HAPPY HOLIDAYS from THE INTREPID TOURIST

Scheaffer family in apartment at NENH, 1950.

"On Christmas Eve, after my brothers and I are asleep, my parents arrange “Santa’s” gifts under the tree. On Christmas morning, after everyone is awake, my father turns on the tree lights and gives the signal to enter. We rush in, each going straight to our own pile. Santa’s gifts are unwrapped and it is obvious who they are for—a doll for me, a train for Steve, stacking blocks for Peter, a stuffed toy for Tom."  

From Chapter 7: Family Christmas at NENH, SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL: Growing Up in the 1950s at North East Neighborhood House, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 I have fond memories of celebrating Christmas when I was a child. Now, many years later, from my home in California, I send best wishes to you and all my faithful readers.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

2024

 

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.