Listen to the Wind

photo by Howard F. Schwartz, http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5363901

Prairie people are used to listening to the wind. As the saying goes, there's nothing to stop it but a barbed-wire fence! The wind tells us when the weather is warming or cooling and whether it will rain.

The wind told Greg Mortenson something else. A nurse and mountaineer, he stumbled into a Pakastani village in a mountain climbing descent, disoriented and ill. The villagers took care of him, and when he was well, he wanted to do something to repay them. "What shall I do?" he asked the village elder. "Listen to the wind," the elder replied.

Mortenson looked. He saw children gathered, writing arithmetic problems in the dirt with sticks. An itinerant teacher came to instruct them on an irregular basis. Mortenson listened to the wind and to his heart, and vowed to build the village a school for girls and boys.

He faced many obstacles, but he kept his promise, and continues to build schools throughout the region. His story was told in the adult best-seller, Three Cups of Tea.

Now, Mortenson has collaborated with Susan L. Roth to create a version for children telling the story in words, photos, and collages. In an interview with author Cynthia Leitich Smith, Roth says, "One of the most important roles that I see for children's books is as vehicles for teaching our children about other peoples, cultures and places, leading them easily, comfortably, and naturally to understanding and appreciation of other peoples, cultures and places. This is how I prefer to help people, using the only voice I have. My heavier subject matters seem to me to be logical choices as ways to do this best." Read the rest of the interview here.


The collages use Pakistani fabric patterns to show the villagers' dress and give a three-dimensional feel to the book. The story simply tells how "Dr. Greg" came to the village, and after years of struggles, Mortenson and the entire village--including the children--helped build a school. The book spent 46 weeks on the New York Times Children's Best-Seller List.

Stones for Schools, a current New York Times adult non-fiction best-seller, continues Mortenson's story of the founding of the Central Asia Institute and the ongoing challenges and success of his school building in that volatile part of the world.

Mortenson does not accept government money and promotes no ideology other than the importance of education for girls and boys. To find out his successful process, see his 30-minute interview with Bill Moyers on PBS (or read the transcript). His commitment to educating girls in this part of the world has transformed villages' health and economic situations. See more about the results of educating girls in developing countries here (Click "Fact Sheet" at the bottom).

What do you hear when you listen to the wind?

Winter Remedy

When your afternoon looks like this AGAIN,

here's a perfect remedy--your local butterfly house or botanical gardens.

The Sertoma Butterfly House offers a warm, humid climate and tropical plants to support a variety of kinds of butterflies and give visitors a respite from a brutal winter.

Butterflies hide among hibiscus.

Butterflies feed on fruit and gatorade.



Nature has camouflaged some of these flutterers in amazing ways. Here is the Dead Leaf butterly:

Until it moves, it looks like its name.

This butterfly's closed wings have "eyes" to fake out predators who think it may be a bird or something more threatening:

The morpho butterflies have electric blue wings that show only when their wings are open. That and their tendency toward constant motion present challenges to photographers, but one young fellow was able to attract one, despite warnings not to touch the butterflies:

For more information about butterflies, click here.

We enjoyed our tropical mini-vacation! What getaways have you taken to get a break from winter?

The Lion, Indiana, and the Mouse

You have probably heard by now that The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney won the Caldecott Medal, an annual award honoring the best illustration in an American children's picture book. We love the cover and think the Lion bears a strong resemblance to our golden retriever, Indiana. (Imagine him with a mane.) Indiana certainly considers himself king of the household, just as the Lion is the king of the jungle and forest!

Pinkney, a highly regarded artist and illustrator, won the Caldecott Honor five times as well as many other awards, but this one caps his long career. Read an interview here.

The dyslexic Pinkney applied, studied, and perfected his drawing craft, compensating for his reading and writing difficulty. He specializes in creative retellings of folktales or fables.

In the case of his Caldecott winner, he retells Aesop's old fable of the lion & the mouse using only pictures of the African savannah and spelling out animal sounds. He brings the tale to life in a new way, allowing every reader to put his or her own nuance into the story. Themes beyond Aesop's moral emerge, with the animals' expressions evoking emotions from fear to empathy to relief to humor. Every spread is a visual feast.

Congratulations, Jerry Pinkney! Thanks for creating a book for all ages of readers and all ages of time.

Cold Comfort

image from www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/3867445255/

Several of you had great ideas for staying warm from hot water bottles to fireplaces to hot cocoa, which brings me to today's post--comfort food!

We are out of the deep freeze here, but one meal that made it more bearable was green chili casserole and hot fudge cake. In fact, I decided that green chilies make me happy! They are good on hamburgers, with pork, with eggs, in soups, in salsa (salsa verde), and so many other ways. Here are some recipes from Pioneer Woman Cooks, if you need some ideas.

Chilies can even be strung on twine and hung as an edible decoration or wreath!


Chilies have a lot of nutritional value, too, adding vitamins A, B2, B6, C, calcium, iron, and other nutrients to our diets. The New Mexico State University's Chili Pepper Institute has a complete list here.

And after a meal containing chilies, what could be better than reading a book about them? I recommend The Chili Queen by Sandra Dallas. Set in late 1800's New Mexico, a motley cast of characters forges friendships--or at least accompliceships--sharing their dreams, grudges, and crimes.

This post lives up to my blog title, for I've offered you something to read, some facts about chilies, and the food that makes me happy. What foods make you happy?

How Cold Is It?

"How cold is it?" the garden cherub asks.

As of 9:45 p.m. on 1/2/10, it is -3 degrees Farenheit, with a wind chill of -19. That is actually warmer than it was this morning! When we went out for breakfast at 9 a.m., the temp was -14! That is the factual answer to the cherub's question. His reply?


"I'm freezing my behind!"

How are you staying warm this winter?

Snow Falls!

Nineteen inches of snow fell from Christmas Eve (Thursday) through Saturday. US Interstates 29 and 90 were closed, shutting the state down border to border for most of that time. Snowplows ran around the clock keeping emergency routes open and finally opened up side streets yesterday. After that, neighborhoods were busy with snow blowers and shovelers. See pictures here.

Today, the people we saw were cheery and thankful--thankful that we didn't lose power, thankful that it wasn't so cold, thankful it wasn't too windy, thankful that people we loved were safe if not with us for Christmas. Some people saw more fun than work in the snow, enjoying sledding and snow angels. See pictures here.

This event brings to mind three wonderful books about snow. They are aimed at children, but if you are a child at heart, take a look and experience the wonder all over again.

If I Had a Snowplow by Jean Patrick. This rhyming picture book tells how a little boy would use construction equipment to do something nice for his mom. Jean lives in Mitchell, SD, so she knows snow!

In The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats , a classic Caldecott Award winner, a boy named Peter discovers the wonder and fun of snow. Keats' collage and watercolors give this book a special flavor.

Another Caldecott Award winner, Snowflake Bentley, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Mary Azarian, tells the true story of Wilson Bentley, a Vermont farm boy who devoted his life to snowflakes. Bentley's fascination led him to photograph and study snowflakes. Many of his photographs are still in use today.

Sledding is fine, but for me, there's nothing better than a good book on a snowy day! What books would you recommend?

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you and yours the best Christmas ever! Please view the link below and enjoy the magic.

Christmas card