Sweet Story

Hi Kids,

The maple leaf is the symbol of Canada -- you'll see it on their flag. Maple trees have a sweet sap that can be made into syrup or sugar. While I was in Quebec, I visited a shop called Le Delices de l'Erable -- or The Delights of the Maple. There was a little museum in the shop and I learned more about maple syrup.

The Indians first discovered uses for the sap. They made vee-shaped cuts in the trees and let the sap run out through a hollow reed or bent piece of bark. They collected the liquid in birchbark buckets. They drank the sap or used it in cooking. Later European traders and settlers brought wooden buckets and iron and copper kettles.

In the winter, the sap is thick and protects the tree from freezing. When the snow and ice begin to thaw, the tree draws water through its roots and the sap thins down. Cutting a hole in the tree to gather the sap is called "tapping." When the sap comes out of the tree, it isn't very sweet and it is as clear as water. When it is boiled and becomes more concentrated, some of the water evaporates, leaving a darker, sweeter liquid -- maple syrup.

In colonial America, sugar had to be imported from Europe. During the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin thought it would be a good idea if the colonists used maple sugar so they wouldn't be dependent on England for sweetener.

Maple syrup is great on pancakes and waffles and it makes great candy. I hope you enjoy the samples I sent you.

Here's something cool they do with maple syrup. They get it really hot and pour it onto clean snow.

As it cools, it gets firmer and they take a wooden stick and roll the semi-soft syrup around it.

Voila! A maple sucker!

Love,

Vanilla

Bear North

Hi Kids,

The picture above is of me sitting on a statue of Bonhomme (that's French for snowman) in the lobby of our hotel, the Quebec Hilton. Bonhomme is the king of the Winter Carnaval -- but I'll tell you more about that in another post. Today I want to introduce you to Quebec City, the capital of the province (the Canadian equivalent of our states) of Quebec.

Canada has ten provinces and three territories. It is the second largest country in the world in area. It's a million square miles bigger than the United States. That area is bigger than Alaska, Texas and Oklahoma put together. The capital of the country is Ottawa.

Quebec City is very old and very beautiful. It was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. The historic area of Quebec (from now on, I'm going to call the city Quebec rather than Quebec City -- it's shorter) has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) because of its historic importance. This area is surrounded by a city wall (an old European tradition). The city has built up outside the wall but I spent most of my time in the historic areas.

The old town is divided into two sections. The lower town is on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. The upper town is high up a hill. There are steep streets that connect the two areas but for a quick and easy trip, I took the funicular -- a sort of sideways elevator. It was fun.

You'll notice that even though my visit was in February, Christmas decorations were still up. Quebecers have a long winter and the people like to see the cheery decorations so they don't take them down until Carnaval is over.

I loved looking in the shop windows -- especially this one. The name of the shop is C'est Si Bon, which means "it's so good." The shop was full of candy. Mmmmmmm. I love candy. I even brought some for you! Watch for a package -- I'll try to get Miss Elaine to mail it this weekend.

Love,

Vanilla

Florida Adventure Part 1

Hi Kids,

Miss Elaine and I have been to Polk County in the middle of Florida. We saw lots of really cool things. The picture above is in a beautiful garden in Lakeland.

We ate at lots of different places and we shopped some, too. Miss Elaine let me ride this antique rocking horse -- but she didn't buy it for me. I guess it wouldn't fit in the suitcase!

One day we went to a neat museum called Fantasy of Flight. They have lots of airplanes there. Our guide was called Smilin' Jack and he was dressed like a 1920s barnstormer. Do you know what a barnstormer is? I bet you can look it up.

Among the planes we saw was a replica (that means a copy -- not the real thing) of Wiley Post's airplane, the Winnie Mae. Wiley Post was a famous aviator and inventor and he was from Oklahoma.

Another day we had an outing at a dude ranch -- River Ranch. Our horse's name was Gus and he was a really good horse. We rode through a pasture with rodeo bulls in it and along side a pond and under trees that had Spanish moss hanging on them.

After we went horseback riding, we went for an airboat ride. We saw nine alligators. This one was the biggest. We called him Big Al. He was about twelve feet long. If you don't think that's very long, lie down on the floor and let your teacher measure you. How many of you would have to lie head to toe to be as long as Big Al? I'm guessing three -- let me know if I am right or wrong.

I had such a good time on my trip that I'm going to have to write one or two more blog posts to tell you more about it. Look for another one soon.

Love,

Vanilla

Cool Christmas in Nashville

Hi Kids,

As you know from my postcard, Miss Elaine and I have been to Nashville, Tennessee. The whole town is getting ready for the holidays and I got to see some really neat things. One was an exhibit at the Opryland Hotel. Called ICE, it was really cool. I mean REALLY cool -- 9 degrees Fahrenheit. As you can tell, the exhibit stars all the Peanuts characters -- made out of ice.

And Snoopy and Charlie Brown weren't the only things made out of ice. This is an ice slide. Miss Elaine took me down twice! She wanted a friend to take our picture but the camera batteries were getting too cold and didn't work very well.

Isn't Snoopy's doghouse neat? The ice carvers were from China and worked day and night for over a month to get ICE ready.

At the end of the Peanuts display, there was an icy manger scene.

After we saw ICE, we had dinner then went to the Radio City Christmas Show. The stars of the show were the Rockettes -- tall, beautiful dancers who can kick really high. Two of them posed for a picture with me. The one on the left graduated from the University of Oklahoma but now she lives in New York -- except when she's traveling with a show like this one. Do you think I'm too short to be a Rockette?

Love,

Vanilla

Mobile A-museum-ments

Hi Kids,

As you probably know from my postcards, Miss Elaine and I have been to Mobile, Alabama. We did lots of things and saw lots of museums. We started with the Museum of Mobile -- a history museum. They had a special exhibit of antique toys and I posed with these bears which are over 100 years old. They had to stay in a case but I got to sit on top of it.

While we were there, some pirates dropped in. Don't you think this pirate looks like Captain Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean"?

Next we went to the Carnival Museum. The first Mardi Gras in the New World was held in Mobile in 1703. Mardi Gras is a really big party that lasts for a couple of weeks. People dress up in beautiful costumes and have parades and dances. That's me on the knee of the giant jester in front of the museum.

The costumes in the museum were really pretty. The queens have fancy dresses and really long trains. Not like on the railroad -- this kind of train is a long dress part that drags behind when the queen walks. This was my favorite because I love pink.

The kings and queens have crowns, too. Some of them were in the museum but I didn't get to try one on.

I did get to pose like a queen for this picture.

Our last museum visit for the day was at the Exploreum -- the science museum. The had a special exhibit with Bob the Builder. The had lots of things to try. I love museums.

Love,

Vanilla

Sandy Claws

Hi Kids,

Miss Elaine and I just got back from Las Cruces and southeastern New Mexico. This was my favorite place. White Sands National Monument protects a big chunk of the world's largest area of gypsum sand dunes. Most sand is made of silica or other minerals and can range from yellow and light brown to black. The sand here is made of gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate), a white, soft mineral that is often used in making the wallboard used in building our houses.

White Sands covers about 275 square miles. The sands come from playa lakes -- lakes fed totally by rainfall -- that dry up when the water evaporates. The minerals in the water are left behind and eventually break down and are carried by the wind.

The dunes don't stay in one place -- they shift with the winds. In some areas the dunes move 30 feet in one year. That's probably about the same distance as from the front to back of your classroom.

Are you surprised to see plants in the desert? The plants have to have special adaptive qualities to survive here. If they can get their roots down far enough, they can get to water that is stored under the desert floor.

Miss Elaine was very interested in all these details. Me -- I just wanted to slide down the dunes!

Love,

Vanilla

Vanilla -- International Bear

Hola Kids,

I'm sure you know that's Spanish. I've been to Spain! Miss Elaine and I went to the region of Galicia which is in northwest Spain. We spent several days in the capital -- Santiago de Compostela. This is a very old city! The cathedral here is almost a thousand years old!

I'm sitting in the middle of the Plaza de Obradoiro. Lots of things go on here -- people meet and visit here and musicians often play music, hoping that people will donate money.

Lots of things here are old and historic but the city also has very modern areas. The picture at the top of this post is an aerial photo -- Miss Elaine took it out of the plane window. Can you see all the wind turbines on the mountain tops?

Our hotel is very old. In 1499 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ordered it to be built as an inn and a hospital for pilgrims coming to visit the cathedral. In 913, a peasant found some bones and it was determined that they were the bones of Saint James, one of Jesus' disciples. People came from far away to see the tomb. Even today, people come to this church -- often walking many miles. Today the inn is an elegant hotel.

This is the living room area of the hotel.

And this is me sitting on the mantel above the fireplace!

Miss Elaine and I started exploring as soon as we got here. When we got hungry, we stopped at an outdoor cafe by the hotel. We had a great view of the cathedral.

I made a new friend. This girl was from Germany. She loved me and would like to have taken me home but Miss Elaine explained that I was a working bear and you needed me to help you learn geography. She was sad but she understood.

Love, Vanilla