Lindsey's Temple (Palmyra - Part 3)

On Monday morning before leaving Palmyra, we participated in a temple session. This temple is unique because of the window that overlooks the Sacred Grove. I remembered sitting in the chapel in Utah eight years ago as we watched the Palmyra temple dedication via satellite. Although I was thrilled about the temple, I was seriously distracted because at the very same time my sister was in labor in Ohio on the verge of delivering my first niece. It's against protocol to repeatedly check your cellphone during a temple dedication, but I couldn't help myself. We were so grateful for Lindsey's safe arrival -- which is why I always think of the Palmyra temple as Lindsey's temple.

Palmyra - Part 2

Although our small town diner dinner was an added bonus, we (like most visitors) actually came to Palmyra to visit the Sacred Grove. I have a similar "grove" near my apartment in Michigan -- equally beautiful and peaceful. But the Sacred Grove in Palmyra rendered a feeling that goes beyond the peacefulness of nature -- it felt like a temple. We naturally quit talking and basked in the transcendent spirit that dwells there. I can understand why God chooses to visit his prophets on a mountain or in a forest. The majesty and beauty of His creations undisturbed by human intervention seem an appropriate setting for such sacred communion.

Palmrya - Part 1

I just returned from a fabulous 1700 mile road trip with Teresa and Janene. We laid eyes on four of the five Great Lakes (all but Lake Superior), discovered the glories of life on an island where cars are prohibited (Mackinac Island), visited important church history sites (Kirtland and Palmyra), spent the night in a haunted inn, got robbed at Niagara Falls, and spotted numerous species of birds and reptiles along the way (the fringe benefit of traveling with a bonafide zoologist). Today's post, however, highlights our adventure in Palmyra.

Palmyra is a small town in upstate New York near Rochester. I'm pretty sure the place is of little consequence to anyone except for local residents and the Mormons who flock there in droves to check out the birthplace of their faith. And so, it should not have been a big surprise to learn that we were staying in a hotel apparently modeled after a stake center (a Mormon meetinghouse). The big difference is the price -- attending church is free. There were beds instead of chairs in the classrooms, I mean guest rooms, but otherwise the resemblances were striking. We desperately wanted to put signs on the doors to designate which Sunday School class was assigned to each room, but we refrained.


Now that we were checked into our rooms, we decided to find some food. After surveying the cashier at the local grocery store, we determined that the pickings were rather slim in Palmyra. "There's a good place 20 miles away, " the cashier guy suggested, shrugging his shoulders. Far too hungry to wait an additional 20 miles, we noticed a nearby restaurant called "The Akropolis." Aside from a gaggle of teenage boys hovering around two cute teenage waitresses, we were the only customers. It was 7:50 and the restaurant closed at 8:00. When I asked if we were too late to eat, the cute, blond waitress assured us enthusiastically, "Oh no! You can stay as long as you want. Don't you worry. I'm here for you!" Escorting us to our table, she added, "You don't mind if we vacuum the other side, do you?"

The menu was a bit daunting -- this place offered approximately 700 options, everything from pancakes to a "messy plate." (If I recall correctly, the dish consisted of hot dogs smothered in tomato sauce served over a pile of macaroni and cheese and french fries.) Oh yes, and a small Greek collection -- we were at The Akropolis after all! We each ordered something Gyro-ish and amused ourselves with the laminated trivia book on the table. Our two favorite questions came from the "religion and mythology" section. "What sculpted bird sits atop the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City -- and why?" and "What day of the week is the Sabbath for Muslins?" Considering that there is no bird atop the temple and Muslin is a type of fabric, the warning printed on the booklet was appropriate, "Please leave Trivia Book on table. Booklet monitored for theft."

We were still giggling over the trivia, when our bubbly waitress brought us our food -- a giant pile of iceberg lettuce with a few olives and jalapenos adorned with three strips of meatlike something or other. Meanwhile, a woman (apparently the owner) strides in and begins barking orders (in a friendly barking sort of way). Mid-sentence, she noticed us. "I didn't know there were customers in here!" A few minutes later, the chef (another teenage boy) bursts out of the kitchen, a string of profanity rolling off his tongue. Our waitress promptly shuts him up. "There are customers in here!" she shouts in a whisper and rushes to apologize to our table. "I'm SO sorry. That guy is such a jerk." We stifled our laughter by pondering the meaning of the pink carpet and the possible ingredients in the meatlike material atop our salads.

Thoroughly amused, we tipped our waitress generously and made our exit. As an encore, someone had posted this flyer near the door.



And on the way back to our hotel, we saw a sign of similar charm attached to a telephone pole.



What can we say? We love Palmyra -- where else but small town America affords you the full entertainment value of a sitcom without ever having to turn on the television!

Tough Guys and Bunnies

Yesterday, I was visiting with a friend who told me this story. He's a runner and trains six times a week with his buddies. One day, a rabbit scurried onto the track. The men stopped to observe the furry running partner who was surprisingly unafraid of the humans. Apparently, the rabbit liked her new-found friends and was regularly sited on or near the track. After a bit of investigation, the men discovered a rabbit nest with a group of baby bunnies all huddled together. Lately, they've been observing the bunnies, but out of respect for the mama, they refrain from touching them. They've watched the mother rabbit nurse her babies and noted how the ground seems to breathe where the nest is located. To protect the rabbit family, they've placed a large plastic cone near the nest so the grounds crew doesn't accidentally disturb it. "These are the best-guarded bunnies in the country," my friend told me.

Sadly, so are the runners. Each man is spending the prime years of his life in prison.

(Photo credit: Original image: 'N1 #07682' http://www.flickr.com/photos/49638217@N00/536888745 by: Gehat. Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial License)

Food, Glorious Food!

Food is my hobby. I love buying it, preparing it, studying it, eating it, and sharing it. And so in that spirit, I'm sharing two of my very favorite food websites.

1. www.cookthink.com - Unlike other online recipe collections that are essentially unwieldy databases, this is a recipe site with flair. One of its best features is the ability to search for recipes by ingredient. If you're like me, you have all the best intentions of preparing menus and then going to the grocery store, but in reality, never get around to the menu planning. Thus when it's dinner time, the inevitable, "What should I cook?" question arises. The meal needs to consist of ingredients you already have -- not those you wish you had! Cookthink to the rescue! You go to the site, type in the ingredients you'd like to use (up to eight, hit return after each entry) and then search for recipes. If it's not ingredients that's driving your "what to fix" dilemma, you can also search by type of cuisine (e.g. Mexican, Chinese, etc.) or even mood (e.g. heavenly, junky, or easy). You can create your own personal cookbook and keep notes on recipes you've tried. (By the way, the site organizes recipes by "meals" -- I prefer to label my meals as categories that you'd find in a cookbook - e.g. soup, salads, desserts, etc.) One final note: there are accurate photos for many of the recipes, but some of the pictures are merely illustrations. So don't get distressed when the recipe for triple-chocolate mousse cake merely has a coca bean as the illustration. :)

2. http://whfoods.org/foodstoc.php - The World's Healthiest Foods. Although I very happily eat plenty of not-so-healthy food, as a general rule, I do try to eat nutritiously and "naturally." Plus, I am fascinated with nutritional aspects of food. This site lists the hundred healthiest foods and provides detailed nutritional information, cooking and eating ideas, and sometimes, even a history of the food. I'm quite sure this is where I learned about quinoa and the wonders of cinnamon.

Bon Appetit!

Photo credit: Original image: 'Fruitcake' http://www.flickr.com/photos/62021300@N00/439084552
by: Incase Designs, Released under an Attribution License