At my work at the Church History Library, I have my own cubicle. Almost all the cubicles around me are occupied by senior missionaries. And since they're just cubicles, I hear all of their quirks. One Canadian sister always says interesting things--like when she disliked a picture of herself and said, "My mouth's so wide, I look like I'm about to swallow a turkey!" One old man always answers the phone by saying "Good morning," even if it's 4:00 in the afternoon. And someone in a more distant cubicle has the loudest, most terrifying sneezes. And it's never just one or two sneezes. Once I counted nine sneezes in a row!
If I need to consult a reference book, I can request for the item to be delivered to my desk. But sometimes that can take a while, so sometimes it's easier to go down into the part of the library that is open to the public. (Most items in the library are ones people can see, but they keep them secure to minimize damage.) This week, I was doing a lot of research, so I took my laptop to work so that I could work down in the library.
In the library, there are lots of soft chairs and some computer stations where Temple Square missionaries do their emailing. There are also eight or so tables, each with four chairs, where researchers and others can do their work.
This week, twice I was astonished by some strange actions of old men. I had left my laptop on one of the tables while I was up looking for books. (That may not be the wisest, but I don't really worry about it getting stolen, because we don't get much riff-raff coming into the library. It's 85 percent missionaries and 13 percent scholars and 1 percent families.) When I came back to the table, an old man was sitting right next to my stuff at the table. They could have sat kitty corner from me at the table. Or they could have sat at a different table, since there were several empty tables. But no, out of all the places they could have sat, they picked right next to me. I wasn't so annoyed that they were next to me; I just thought it was weird they did that. And it was especially weird that two different people did the exact same thing.
With the drab post-holiday letdown upon us, I have been thinking ahead six months. This year, I plan to do a trial run of formally celebrating Pioneer Day. I often watch fireworks or parades, but I don't formally celebrate it like I do the other eight holidays. I have toyed with this idea for years, but this will be the first year I try it out. Doing all this research on the early days of Utah has given me a greater appreciation for the pioneers. But there's another, silly reason. One of the obstacles has been that outside of bonnets and covered wagons, there aren't many icons for Pioneer Day; and without icons, it's hard to decorate and have seasonal treats; and without decorations and seasonal treats, it's hard to formally celebrate. Some people have used leftover patriotic (red, white, and blue) items for the Twenty-Fourth of July. But I have always rejected this notion--after all, it's a Utah holiday, not a national holiday, and the pioneers were leaving the United States. But in all my recent studies, I have learned that the pioneers themselves, the ones who invented the holiday and the ones we honor, used American flags and such in their celebrations--long before statehood and even before official territorial status. Thus, if the pioneers themselves had patriotic images, then we should too, and thus it will make celebrating a little easier. I'm brainstorming how I will make the Twenty-Fourth distinct from, but still similar to, the Fourth of July.
I've learned that the 1849 gold-seekers were so sick of eating bacon and other things that they were craving vegetables once they got to Utah and were eager to trade things for fresh vegetables. They must have been really desperate, because I can never imagine craving vegetables.
I also learned this week that in 1850, Brigham Young weighed 182 pounds. So my goal is to follow the prophet in 1850 and get back down to 182. (A few Christmases have refused to leave my body.)
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