An aside from the western world...

http://www.hbook.com/bghb/current.asp

The Horn Book 2007 Awards are out.

They are so sassy!

So, if anyone DOESN'T have a present for me (or hasn't already given me one) and is desperate, I would like to be a member of NAAEYC/NAEYC and I would like (perhaps a lot more than membership) a subscription to the Horn Book Magazine, though it is kinda expensive. So...yeah.

Something You Just Don't See Everyday

I went to Uncle Laurie's River Cafe with one of the other staff members, Lisa, today and had lunch. Anna and I were on opposite shifts. When we got back, I popped into the store to say hi to Anna, who was just clocking in. I walked outside into the bright afternoon sunlight, and saw a couple of our maintenance guys squinting skyward. Seeing a bunch of other people looking up, I did what any reasonable person would do, I stopped in the middle of the parking lot and looked up too. What I saw was akin to a WWII dogfight. After my eyes adjusted, I could make out an American Bald Eagle chasing an Osprey about 70 feet above our store. The eagle was powerful and deliberate, and the osprey was barely escaping his advances. The eagle would circle around, then streak down towards the osprey, the osprey clumsily and slowly turning to avoid the eagle's claws. I wondered why the osprey was so slow, until I saw that he had something in his claws. Finally, the osprey, sensing that time was running out, released its catch. I saw something shimmering as it flipped end over end on its trip down to earth. The osprey, much speedier now, streaked off into the distance. I walked over to see a small 6 inch rainbow trout lying in the grass. This was the prey that the eagle had been harassing the osprey for. The eagle didn't dare swoop down for it's ill gotten spoils with all the people around, so it too made for the hills. That, my friends, is something you don't see everyday.

Oh, and Austin's check engine light has come back on. :(

Monday, June 4, 2007

Howdy!

This is just a quick update to report that we have posted more pictures from our last two days off when we went to the Norris Basin (and saw a few more geysers...only we were kinda geysered out and didn't see them all) and then the next day when we went to Canyon and saw a lot of waterfalls.

We have been having a great time up here. The weather is fairly mild (It's around 72 today, with temps around 40 at night) and everyone is very friendly.

We generally scrub bathrooms in the afternoon from 1-4, then work in the store making reservations, checking campers in, checking campers out, etc. from 5-10.

We actually don't have much to report, except that we are happy and healthy. One of Austin's SECON teammates Dave and his girlfriend Bonnie will be coming in tonight to spend a few days, so we are really looking forward to that. Hopefully they'll provide some more entertaining stories for our next post.

I have begun a book about Lattke the Loat and Cornelius the Pig (featured in our pictures, see below). Lattke and Cornelius are heading west; Lattke is a pioneers who clip clop over any sensibilities you may have. Most of my stories/books generally feature a little girl who is an embodiment of some aspect of my personality--this one features two male animals who capture TWO elements of my personality. They are very enjoyable.

I have also been reading Daddy's book about books and am finding it extremely relevent to a lot of my thoughts about teaching and about children's literature, especially the bits about Taoism. I have asked him to send me informaiton and books on the subject, and may write you all a little essay about the relationship between Taoism, the elements of quality children's literature, and healthy, effective teaching practices for early childhood. I apologize if this sounds very boring to you (or nerdy, as the case may be).

Two other books I recommend to any of you who haven't read them (other than my Daddy's, of course, which I highly recommend, if only because it will seriously boost your reading list):

- The Hummingbird's Daughter
- Freakonomics

I have got Austin reading the Harry Potter series. While they are not my favorite children's literature, they are enjoyable, and mostly it will be nice to have someone to discuss theories with until book 7 comes out in July.

Enjoy your lives!

5/22/07 5:17 pm, West Yellowstone, MT

The deer-like animal we were seeing is a pronghorn.

(Side note from Anna at the date of publication: Austin's check engine light magically went away. Apparently it just gave up on us taking it in. We have since seen a coyote and many ore buffalo, as well as many many geysers. Check out our pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/austin.walton)

5/21/07 5:07 pm, Dubois, WY

We are headed west from Dubois, which we suspect is similar in its touristy quality to West Yellowstone. Looming before and beside us are huge mountains cloaked in mist. I am reminded very much of the Misty Mountains in Middle Earth, and hope that our adventure will be more like Bilbo's than Frodo's.

The terrain we have seen today has been so widely varied that I have been comparing it not just to Middle Earth but to a Civilization world. First miles and miles of plains, then a few foothills, then rocks upon rocks. Huge bluffs of red and blue and gold and white and green and purple. Now we are driving past Shoshone National Forest and it is snowing!

Aside from me wishing I had brought socks for the trip, only one event has put a damper on our trip. After rolling over 100,000 miles in his Accord, Austin's engine light came on. We are going with the belief that since there are no symptoms, there is no sickness, and are going on with the journey.

Things we have seen today:
- snow
- some seagulls in Sinclair?!?
- 2 prairie dogs
- lots of a deer like create that looks sorta like an antelope, with light tan and white fur
- llamas (or alpacas, we aren't sure)
- horses
- cows
- a mare and colt crossing the road
- a bunch of KOA's!
- wind farms!
- Grand Teton National Park
- 5 elk (female?)
- a wolf
- another elk crossing the road
- Old Faithful erupting!!!
- buffalo
- 5 more buffalo and 2 baby buffalo!
- a whole herd of buffalo! with two males fighting and more babies
- another herd with more babies going down the street
- another herd that sploit around us...SCARY
- another herd that stopped us in the road for 10 min. and completely surrounded us

Cornelius the Pig and Lattka the Loat are on the dash, guiding the way Their felt skin is good for that cold spot.

- Anna

5/20/07 3:16 pm, Aurora, NE

Wedding went well yesterday. Ceremony was simple and short, but well done. I broke the key off in the door when leaving the house. Reception was also good & everyone enjoyed it. Paul gave a good toast. Earlier in the day he told some pretty tall tales about Pat drinking a whole fifth of whiskey in one go while they were at Ole Miss. We brought Bekah back to the house with us after the reception. Stopped to get some beer; this made Rebekah very excited. We drank beer, talked, and watched TV til about 10. After taking Bekah back to the hotel, we packed upt he car and headed to bed. This morning I woke up about 5:15. That sorry excuse for a mattress was more like a seat cushion and I was glad to be up. We left under the cover of darkness and were headed west on I-70 towards Kansas City by 6:05. At the Nebraska State Line we decided to stop at the Lewis & Clark Center. The exhibits were fun and hands on. We took lots of good pictures. They had a prairie dog that was very interested in me, as I was her. Outside, while posing for pictures on a replica of the boat L & C used to float the Missouri, we were asked to stay for a "Nebraska Life" Photo shoot on roadside monuments. We really wanted to, but with 400 plus miles till Wyoming, we couldn't. I did get to take pictures and play with a 125 lb Newfoundland they had there to play the part of "Seaman" (Lewis & Clark's trusty dog). His real name was Duncan and we wish we could have taken him with us, but we decided he wouldn't fit in the car. We're now about 230 miles from the Nebraska/Wyoming border on I-80W.

- Austin

5/17/07, 8:30 am

We've just set out and have already had some taste of the kind of adventures we'll be having this summer. As we he was wedging some more stuff into the car he suddenly cried, "My suit bag was on the back of your dad's car and he's gone!" Into the car we jumped, speeding away. What if it had gotten run over? "My suit!" Austin said. "My dress!" said Anna. But there it was, down the road a bit, with only some road burn to show for it.