according.to.kim

PI 18/52: Exploration

I was delighted to realize I had captured "exploration" on Sunday without thinking about the prompt at the time. My girls -- especially Sophia (in pink) -- are always exploring like this. I love how curious they are!

Yesterday morning, I was listening to the radio and heard about the Loggerhead Shrike, an endangered bird species, being in southern Saskatchewan right now. Anyone who sees one is asked to report the sighting. I thought this bird (also known as the "Butcher Bird") sounded quite interesting, so I mentioned it to the kids. We spent the next few minutes looking up images on the Internet. Later, at school, Sophia was required to write a short story in English. Based on our conversation and brief research, she wrote about the Loggerhead Shrike. :)

Last week, I scribbled down a few things that the girls are "into" right now:

• finding and keeping caterpillars in containers with hole-punched lids (which are not always secure; I have found two caterpillars roaming free in our house. ick!)
• jumping on the trampoline (as always!)
• checking the growth of seedlings in the garden and pots
• Harry Potter books and movies - Sophia
• Fancy Nancy books, every night - Madeline and Georgia
• making circle "spinning art" -- I love how they've taken an art toy that was meant to be used in one way (with dripping paint that sprays unpredictably) and are using it to make art in another way (with a marker touching the paper as it spins).

My friend D

I learned yesterday that a friend of mine is very ill. I was told she started losing vision three weeks ago, then had surgery within two days to remove a brain tumor and they couldn't get it all, so she'll undergo chemo.

My friend is only 36 and she has two small children. I believe her oldest turns five this fall.

I can't imagine the pain she is going through, both physical and emotional. Unspeakable. I can't stand the thought of those children having to grow up without their mother, and of her not having the chance to see them grow up. And the pain her whole family must be going through...

It makes everything else seem so trivial.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't seen Diane for a few years. We became friends when we both lived in Saskatoon and it's been a very long time since we lived in the same city. I need to find the courage to contact her. It won't be easy, but I want her to know that I care and that I'm praying for her. I want to hug her tight. I want to help somehow.

I know there isn't much I can do, but at least I can send her good thoughts. I read an article probably 10 or 11 years ago about healing through thoughts and it really stuck with me for some reason. (See Healing at a Distance: "Research reveals that people respond well to prayers and hopes propelled by nothing more than loving intention.") I don't know if I believe it, but I'd like to -- especially at times like this.

***

Found in the March 22, 2006 issue of the Weyburn Review:

Feeding the wild boar: Diane Hood spreads out a bucket of feed for the 25 head of wild boar she and husband Jamie keep on their game farm south of Halbrite. The Hoods mainly raise whitetail deer on their ranch, but keep some head of boar as part of their operations.

Frogwatching 101

Did you know that frogs and toads give early warning signs of ecological change because they are extremely sensitive to herbicides, insecticides, air pollution, and the effects of global warming? I didn't, until I read an article called Counting Croaks by Liz Bryan in the Spring 2006 issue of Westworld Saskatchewan.

I've been saving this article because I think it's interesting and perhaps someday the girls would like to try frogwatching (or maybe wormwatching); however, I just want to recycle this magazine and I don't want to save the paper article because I probably won't be able to find it when I want to. Instead, I'm going to save the pertinent info right here. Perhaps you'll find it interesting too (?).

This is directly from a sidebar within the article:

Frogwatching 101
you can be a leaper peeper too

Volunteers are always needed. To become a frogwatcher (er, listener), you'll need to:

• learn the unique calls of the six different frog/toad species in Saskatchewan (chorus, leopard and wood frogs; Canadian, Great Plains and Plains Spadefoot toads)
• choose a location or a string of locations to listen for calls
• record your observations and send then in via the Frogwatch website or by mail

For step-by-step instructions, visit www.naturewatch.ca and follow the Frogwatch link. The website also posts other Environment Canada monitoring programs, usually in want of volunteers, that include Plantwatch, Icewatch and -- can you believe it? -- Wormwatch.

To listen to frog calls by telephone, call 1-888-31-Frogs (313-7647) and give the province's access code (21 for Saskatchewan) when asked for your observer number. You will be told the number to press for each of the six Saskatchewan frogs and toads; press the number (plus the number sign, #) for the one you wish to listen to. --L.B.

Current events

Last Friday, Neil's cousin Darren was named Saskatchewan's 2005 Outstanding Young Farmer! We're very proud of him. And we're even more excited about his recent engagement to Alison! Congratulations to both of them! (Added June 23: I posted this when I learned they were dating.)

This past weekend, we noticed an unusual number of butterflies on the lilac bushes in our yard, and also in Yellow Grass. It was really cool, so we took a bunch of pictures (but we have to wait for them because they're on the film camera). Neil learned from the radio that they're Painted Lady butterflies and they're here in abundance due to a population explosion in south-central U.S. and Mexico, as mentioned on this page about the Painted Lady.

The temp hit 33 today and it currently feels like 41 because of the humidity. I still had to wear a sweater all day in my office and at home (there's a vent that blows right on me when I sit at the computer). I appreciate air conditioning, but does it have to be so freakin' cold? On hot days, when I come out of my office building to go home for lunch, my skin tingles as I warm up in the heat and I love that feeling.

It's our nephew's birthday today. Happy birthday, Ethan!

No way!

In September, Sophia had a pet caterpiller named Fuzzy. That caterpiller lived in our house (in the bug hut) for a couple of weeks and then died; I don't know why. Then about a week before Sophia's special day at preschool, we were at the farm and I saw another caterpiller just like Fuzzy. The wind was actually blowing it across the driveway as I was walking to the house. So I picked it up, put it in a jar, and we took it home. Sophia named it Fuzzy too, and she took it to preschool on her special day for Show & Tell. I don't know why I didn't write about that when I described her special day. It was interesting because Fuzzy would only uncurl and move around when Sophia held it, but not when anyone else did, including the teacher.

Anyhow, shortly after that special day in September--only a day or two later--Fuzzy made a cocoon in the bug hut. We were all quite fascinated. Ever since then, the bug hut has sat in front of the kitchen window beside the back door. A few times, Neil and I have commented to each other, 'I don't think it's going to make it; it probably should have been outside or something', but then just went on about our business.

Well, we can hardly believe our eyes, but Fuzzy is now a moth!!! We just noticed this evening. So what do moths eat??? Neil put some lettuce in the bug hut. Perhaps we should search the internet!