make stars and galaxies. Take a moment to breathe in the wonder of the universe we live in even as you finish reading my post.

To find out more about physics, or any other area of scientific study, come visit us at your local library.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9Uh5mTxRQcg