Carie, My Hero/Shero!!

This is the perfect segway to rewind time. Get in your Delorean time machine space-traveling sports cars and go back a couple of months -- back to the Illinois Reading Association held earlier this spring. I met Carie, pictured above, following my workshop presentation. Carie stopped by our Zaner-Bloser booth the following morning and this is when I learned "the rest of the story."

Carie is a kindergarten teacher. While that role alone is sufficient for my nomination to "Shero status," it was Carie's previous work that caught me completely and totally by surprise. Carie came to the ZB booth to get a chance to see my new picture book, "Red, White and Blue" up close and personal. As we chatted she explained why the flag and patriotism are so near and dear to her heart. Are you ready for this? She had previously served our country in the Army reserves -- for nine years and she was stationed in Iraq for a year!

How many kindergarten teachers do you know that have served a year in Iraq for the Army? Carie 'signed up' as a 17 year old, with her parents permission and went thru basic training between her junior and senior years of high school. (More evidence of her drive and dedication.) Following 9/11 she served in Iraq as an NCO Training Specialist. Carie left the Illinois reading conference intent on teaching my song to her kindergartners in her own recent email words:

"I have tried to instill some patriotism in my little kindergartners by teaching them to respect the flag, show respect during the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner and lastly to respect others as well as themselves! I have also created a display case that honors our troops."

This is just the foundation for a truly amazing story. Wait until you see what Carie's been up to with her kindergartners while I was visiting our European Army bases last month for "Month of the Military Child." This truly is the making of a human interest story of the year. Stay tuned. I'll give you just one clue: quilting.

Final Alps Images

This is my final post on our great European Adventure of 2011...... at least until I get the great backlog of activity waiting in the wings chronicled. Someone remind me that I must post the 'Venetian Laundry' pictures at the very least, but I have so many state-side spring classrooms, events, concerts and end-of-the-year joy to share that the remaining gazillions of European tourist pictures can wait their turn. The laundry can wait till there's a lull in my regular fun 'n' games. So regular readers and occaisional drop-in visitors, I wave good-by from Switzerland, reluctantly departing the glorious Alps and get back into my suitcase and to return to the colonies.

I've realized anew how very little I know. How little I know about world history, world geography, world languages, world customs, world religions, world politics, world economy, world literature, world architecture, but I'm willing to learn. It's been a thrill. An adventure. A delight. To say that this trip is the blessing of a lifetime is quite an understatement. Episode after episode of the Amazing Race. Yet, alas. Now it's time to return to our previously scheduled program, "Music Lady and the Children -- plus the Adults who Love Them" -- subtitled "Author/Illustrator/Keynote Woman on a Mission."

Arlana, thank you for making the whole dream come to fruition. Renee, thank you for introducing me to Arlana. Europe thanks for the memories. Weather sprites and fairies thank you for all of the blue skies and unseasonably warm weather. Elsa, thank you for guiding us to every destination through all four countries -- you served us well dear Garmin GPS -- we both agree, it would have been an impossibility without your technological trustiness.

Alps with Sheep & Cows!!!!

I'm squealing. I'm taking dozens and dozens and dozens of pictures. Every curve in the road reveals yet more splendor. From the man-made stupendous Gothic spires to the Heaven made snow capped spires..... all in under twenty four hours. The water fall was just behind the pull off where we filled the gas tank. We got those views all while filling up. Then just further up the road through a series of tunnels drilled right through the mountains we glimpsed a lake off in the distance. I was literally bouncing up & down. I convinced my convivial driver to pull off so I could take pictures of the lake on foot, rather than while driving past.

Imagine my heartbeat as we pulled off and I saw sheep!! Swiss sheep!!! on the side of the mountain!!!! With a village clock tower spire. The lake on one side of the road and the sheep on the other! How good can it get?? Was that a cow bell I heard? A really big cow bell?? Sheep. Mountains. A cow with a big bell? Snow-capped mountains. Water-falls. What an afternoon!!!!

Alps?? Swiss Alps??

After sixteen days in Europe my heart is full. My memory cards are full. My every stimulus receptor is on sensory overload. I am ready to sit in the rental car and crop photos for the four hour drive and perhaps snoodle up for a little shut eye. Nearly as soon as we're out of Milan there are signs for Lake Como and then before you know it we're headed into higher altitude. What? Mountains? Someone put mountains between Milan and the airport? How did the placement of the Swiss Alps sneak in there unannounced like that?? Seriously. How on Earth can I be so utterly clueless -- so totally & completely clueless about our Earth?? This final day of driving was to be uneventful, just a necessary transition to get ourselves back to square one. Do you remember my Austian Alps photos from several posts ago, with the occasional church spire or castle? Guess what they have in Switzerland? Snow capped mountains with castles sitting on ledges, church spires in the most amazing of valleys..... and we are fortunate enough to have been given yet another blue sky day!!!

Oh and that's the two of us happy campers, camera an arms length away as we stopped for a fill-up of the gas tank. What a day. A surprise cherry on top of the whip cream of the most decadent banana split ever concocted.

Farewell Italy

It's time to wind up our trip-of-lifetime and wave good-bye to Italy. Allen has found a memento that he'd be happy to bring back with us, but since it won't fit in his suitcase I think we'd have issues at Customs. Italy you made quite an impression: your canals, Cathedrals, Colosseum, culture, gelatto and generous people. The bicycles and bridges. The churches and gardens. The sculpture and sunshine. The light. Everyone knows about the light in Italy. Now I've experienced that light.

As we walked back through the castle and then out through the Arch we came upon a drum circle complete with impromptu dancers. It could have been auditions for "So You Think You Can Dance." Postcard impressions day after day.