Tissayack

I was visiting Yosemite National Park and heard a legend from a local Native American tribe which explained how parts of Yosemite were created. Here is the story. Many, many years ago, a Native American couple lived in the desert around Mono Lake, California. Learning about the beautiful Valley of Ahwahnee, they decided to go there and make it their home. Along the way, the couple began to argue. The wife wanted to go back, the husband refused. They argued so loudly, the Creator grew angry and turned the two into stone. The husband became North Dome and the wife became Half Dome, two large rocks in what is now Yosemite National Park. The wife felt bad about the quarrel and the rock she became began to cry, creating Mirror Lake. In the local Paiute language she is known as T’ssikakka or Tissayack. Purrs, Gulliver

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Jellies

Jellyfish have drifted along the ocean currants for millions of years, even before dinosaurs lived on the Earth. Some big, some tiny, they are jewels of the ocean. Jellies have no bones or brains, but they have tentacles below their body which have thousands of stinging cells to kill their prey. They eat fish, shrimp, crabs and sometimes other jellyfish! The Chinese have fished for jellyfish for over 1,700 years. The jellies are considered a delicacy and are used in Chinese medicine. Jellyfish are also eaten in Japan and Korea. Some people say they are chewy like a rubber band, and lacks flavor. Sea turtles like the taste of them though, and eat them often. Purrs, Gulliver

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Cappadocia, Turkey

I am at a balloon festival in Turkey! Not all of Turkey looks like this landscape; I thought for a while that this must be what the moon looks like up close! The stone is from very old volcano ash and is called tuff, which is soft and easily carved. What is really interesting is that there are whole cities underneath the ground that people built 2,400 years ago to escape wars and raids from outsiders. Tunnels linked the cities just like a road would above ground, and there could be as many as eight stories of rooms going down into the earth. Now, some of those places are museums, some have been turned into hotels and some are still home to local people! Above ground, the wind and water have carved the tuff into magical shapes like cones, needles and bowls. We had fun imagining a fantasy world populated by aliens living among the rocks. What would they look like, what would they wear, and how would they communicate with each other – talking, reading minds, hand gestures? I hope they would be friendly to cats! Purrs, Gulliver

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Fly like a butterfly

This week I met some long distance travelers in Pacific Grove, California. The Monarch butterflies come over 800 miles south from British Columbia, Canada to spend the winter near the coast where it is warmer and there is no snow. The butterflies can travel between 50 and 100 miles a day. They float like a bird with the wind pushing them instead of using their wings all day long. They sleep in the leaves of trees, snuggled close together for warmth. After the winter is over, they will have babies who will fly up to Canada to where their parents once lived. Butterflies in the middle of Canada fly all the way to Mexico to spend their winters there. Purrs, Gulliver

Monarchs

Mooooo, Cow!

Did you know cattle can walk up a flight of stairs, but once there, they can’t walk back down? Their knees just don’t bend the right way, so they have to use a ramp. The first cattle in the Americas arrived with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. Cow is the name for adult female cattle. Male cattle are bulls. Young cattle are called calves. In addition to butter and cream, foods like ice cream, cheese, yogurt, whipped cream and cottage cheese can all made from milk. To make all that food, cows eat about 40 pounds of grass or hay and drink about a bathtub full of water every day. Not only that, they have four stomachs. They must like to eat as much as I do!

Purrs, Gulliver

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The Island of Love

Ia ora na (hello)! I am on one of the many Tahitian Islands. Moorea means “yellow lizard” which is a name taken from a family of chiefs that governed the island. It is also known as “The Island of Love”. The Tahitian alphabet contains only 13 letters: the vowels a, e, i, o, u and the consonants f, h, m, n, p, r, t and v. did you know the word tattoo came from the Tahitian word tatau? I heard some wonderful stories about Tohu, the god of tattoo who painted all the ocean fish in beautiful colors and patterns. In Polynesian culture, tattoos are signs of beauty. In earlier times, tattoos were ceremoniously applied when reaching adolescence.

I tried to put this postcard in the mailbox outside my friends house, but he laughed and said “that is not for mail, it is four our French bread deliveries!” they get fresh loaves of bread twice a day, but to get their mail they have to go to the post office. What an interesting custom! Purrs, Gulliver

Morea

Sacramento

Sacramento is California’s State Capitol. It became a city in 1850, following a gold rush which brought many people to the area looking for gold. Sacramento was built between two rivers – the Sacramento River and the American River. In 1861 there were floods, and the Governor had to attend his inauguration in a row boat. The flood waters were so bad, the legend says, that when he returned to his house, he had to enter it through the second floor window! Here is a postcard of the State Capitol. Purrs, Gulliver

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Ukraine

Last summer I attended a wedding in Ukraine. Many old traditions were used. To become engaged, the man must take his parents and friends to the girl’s family home and have his father ask for the girl’s hand for him. If the answer is no, the poor man is given a pumpkin! In Ukraine, a wedding is a three day celebration. There is a civil ceremony where the marriage is registered. Then the couple goes to a church to be crowned. This ceremony is sung rather than spoken as the maid of honor and best man hold crowns over the couple’s heads. Instead of cake, Ukrainians serve a special bread called Korovai. It is made by the married women from both families as a symbol of two families becoming one. We all sang “Mnohaya Lita” which means “many happy years” to the newlyweds. Purrs, Gulliver

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Big Horn Sheep

Don’t look down – it’s a long way to the bottom of that cliff! Big Horn Sheep are famous for their ability to climb high, steep, rocky mountain areas. Their name is obvious – the male’s horns can weigh up to 30 pounds (14 kilograms) or 10 percent of the overall body weight. The horns can be used as weapons when the males fight. They charge each other at a speed up to 32 km per hour and crash head to head. Because their skulls are thick, this rarely causes serious injury! Purrs, Gulliver

Solvang

“Melting pot”: a place (such as a city or country) where different types of people live together and gradually create one community. USA is a land of immigrants, with many cities having a neighborhood or area that reminds immigrants and their families of food , arts and music of the places they left. Think Chinatown, little Italy, and even Solvang, which is an entire city built to look like Denmark did 100 years ago. There are copies of Danish windmills, statues of Hans Christian Andersen and the Little Mermaid, and homes that look like they are from Denmark. In addition, several restaurants and pastry shops serve Danish specialties like Æbleskiver “Pancake Puffs” which are traditional pancakes in a shape of an apple. The name literally means apple slices in Danish, and applesauce or bits of apple may be used in making the pancakes. What traditions, foods or sayings were passed down from your grandparents?