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

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?

Smokejumpers

Kip laughed when I asked him what his mother thought of his job as a smokejumper. “She thinks I am crazy… truly nuts and need my head examined.” Kip and his co-workers have a dangerous job jumping out of an airplane to fight fires in remote areas where there are no roads. There are only 450 smokejumpers in the USA who attend special schools like the one in Missoula, Montana which has been around for 75 years. The school trains smokejumpers how to jump out of airplanes and use parachutes, fight the fires by hand, and then carry out equipment that can weigh up to 120 – 140 pounds. This has been a busy year, with 81 fires going on around the Western United States, and I told Kip I admired his dedication to keeping people and property safe. “I love the outdoors” he simply said. Purrs, Gulliver

“Mail in a Pail”

“Mail in a Pail”? Michigan is the only place in the world with a floating post office. Michigan has many huge rivers and lakes which are used by big ships called freighters to transport things. These ships cannot stop in the middle of a river so people can get off and mail a letter or go shopping. So in 1874 J.W. Westcott started a US mail delivery service by rowing a boat out to the freighter, who would toss a bucket or pail over the side for its mail. The current boat, J.W. Westcott II even has its own zip code – 48222. In addition to the mail, deliveries have included books, candy and even the occasional pizza!
Purrs, Gulliver

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Kauai

Mmmm, I love all the fruit I found on Kauai. The oldest island on the Hawaiian Islands grows guava, mango, banana, papaya, avacado, starfruit, kava and pineapple. Pretty amazing for a volcano that erupted with fire and hot rocks six million years ago! The “Garden Isle” has a tropical rain forest covering much of the land, and it gets more rain than any of the other “Sandwich Islands” which is an old name for Hawaii. I normally don’t like being in water, so I skipped the snorkeling and surfing and enjoyed stretching out on the sandy beaches for a nap every day. I also went hiking in the Waimea Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It is a large canyon, approximately 10 miles long and 3000 feet deep. I certainly got my exercise there! Purrs, Gulliver.

Waimea Canyon

Rainy Week

It’s been a rainy week; here are some expressions for rain from around the world. In Danish, it rains “shoemaker boys”, In Wales, it rains old women and sticks, but across the border in England, it rains cats and dogs… or even stair-rods. In Poland it rains frogs. In Germany it rains twine (string). They also say “it’s raining puppies”. In Russia, the saying is it’s “raining from a bucket” while in Norway, it rains male cats, or just cats. In Mandarin Chinese, the expression is raining fur/hair. The Netherland rains are called pipestems. They also say “het is hondenweer” or “it’s dogsweather”! Purrs, Gulliver

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Italy

I love visiting Italy. Pasta, pizza, pianos and violins were all created by Italians, and the first operas (stories set to music) were written in Italy. The name Italy comes from the word italia, meaning “calf land,” perhaps because the bull was a symbol of the Southern Italian tribes. Italy is slightly larger than Arizona. It is shaped like a high heel boot kicking a rock or piece of dirt. Nearly 80% of Italy is either mountainous or hilly. There are many famous explores who were Italian, including Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, John Cabot, and Amerigo Vespucci – his name was adapted to America. Maybe someday I will discover a new land and have it named Gully! Purrs, Gulliver

Italy

Bison

Early American settlers called bison “bufello” due to the similar look between the two animals, and the name “buffalo” stuck for the American kind. But it’s wrong. The American bison lives only in North America, while the two kinds of real buffalo live in Africa and Asia. Scientists think that bison crossed over a land bridge that once connected Asia and North America over a space of many many years. Through the centuries buffalo slowly moved southward, eventually reaching Mexico and east to the Atlantic Coast. The largest herds settled on the plains and prairies of Central Unites States and Canada. Bison were a symbol of abundance and a sacred life for the Native Americans, with many stories and legends told about them. Purrs, Gulliver

buffalo

Arches

I spent some time camping at several of our national parks this past summer. Arches National Park is in eastern Utah. I did a lot of hiking and saw many of the 2,000 natural stone arches, in addition to sky-high peaks and giant balanced rocks. One evening, a ranger talked about the kinds of wildlife that live in the parks. Desert bighorn sheep and mule deer can be seen often, but mountain lions come out at night. Kangaroo rats, lizards, spadefoot toads and many types of birds also live in the park. Take pictures when it is safe, but don’t bother the wildlife, the ranger said. Purrs, Gulliver

Arches