Everything's Rosy in the Bluebonnets

Texas was beautiful. The bluebonnet is the Texas state flower and they were all over. I learned a lot about Texas history this last week. We went to Washington-on-the-Brazos. You know, originally, the Spanish claimed this part of America -- we were part of their Mexico colony. Then the Mexicans fought for their independence so we were part of the country of Mexico. Everything went pretty well -- lots of Hispanic (Mexican or Spanish) people lived in the area and so did a lot of Anglos (people from the U.S.) Then the Mexicans got a really nasty leader and he did a lot of things that made the Tejanos (people living in Texas) mad.

He sent an army and the fought at the Alamo in San Antonio. While that was happening, a number of citizens met in Washington-on-the-Brazos. They wrote a declaration of independence (just like the American colonists did in 1776). The elected a president and wrote a constitution. Lots of Tejanos were killed at the Alamo. Then there was another battle at San Jacinto and the Tejanos won!

They called their new country the Republic of Texas. They didn't belong to Spain or Mexico or the United States. But lots of them wanted to be part of the U.S. That happened ten years later.

I visited Barrington Farm. This was the home of the last president of the Republic of Texas. You can go here and learn how people lived in the 1850s. Even the animals are like the animals they had then. This is a picture of me and a Piney Woods calf. Piney Woods cattle are a blend of longhorn cattle and domestic cattle. This little calf and his half-sister were learning how to be an ox team. The word oxen just means any kind of cattle used for pulling things -- like plows or wagons.

Then we went to the place where the delegates met to write the declaration. This isn't the real building -- but it's built just like it and on the same spot, too. It was very cold when the men met and the building wasn't completely finished -- no doors or glass in the windows. As you can see, the furniture wasn't fancy. But that wasn't important. What they did was!

Where the Wild Things Are

Miss Elaine took me to the Tulsa Zoo during spring break. They have a lot of animals. I loved seeing the mother chimp with her baby. The Tropical Rainforest was really cool -- well, no, actually, it was really HOT -- very warm and humid like being in the jungle. I wanted to take off my coat! There are replicas of Mayan and Inca ruins in the Rainforest. Here, I'm sitting on one.

Can you see the sloth in the tree in the next picture?

Sloths are really slow movers. Do you think sloths live in the United States? This one had a hammock in the tree. Then I got to ride on the train. What a nice day!

Working Bear

Miss Elaine and I have been busy working on the Tulsa guidebook. We spent three days there this week. Mostly my job was to guard the car. Grrrrr -- I just dare anyone to try to get in! But sometimes Miss Elaine took me in with her -- like when she went to Kaleidoscope, a children's museum. There were lots of things to do. I played like I worked in a grocery store and in the doctor's office, Miss Nancy from the city convention and visitors' bureau (she was showing us around the town) let me listen to her heart. Then I got put in jail -- but it was just a joke!

I loved the playhouse. Do you like my comfy spot by the fireplace?

Later we went to a small Route 66 museum next to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealers'. I got to sit on the handlebars but Miss Elaine NEVER lets me drive anything. I think I would be good at it if I could reach the pedals!

I was guarding the car -- again -- when Miss Elaine went into an Embassy Suites hotel to check it out. Guess who lives there? Another bear! Miss Elaine took me in to meet him. He was still wearing his pajamas and it was after 9 o'clock. I was polite and didn't mention it to him. I thought maybe he would come with me and be another friend for Oso but he was too tired.

Love,

Teddy

For the Birds

Yesterday Miss Elaine took me to meet Mrs. Debby Kaspari, a natural history artist. She lives in the country near Norman. Mrs. Kaspari started drawing when she was very little and now she's really, really good. She says she always liked drawing birds and animals so now, besides doing beautiful paintings that people buy for their homes, she does detailed drawings and paintings of birds, animals and plants for magazines and books. Maybe you have a field guide at home. This is a book people use when they want to identify things in nature -- like for birding.

Mrs. Kaspari was working on a painting that will be on a poster and tee-shirts for a very special event called Lek Treks and More. You can see the painting in the picture. It is of some lesser prairie chickens. There used to be a lot of these birds but now there aren't very many and people who are concerned would like to save them. They are very shy and need lots of room and lots of quiet.

Every spring the male prairie chickens try to attract the females. They have sort of a prairie chicken pow-wow. They gather in an area where all the girl birds can see them and they dance around and puff out their chests and make gobbling noises. The dancing ground is called a "lek."

People who go to this festival (April 17 - 22, in Woodward) will get up before it is light and go near the lek. They will hide in little shelters, called blinds, and sit very quietly for three to four hours to watch the birds. After the birds leave, the visitors will quietly leave -- they will be very careful not to disturb the prairie chickens.

There's lots more to do at this festival -- special expeditions to see lots of different kinds of birds. I would like to go but Miss Elaine says we won't be able to go this year. She is starting work on a guidebook for Tulsa so I guess I'll be seeing a lot of Tulsa in the next couple of months!

Mrs. Kaspari also showed us paintings and drawings that she did in the jungle. She loves the hot, steamy rain forests. She and her husband recently went to the forests in Peru. Her husband is a professor at the University of Oklahoma. He's a myrmecologist! I'd never heard of that. It means he studies ants! Dr. and Mrs. Kaspari often go on excursions together to study nature. I wonder if Mrs. Kaspari's birds ever eat Dr. Kaspari's ants!

Mrs. Kaspari has done a lot of paintings for the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Have you been there? If you haven't, you really need to go. Mrs. Kaspari will have a big display of her paintings from Peru starting in October. She also made recordings of the birds and other jungle sounds. The exhibition will be called "Drawing the Motmot." A motmot is a kind of bird.

That's also the name of her blog -- http://www.drawingthemotmot.wordpress.com/. I like to look at it. She has neat things on it. One of my favorites is a video of her drawing -- and a bird lands right by her and tries to grab her pencil!

I had a good day. I hope you are all fine and taking good care of my friend Oso.

Love,

Teddy

Signs of Spring

Hi Kids,

I LOVE this spring weather. Miss Elaine took me outside this afternoon and I looked around for signs of spring. As you will see from the pictures, I found daffodils and tulips coming up and the Lenten roses are really blooming nicely. I was surprised to see the little yellow blossoms on the holly. I didn't know they bloomed! I always get excited when the weather gets warm. Of course, I don't hibernate like real bears but I do like to stay inside when it's cold. Did you know some animals hibernate when it's hot? Only it's not called "hibernation." Do you know what the word is? Can you find it? Some reptiles do it and hedgehogs don't like either really cold or really hot weather! I LOVE SPRING!

Oh, oh! I hear the tornado sirens? Did you have to stay at school when they went off? I LOVE SPRING -- but I HATE tornadoes!!!

Be safe!

Love,

Teddy

Dogsledding!

Well, Miss Elaine decided I could go out and at least see the dogsledding. I met Maury who owns the dogs. He uses 10 dogs per team. He built his own sled. It weighs 44 pounds. That was before Miss Elaine and her friend Miss Cindy got on! Maury bit my ear! I think he said that's how you get acquainted with the dogs. I didn't like it! In case he didn't notice, I'm a BEAR and we don't let anybody bite our ears. One of his helpers introduced me to two of the dogs but I didn't want to get too close. Then Miss Elaine let me sit in the sled. It was COLD! She let me sit in the car when she went sledding. It was a good thing. The sled tipped over a couple of times and she got dumped in the snow. She looked really funny because she was wearing a spiderman face mask. She got snow in the eyeholes! Miss Elaine, Miss Cindy and Maury weighed 506 pounds all together. Add the weight of the sled. Can you figure out how many pounds each of the 10 dogs was pulling?

Up to my Neck in Snow

Here I am in Minnesota. There's deep snow everywhere and in the distance, the lake is frozen solid. There are cars out on the lake and little houses where fishermen cut holes in the ice and sit in their little houses and fish. I'm staying in this morning while Miss Elaine goes dogsledding. She will tell me all about it when she gets back. I'm a pretty brave bear, but I wasn't sure I trusted a bunch of big dogs. She tried to tell me I would be okay -- but she didn't buy me a jacket or snow boots and it's really cold outside! She is going snowmobiling this afternoon. I'm taking a nap! I hope you're having a good day. I like to travel but it's 2 outside!!!!