When I was a kid the biggest event of the summer happened one town down the line on July 24th. Known as “Pioneer Day” or, more pragmatically, “The 24^th,” this county-wide celebration commemorated the day that Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley after leading his people across the plains. On that fateful July 24 in 1847 Young rose up from his sickbed to announce that the pioneers had finally found a home. His “this is the place” pronouncement launched a flotilla of crepe paper floats in small town parades across the Intermountain West for decades to come.

When I was a teenager I marched in the county parade in a short pinstriped jumper and white Keds with my high school drill team and later rode on the front hood of a sports car in a pale blue Gunny Sax dress (see above) waving my best beauty queen wave.

As a child I was most often a bystander hoping to catch the salt water taffy thrown from the flatbed floats carrying displays of our proud history.  But one summer a friend’s dad arranged for us to ride our bikes in the parade and we spent the night before weaving red and yellow crepe paper through the spokes of our bike wheels and making tassles to dangle off the handlebars.  We dressed up as clowns and threw our own candy stash out of our bike baskets as we rode beside the floats depicting busted handcarts and giant beehives.  Makes me hanker for some salt water taffy just thinking about that giddy ride.

Here are a few other things I’m thinking about on this Pioneer Day.

The inspiration behind Sea Ranch.

Cross-stitched furniture.

This image of a girl with her head in the (cotton-candy) clouds.

Shoes made from ocean waste.

Almonds and chilies in a summer melon salad. 

Letting kids figure things out on their own.

Some thoughts on Bill Cosby.

Penn Jillette on Donald Trump.

James Corden, Rod Stewart & A$AP carpooling.

Happy Pioneer Day All!

Reading about the young Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, this link to an earlier film about her life appeared.  Watching it I was struck by her shy smile, the rushing waters where she lived in northern Pakistan and the inescapable violence that surrounded her.  But I was also fascinated by her parents–the never photographed mother and her charismatic father.  Early on in the video her father explains to the filmamker that though Malala wants to become a doctor he wants her to go into politics because he thinks she could effect more change in the world that way.  His statement is chilling knowing what we know now, that little Malala would later be shot in the head by the Taliban but would recover and go on to be an activist for female education eventually becoming the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some time ago I read a study showing that though a mother can do much to direct a girl’s life, a father’s example and expectations have an even bigger impact on his daughter.  Certainly Malala’s did on her as my father’s did on me.  Their shadows stretch out long before us much like the shadows of me and two young parents as we recently watched their children play in the surf.  May the shadows we all cast on our children be ones of encouragement and sound direction. May they provide shelter for them as they navigate troubled waters.

Some other things that caught my attention of late–

Furnishing a “galactic ark.”

Brainy Octopi.

Why short men make better husbands.

Do design pros have an obligation to dress up? 

For the glasses wearers and writers out there, a curmudgeonly but thought-provoking interview with Thornton Wilder.

How to tour a museum using the “slow art” method.

Is your stationary stash up to snuff?

And finally, Annie Lenox puts her own spin on a classic.

Happy Weekend All!