AUSTRALIA: IT’S FOR THE BIRDS (SERIOUSLY!) Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

An emu, as tall as me (5'2" or 1.57 m)

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took these photos in Australia in November-December 2023, springtime Down Under. She wrote this blog post to help our mutual friend Sara Kras dream up her own upcoming trip to Australia.

Laughing Kookaburra (the size of a crow)

In Australia, my husband Bill and I were lucky to see wild koalas and kangaroos, echidnas, wombats, wallabies, and more. We also saw birds, of course. What I hadn’t expected was how they made me feel: not only delighted, but overwhelmed with enchantment.

Like elsewhere on the planet, birds go about their business around towns, urban parks, and farmland. In Australia, many species display bright colors or exquisite pastels, unusual shapes or make funny noises. Australian birds are spectacular!

We visited the states of Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales, but most bird sightings, and the best ones, were in Victoria. The photos in this post show only some of the diverse species we encountered. 

Superb fairy-wren (smaller than a sparrow).

The first attraction we visited in Australia was the Healesville Sanctuary, an hour-and-a-half drive from Melbourne, to see koalas, kangaroos, and other wildlife celebrities up close and calibrate our eyeballs to spot them in the wild. But what hypnotized us was a brilliant blue gem on the ground, a wild, tiny, well-named superb fairy-wren.

Australian ibis.

At lunchtime at the sanctuary, a wild Australian ibis startled us when it landed on our picnic table with a loud clunk. Despite the intimidating size of its weapon-grade beak, its attempts at swiping our sandwiches failed.

Masked lapwing (the size of a gull).

From Healesville, we drove to Geelong, the start of the Great Ocean Road along the south coast. On the beach, I gazed endlessly at masked lapwings.

The next morning in Geelong, we visited the Narana Cultural Centre to see Aboriginal artworks indoors, as well as captive, tame wallabies in an outdoor enclosure. Other residents included emus, flightless birds smaller than ostriches. In the photo at the top of this blog post, I caught one snatching a bite of salad after eating breakfast cereal, some of which stuck to its nostrils.

Crested pigeon.

Wild birds that stopped by included incredibly pretty crested pigeons.

Australian king parrot.

From Geelong, we drove west along the Great Ocean Road from one scenic viewpoint to the next and arrived at Kafe Koala in the afternoon. The parking lot welcome committee included “wild” Australian king-parrots. Two of them perched on visitors emerging from the Kafe. The birds never got any food, but the tourists got many selfies. We didn’t get to hear how the king-parrot “makes a loud piercing metallic ‘squeak’ like a forced metal hinge.”

Crimson rosella. (Photo by Bill Hatton)

In the same parking lot, my husband Bill caught one skittish crimson rosella… on camera. Afterwards, we walked up the adjacent dirt road far enough to see five wild koalas!

Galah.

Farther west along the Great Ocean Road, flocks of an exquisite pastel parrot grazed on sidewalk grass: the galah. I couldn’t believe that some consider it a pest.

Purple swamphens.

Purple swamphens wandered near grassy ponds in Melbourne parks and in small towns on the Great Ocean Road. I wondered whether each one goes through life never suspecting that it has a snow white back end. Bird-identification books should show photos taken from behind!

We left the Great Ocean Road at Warrnambool and turned inland, heading north to the vacation town of Halls Gap in the low Grampian Mountains. There we saw dozens and dozens of wild kangaroos, wild emus in pastures and on the golf course, and the only wild kookaburra in almost a month in Australia (see the second photo from the top of this blog post). It never made a sound, unlike the others we’d heard laughing, perhaps because we could not find them. This one, I spotted by stopping every few steps along a trail, for a visual scan of the forest all around me.

Sulphur-crested cockatoo.

Acting like city pigeons, sulphur-crested cockatoos everywhere patrolled sidewalks outside eateries, surrounded us at picnic time, and gathered on trash piles. Online, they star in videos featuring their dance moves. On site, they reminded me that they are wild birds. They have a rich, noisy social life. Flocks treated us to “extremely loud harsh screeches lacking any musical quality whatsoever.”

In the Blue Mountains (New South Wales), an hour-and-a-half drive from Sydney, I watched sulphur-crested cockatoos from a cliff top in the town of Katoomba as they flew home at sundown. They swooped overhead before diving into the vertiginous abyss, to the valley floor below. Down there, they circled and circled above the dense treetops, bright white, slow-swirling dots against the darkening green background, as if the birds were lit up. The beauty and prowess of their flight earned them my respect.

In closing, I’ll mention a bird encounter I’m glad I didn’t miss (the Penguin Parade in Victoria) and one flying animal encounter I wish I hadn’t missed (the fruit bat, or flying fox, flyout in Sydney).

The Penguin Parade in Victoria is where to watch residents of the largest little penguin (the smallest penguin species) colony in the world waddle home from the ocean to their burrows every night. The Activities and Tickets page has excellent videos of the experience to expect with each type of ticket. I’m glad we bought tickets months in advance to make sure they were available, splurged on Underground Viewing tickets to make sure we wouldn’t get wet or exposed to wind in any weather, and arrived extra early to claim a spot at the window. Penguins waddled past in successive groups. Another visitor kept belting out movie tunes to accompany selected penguins along their march, but I stuck my fingers in my ears to keep him from ruining my experience. Taking photos or videos was prohibited. You can also read about Caroline Arnold’s Penguin Parade experience.

The fruit bat flyout in Sydney occurs 20 minutes after sunset, when up to thousands of the largest bat species, known locally as flying foxes, take off from their tree roosts to forage. While walking in the Sydney Central Business District one evening, I stopped to look up at tall buildings catching the last sunrays. That’s when I saw huge bat silhouettes flying along the street at the altitude of several stories—nowhere near my face, thank goodness! You can read about Caroline Arnold’s flying foxes experience. 

On a visit to Australia that delivered on its promise of great wildlife encounters, the birds were a big bonus!

 

For more info:

Australian ibis (Threskiornis Molucca) https://ebird.org/species/ausibi1

Australian king-parrot (Alisterus scapularis) https://ebird.org/species/aukpar1/

Crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) https://ebird.org/species/crepig1/

Crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans) https://ebird.org/species/criros2/

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) https://ebird.org/species/emu1/

Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) https://ebird.org/species/galah/

Laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) https://ebird.org/species/laukoo1/

Masked lapwing (Vanellus miles) https://ebird.org/species/maslap1/

Purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/purple-swamphen/

Superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/superb-fairy-wren/ 

Sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) https://ebird.org/species/succoc/

 All the birds listed above are native only to Australia, except for the masked lapwing which is also found in New Zealand.

NOT YOUR GRANDMA’S QUILT, Exhibit at the Eugene Public Library, Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Many thanks to Caroline Hatton for contributing this report of the quilt exhibition at the Eugene Public Library in Eugene, Oregon. The exhibit ended November 30, 2024, but you can continue to enjoy it in her report.

The exhibition "Not Your Grandma's Quilt," by the Eugene Modern Quilt Guild was recently at the Eugene Public Library, in Eugene, Oregon. Members were given the same set of bright solid color fabrics and created mini-quilts showing modern traditionalism, negative space, improvisational techniques, and asymmetry.

When I approached this quilt, I was surprised to see that the quilting pattern is not linear like the color pattern, but a circular, or more exactly, spiral-shape, a distinction I could not detect from afar... until I reviewed this photo.

Zooming in from the interior balcony on the floor above on my favorite quilt of the fifty in the "challenge" part of the exhibition, the stylized sunset over hilly ridges. This reflects the landforms in and around Eugene.

By far this was my favorite quilt in the exhibition (not part of the challenge of using the imposed set of fabrics).

From the library website:

If quilting makes you think of muted hues, predictable patterns and bed coverings, prepare to be surprised by vibrant colors and innovative, geometric designs. The group explores the designs and techniques of modern quilting through creative challenges, hands-on demonstrations, lectures, and single and multi-day retreats.

“Many traditional crafts have gotten modern, and even edgy, makeovers in the past 20 years. And while the techniques may be similar, the aesthetics are completely different. Experienced quilters are exploring modern designs, and a new generation is discovering quilting through modern styles on Instagram and elsewhere. We’re excited to share our passion and see the community’s reaction to this exhibit,” said Jen Bell, president of the Eugene Modern Quilt Guild. 

TRAVELING THE WORLD WITH STAMPS: The Joy of Stamp Collecting

Stamps from Chile.

From the time I was small I loved collecting postage stamps, following in the steps of my father who often spent his evenings sorting, choosing, and mounting stamps in his album. The foreign names, currencies and images introduced me to a wider world and made me want to travel to those far-off places. It wasn’t until I grew up that I had the chance to travel abroad, but as I sorted my stamps and put them into albums I dreamed of going to those countries one day. I write about my childhood stamp collecting in my memoir, SETTLEMENT HOUSEGIRL: Growing Up in the 1950s at North East Neighborhood House, Minneapolis,Minnesota. Here are some excerpts from the book:

Snowy Egret, by John James Audubon.

The decorations in my father’s office at North East Neighborhood House reflect two of his favorite hobbies—bird watching and stamp collecting.  On one wall, in a framed Audubon print, a snowy egret displays elegant white plumes. On another wall of my father’s office hangs a framed map of the United States filled with stamps commemorating notable historic events. On one stamp, tiny engraved images of men on horseback mark the arrival of the Kearny Expedition in New Mexico in 1846. On another, miniature boats brave a stormy sea to honor the Coast Guard. A stamp with the Iowa state flag flanked by two elegant stalks of corn honors the state’s 100^th birthday.

Iowa Statehood commemorative stamp in my father's album.

I share my father’s love of stamps and have my own album. I love the exotic country names printed on each stamp—Magyar, Sverig, Republique Ivoire—and locating them on the maps in our atlas.  I learn more about geography and history from those colorful paper rectangles than from my books at school.

Christmas always yields a bumper crop of stamps for my collection–from the envelopes of cards and letters to blocks of stamps cut from the brown paper wrapped packages from out-of-town. Staff and foreign students who are residents at NENH save the stamps from their mail and give them to me as well.  I tear off the stamped corners of the envelopes and put them into bowls of warm water to soak.  As the water dissolves the glue, the stamps float off their backing. I fish them out and put them between paper towels, pressing with a heavy book to keep them flat. 

How to apply hinges to your stamps.

Once the stamps are dry, I sort them into glassine envelopes.  I keep the stamps in cigar boxes and catalogue them alphabetically by country for foreign stamps, and numerically by denomination for US stamps, with a separate section for commemoratives. I select the best for my album, attaching each stamp with a folded paper hinge.

At the back of my album I have special pages for blocks—groups of four stamps torn from the 100 stamp sheets printed by the Post Office. Some of my blocks are in mint condition. These I slip into protective acetate holders. Unlike the used stamps, sullied by postmark ink and without glue on the back, these stamps can still be used for postage. The best mint blocks include the serial number for the sheet. Even more prized is a whole sheet of 100 stamps.

From the time I was born, my father routinely bought a sheet of each new commemorative at the time it was issued—three dollars a sheet—with the plan that they would grow in value over time. It was meant to be an investment to help fund my college education. Thirty years later, after I am grown, my father gives me his collection of mint sheets. They come with this note:

 

THE STAMP FANTASY

Buy one sheet of every new commemorative stamp for 18 years, 1944-1962.

Sell stamps in 1962 at their increased value, some at fantastic profit.

Result: Big Money  Equals: College education for Caroline

Reality: Missed many issues after 1948. Plus, couldn’t afford to keep it up, as cost of stamps increased from 3 cents to 4 cents to 10 cents, etc.

Value of stamps in collectors market in 1979:  3 cent stamp  =  3 cents cash

Therefore: Merry Christmas, 1979. Enjoy the stamps and use them for postage. Five 3 cent stamps = today’s postage.

Hope your envelopes are large enough!

By 1979, the cost of a first class stamp was 15 cents.

My father passed on his enthusiasm for stamp collecting to his grandson, my son Matt. When Matt was growing up, they spent hours together choosing stamps to put in his album.

Matt and my father, Les Scheaffer. 1984

"The postage stamps of a nation are a picture gallery of its glories. They depict in miniature its famous men and women, the great events of its history, its organizations, its industries, its natural wonders...No one can pursue this hobby without developing a greater knowledge of their national heritage." Arthur E. Summerfield, Postmaster General 1953-1961

SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL is available at Amazon in both a paperback and ebook edition. 

 

BICYCLE TRIP to the WISCONSIN DELLS, 1942: Discovering My Parents’ Past

Postcards of Devils Lake State Park, Wisconsin, 1942.

Still going strong, Biked 40 miles yesterday and stayed at Okee last night on the Wisconsin River. Got to Devils Lake this morning and we are about to go hiking now. We’re staying at Ski-Hi Farm tonight and go to the Dells tomorrow. We’ll be back in Madison Sat. night and back to Kenosha Sun night. (Postcard from my father, Les Scheaffer to his parents in Kenosha, Wisconsin, August 1942.)

Kay and Les Scheaffer, about 1940.

In August of 1942, my parents, Les and Kay Scheaffer, than graduate students in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, had several weeks of vacation at the end of the summer before classes began. (I was not yet born.) After visiting family in Chicago and Kenosha, Wisconsin, they took a bus to Madison to begin a four day cycling trip to the Wisconsin Dells.

Recently, in going through a box of old photos and mementos, I found their souvenirs of that trip—a map of Wisconsin, a booklet about the Dells of the Wisconsin River, a brochure and ticket stubs from the newly discovered Cave of the Mounds, their American Youth Hostel documents, postcards sent home with their reports of the trip, and a letter from Grace Sevringhams, a Youth Hostel representative in Madison with information about renting bicycles and planning the trip.

American Youth Hostel passes.

Traveling by bicycle and staying in Youth Hostels was the perfect budget vacation for my student parents. According to the Youth Hostel passbook, the overnight fee was 25 cents per person plus a fuel charge of 5 cents in summer and 10 cents in winter. There were also certain rules for behavior-- including no drinking or smoking and lights out by 10 pm. Hostels were managed by a house mother or house father, who signed the passbook at the end of each stay. My parents’ stayed four nights in hostels—in Madison, Blue Mounds, Okee, and Devils Lake—following an itinerary suggested by Grace Sevringhams in her letter.

She wrote: (1) Madison Hostel (2) Blue Mounds Cave of the Mounds, the Little Norway village with antiques, crafts products, etc. from Norway, and the Mounds Park with its spring water swimming pool, etc. The hostel is a mile from there, and the trail from Madison marked with white triangles. Tents by a spring-fed brook, or quarters in a stone, pine-paneled hostel await you. (The Madison committee rented this from a U.W. prof.) Wild and lovely. (3) Winfield Scott Hostel at Okee to climb Gibraltar Rock, row and fish on lake Wis, and visit with a dear house mother. (4)Cross by ferry and go to Devils Lake writing ahead to our discontinued hostel.  Mrs. Arthur  Bassett, Ski-Hi Farm, usually takes in hostelers who come by. (5) At Lake Deltib there are all sorts of tourist cabins, or at the Dells. Or write last year’s house mother and ask if she would take you in!

On the back of the letter, in my father’s handwriting, are notes of the expenses of one day—including 3 cents for postcards and 3 cents for stamps. A bottle of pop (soda) was 5 cents. Hotdogs, 20 cents. (All his life my father was an inveterate list maker and log keeper.)

Cave of the Mounds brochure.

After a night in Madison, their first stop on the trip was Cave of the Mounds, where they took a tour. Discovered in 1939, the cave consists of eight subterranean rooms filled with crystal wonders. Tickets were 44 cents. (40 cents plus 4 cents tax.) I remember visiting the cave fifteen years later on a family trip and learning how to distinguish a stalactite from a stalagmite. The stalactite must hang on “tight” from the ceiling, whereas the “mighty” stalagmite grows up from the floor of the cave.

Ticket stub for visit to Cave of the Mounds.

From Blue Mounds my parents rode to Okee.

We’re just starting out exploring here after lunch by the lakeside. Have had very nice places to stay- Rode 42 mi yesterday from Blue Mounds to Okee – My big sitter comes in handy. Les is saddle sore but I am not, yet! Good weather for biking but foggy today, though the sun is trying to come thru – Go to Dells tomorrow. (Postcard from my mother, Kay Scheaffer, to her parents in Chicago, August 1942.)

Note that my parents don’t agree on how far they rode. My father’s postcard (above) says the trip was 40 miles, whereas my mother’s says 42 miles--which goes to show that primary source material cannot always be relied upon for accuracy!

After spending the night in Okee, they went to Devils Lake State Park in Baraboo. On their fourth day they arrived at the Wisconsin Dells. My father’s expense list includes $3.65 for a boat trip—by far the most expensive item on the list. I’m guessing that this was a splurge, but the best way to appreciate the amazing rock formations along the cliffs filled with imaginative names like Alligator’s Head, Demon’s Anvil, Hornet’s Nest, Toadstool, Witch’s Gulch. Another item on the expense list is film—32 cents. Unfortunately, I have not found any photos they took on the trip. But they did buy a booklet filled with photos and information about the Dells, which they saved.  

Dells of the Wisconsin River booklet

The booklet about the Dells begins: The Wisconsin River in the south-central part of the state wears its way for seven and one-fifth miles through sandstone. Here the stream flows in a narrow and deep channel between steep rock walls. This water-worn canyon of fantastic rock formations is the Wisconsin Dells. Winnebago Indians named this place Neeh-a-ke-coonah-er-ah “where the rocks strike together.” Later, French trappers called it the Dalles, meaning flagstones in correct French, but in the Canadian-French of the voyageurs “a swift stream of water running between high banks.”

Postcards home. 

On their way back to Madison from the Dells, my parents stopped in Baraboo, Wisconsin, to mail their postcards home. The green one cent stamp pictures the Statue of Liberty and the words “Industry and Agriculture for Defense.” The postmark is dated August 29, 1942, 1 PM.  Although sent to family, the cards were apparently returned to them to keep with the mementos of their trip.

I remember my parents talking about their bicycle trip to the Dells when I was growing up. It sounded very exciting, but it was hard for me to imagine my parents as young people. Now, as I read their postcards and look at their souvenirs, I almost feel as if I were there too.

Dells of the Wisconsin River booklet, Pages 18-19

WHEAT PASTE MURALS CELEBRATE LOCAL HISTORY, Grinnell, Iowa

Wheat Paste Mural, Grinnell, Iowa. Edith Renfrow and her Three Sisters, 1941. L-R: Evanel, Edith, Alice, Helen .

On a beautiful fall day, September 28, 2024, Grinnell College and the town of Grinnell, Iowa, celebrated the dedication of a new dormitory/community center, Renfrow Hall, named after Edith Renfrow Smith, who grew up in the town of Grinnell and, in 1937, was the first Black woman to graduate from Grinnell College.

Edith in cap and gown. Grinnell College graduate, 1937.

Posted around town are large wheat paste murals depicting Edith's early life and scenes from that period in the town's history. The murals, created by Iowa artist Isaac Campbell from historic photos, enlarged and printed on rolls of blueprint paper, were fastened to buildings with wheat paste. Volunteers were recruited to cut around the edges of the figures to make them into silhouettes. The murals will last about a year.

Bicyclists travel a rural road near Grinnell, ca 1990. 

Past and present become linked as one views the murals. The ten murals are found throughout the Grinnell community. We enjoyed discovering them as we did a walking tour of the downtown area. 

Gluing the photo to the wall.

We watched as the final photo installation took place on the front of the First Interstate bank building on Broad Street directly across from Renfrow Hall on the day before its dedication. The enormous size of the image required a machine to lift the artist and an assistant to the top of the wall. Working from top to bottom they pasted the paper to the wall, then coated it with more wheat paste to protect it from the weather. The photo depicts Edith and her sisters when they posed in front of the family house on First Avenue for a group photo on a trip to Grinnell in 1941. (See first photo for the complete image.)

Edith, two years old. Grinnell Arts Center building.

Other photos of Edith can be found on the Grinnell Arts Center building. Next to the front door she is wearing a cap and gown from her college graduation. Around the corner is a picture of her when she was two, wearing a big bow in her hair. (When Edith was growing up, the building was the town library.)

Anna Craig and her son William Goode, 1915.

Most of the murals are in the historic center of town. Photos were selected to show various aspects of town life during the time Edith was growing up. (After her graduation from Grinnell College she moved to Chicago, where she has lived ever since. But she has always considered Grinnell home.)

The business community is represented with a portrait of Edith’s Aunt, Anna Craig, who operated a ladies beauty shop from the late 1800s to the 1920s.

Spaulding cars were manufactured in Grinnell from 1910 to 1929.

Manufacturing in Grinnell is represented by a picture of a Spaulding car, pasted appropriately on the wall of a contemporary carwash business. 

Grinnell High School student Philip Palmer and friends pose with his sousaphone, 1937.

Music has always been part of a Grinnell High School education. This mural, on the side of historic building on Fourth Avenue, depicts a group of high school musicians.

These are just some of the murals in Grinnell. A map of the location of the ten murals can be found HERE. 

For more about Edith Renfrow Smith's visit to Grinnell for the Renfrow Hall dedication and the celebration of her family and Black history in the community, see my post on October  7, 2024.

SPRING FLOWERS at THE BURREN, COUNTY CLARE, IRELAND: Guest Post by Marianne Wallace

Flowers blooming in Burren National Park, Ireland.

Many thanks to my friend Marianne Wallace, for sharing her beautiful photos of spring wildflowers in Burren National Park, taken on her trip to Ireland earlier this year. 

Ferns poking up among the rocks of the Burren.

My favorite place in Ireland is The Burren in County Clare, a 2-hour drive west of Dublin. It is a unique place of exposed rocky pavement--its name means “rocky place”. Deep fissures in the rocks support microclimates where ferns and orchids flourish. 

Drystone wall. Trail head to Parknabinnia.

Parknabinnia.

On a recent visit, after my usual stop to climb through the drystone wall and check out Parknabinnia, a Paleolithic tomb, I lingered and took photos of the many tiny wildflowers growing among the surface grassy clumps at the site. 

It’s amazing they survive the grazing of the ubiquitous cows and sheep. 

For more about Burren National Park, check out Marianne’s earlier post at The Intrepid Tourist about her visit there in May 2013.

The Burren, County Clare, Ireland.