INDEX OF BLOGS FOR FIRST SERIES

Joe Wheeler -- photo taken on our Southern Caribbean Cruise January of 2011.

After writing weekly blogs for almost a year and a half, what I’ve written has begun to blur even for me, so I can imagine that it would be a lot worse for those who honor me beyond my worth by reading my frail words once a week. Already, people are asking, “Now when was it you wrote about . . . . . . .?” This way, it ought to be easy to retrieve the desired blog entrees.

Beginning next Wednesday, we shall begin our second blog series.

INDEX OF BLOGS WRITTEN

BLOG #1
THE MAGIC OF TURNING ZEROES
August 31 2009

BLOG #2
IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER
December 18, 2009

BLOG #3
TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
January 1, 2010

BLOG #4
THE UP-SIDE OF BEING FIRED
Part 1 – January 11, 2010

BLOG #5
THE UP-SIDE OF BEING FIRED
Part 2 – January 12, 2010

BLOG #6
THE UP-SIDE OF BEING FIRED
Part 3 – January 13, 2010

BLOG #7
THE SILENCE OF THE BELLS
IN PORT AU PRINCE
January 19, 2010

BLOG #8
WHAT’S SO GOOD ABOUT TOUGH TIMES?
January 27, 2010

BLOG #9
TOYOTA WHODUNIT: MIGHT IT BE MALEVOLENCE?
February 3, 2010

BLOG #10
THAT LOVE IS ALL THERE IS
February 10, 2010

BLOG #11
NOW HE BELONGS TO THE AGES
February 17, 2010

BLOG #12
LOSING OUR BOYS … AND MEN
February 24, 2010

BLOG #13
CUANDO VAS PARA CHILE
March 1, 2010

BLOG #14
THE DEVALUATION OF MEN IN AMERICA TODAY
March 2, 2010

BLOG #15
HERE’S TO THE LOSERS AT VANCOUVER
MARCH 3, 2010

BLOG #16
LITTLE BOY BLUE
March 10, 2010

BLOG #17
NON-READER’S DOOMSDAY
March 17, 2010

BLOG #18
MIRACLE IN SILVER SPRING
March 24, 2010

BLOG #19
THE CHILD IS FATHER OF THE MAN
March 31, 2010

BLOG #20
ALUMNI WEEKEND TIME
April 7, 2010

BLOG #21
MEMORIES THAT BLESS AND BURN
April 14, 2010

BLOG #22
DRILL SERGEANT MOTHER HENS
April 21, 2010

BLOG #23
LITTLE BOY BLUE REVISITED
April 28, 2010

BLOG #24
SEA AND SAND, LEAVING OUR HEARTS ON LA SELVA BEACH
May 5, 2010

BLOG #25
THE OTHER SIDE OF POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE
May 12, 2010

BLOG #26
THE CLOCK OF LIFE
May 19, 2010

BLOG #27
POINT LOBOS, HEART-STOPPING BEAUTY
May 26, 2010

BLOG #28
ALASKA—A STATE OF MIND
June 2, 2010

BLOG #29
RHAPSODY OF THE SEA AND STORMS I HAVE LOVED
June 9, 2010

BLOG #30
SLED DOGS OF ALASKA
June 16, 2010

BLOG #31
MEASURING OUR LIVES BY BUTCHART GARDENS
June 23, 2010

BLOG #32
LEARNING CURVES
June 30, 2010

BLOG #33
SLAUGHTERING CREATIVITY IN THE CHILD
July 7, 2010

BLOG #34
DON’T LET CONCRETE SETTLE IN YOUR HEAD
July 14, 2010

BLOG #35
FORMAL EDUCATION—LET THE BUYER BEWARE
July 21, 2010

BLOG #36
“OUTWITTED” AND THE ZANE GREY’S WEST SOCIETY
July 28, 2010

BLOG #37
PLAGIARISM—WHY AMERICANS CANNOT NOT CHEAT
July 29, 2010

BLOG #38 — NPL SERIES #1
A KEN BURNS PILGRIMAGE
Visiting the NW National Park Lodges
August 4, 2010

BLOG #39 — NPL SERIES #2
CRATER LAKE LODGE
August 11, 2010

BLOG #40 — NPL SERIES #3
OREGON CAVES CHATEAU
August 18, 2010

BLOG #41 — NPL SERIES #4
TIMBERLINE LODGE
August 25, 2010

BLOG #42 — NPL SERIES #5
PARADISE INN
September 1, 2010

BLOG #43 — NPL SERIES #6
STEHEKEN LANDING RESORT AND LAKE CHELAN
September 8, 2010

BLOG #44 — NPL SERIES #7
ENZIAN INN AND LEAVENWORTH
September 15, 2010

BLOG #45 — NPL SERIES #8
LAKE QUINAULT LODGE
September 22, 2010

BLOG #46 — NPL SERIES #9
LAKE CRESCENT LODGE
September 29, 2010

BLOG #47 — NPL SERIES #10
NORTH CASCADE LOOP
October 6, 2010

BLOG #48 — PL SERIES #11
GRAND COULEE DAM
October 13, 2010

BLOG #49 — NPL SERIES #12
OLD FAITHFUL INN
October 20, 2010

BLOG #50 — NPL SERIES #13
LAKE YELLOWSTONE LODGE
October 27, 2010

BLOG #51 — NPL SERIES #14
JACKSON LAKE LODGE
November 3, 2010

BLOG #52
MEDIA SCHEDULE AND BOOK SIGNINGS – (TIME OFF)
November 10, 2010

BLOG #52-A
HOW TO FALL DOWN STAIRS
November 17, 2010

BLOG #53
ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS
November 24, 2010

BLOG #54
THE NEXT STEP OF CHRISTMAS
December 1, 2010

BLOG #55
CHRISTMAS IN MY HEART® MEANDERS
December 8, 2010

BLOG #56 — NPL SERIES #15
GLACIER NATIONAL PARK TITANS
December 15, 2010

BLOG #57 — NPL SERIES #16
GLACIER PARK LODGE
December 22, 2010

BLOG #58 — NPL SERIES #17
LAKE McDONALD LODGE
December 29, 2010

BLOG #59
NEW YEAR’S REFLECTIONS
January 5, 2011

BLOG #60 — NPL SERIES #18
MANY GLACIER HOTEL
January 12, 2011

BLOG #61 — NPL SERIES #19
PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL
January 19, 2011

BLOG #62 — NPL SERIES #20
PEOPLE WHO WORK IN NATIONAL PARK LODGES
February 2, 2011

BLOG #63 — NPL SERIES #21
RANKING THE NW NATIONAL PARK LODGES
February 9, 2011

BLOG #64
A ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH IN READING
February 16, 2011

BLOG #65
INDEX OF BLOGS FOR FIRST SERIES
February 23, 2011

A ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH — IN READING

It was a day to be remembered—a day to give one hope that America’s best years are not gone. The setting: Ron’s Barn, set by a lake in Evergreen Memorial Park. Outside roamed Ron Lewis’s herds of buffalo, elk, and deer. And the snow was beginning to fall.

For over an hour, third-graders and their parents, teachers, librarians and principals, had been arriving, the kids surreptitiously peering around the corner to make sure those precious books were there waiting for them.

Five mountain communities just west of Denver were represented: Deer Creek, Elk Creek, Marshdale, Parmalee, and West Jefferson [Conifer], each with its elementary school.

For us members of the Conifer Kiwanis Club, it was our ninth reading celebration in as many years. We exist as a club for one reason only; indeed, after the invocation and pledge of allegiance each week, together we recite our mantra:

Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers—dedicated to changing the world:

one child, one community, at a time. . . .
Kiwanis is for kids here, there, everywhere.

Children of Deer Creek Elementary School

And here in this venerable barn (reconstructed from five historic barns Ron Lewis had found and transported from remote sections of Colorado to this lovely mountain valley), was our reason for being. Appropriately, Ron’s first order of business was to welcome the several hundred attendees to his barn, to tell them the story of Jessica, a buffalo Ron had raised from birth, personally feeding seven times every 24 hours—not surprisingly, he considers Jessica (now a venerable 22 years old), to be his daughter. He told us how Jessica, after breaking a leg, would normally have been butchered for her meat, but “how could I let that happen to a daughter?” Had that happened, Jessica could never have given birth to a bull that reigned as champion of the Denver Stock Show, selling for $85,000. Then we all sang, “Home on the Range,” about a place “where the deer and antelope play.” Following that, Ron took batches of third-graders out to see Jessica. Meanwhile, those still in the barn queued up at the book-signing table.

In preparation for this event, during the last two months, I had made two visits to each of the five elementary schools, telling the third-graders about the upcoming reading celebration and showing them copies of each of the first seven books in my “The Good Lord Made Them All” animal series: Owney the Post Office Dog and Other Great Dog Stories (Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2004), Smoky the Ugliest Cat in the World and Other Great Cat Stories (2005), Wildfire the Red Stallion and Other Great Horse Stories (2006), Dick the Babysitting Bear and Other Great Wild Animal Stories (2007), Spot the Dog that Broke the Rules and Other Great Animal Hero Stories (2008), Amelia the Flying Squirrel and Other Stories of God’s Smallest Creatures (2009), and the newest one, Togo the Sled Dog and Other Great Animal Stories of the North (2011). I then sketched out for them the essence of each book’s lead story, left a poster depicting all the covers, and a permission slip for each parent to sign if it was OK with them if I gifted the child with the specific book the child chose.

Inscribing a book to one of the children.

Each child received first at our book-signing table a Certificate of Reading Achievement (with a gold seal), signed by me and by Barry Sweeney, former Kiwanis Lieutenant Governor. Then, as each child reached me, I was able to find out about his/her reading habits before I personally inscribed the chosen book.

At 2:00 p.m., we all gathered together for the other main event: After speaking to them about the program, I encouraged the adults in the room to seriously address the problem of our community’s boys (an issue I have dealt with in several earlier blogs). They were sobered as I pointed out that boys across the nation are bailing out of the educational process at such a rate that the ratio of female to male on college campuses across the nation is already 1.5 to one, and threatening to reach two-to-one.

I relayed a message from the local CEO of the Intermountain Rural Electric Association (the most faithful corporate backer of our program). He declared that reading ought to be one of our highest priorities in Colorado. And that, when he looked back over his life, he was most proud of—not his own career—but having a daughter who so loves reading she recently read 35,000 pages researching her masters in English.

Afterwards, I called the group up to the front school by school. After awarding each $1,500 check, we had the principal, teachers, and librarians tell us how they used last year’s money. Apparently, this is the only known instance where all our mountain elementary school personnel get together to compare their reading programs.

Turkey kiss. Photo by Barbara Ford -- Reprinted Courtesy of Evergreen Newspapers.

One report was especially intriguing: The principal of Parmalee Elementary School, Ingrid Mielke, seeking ways to motivate her students to read more, rashly promised to kiss a turkey if they collectively read for at least 100,000 minutes during a two-week period. They were so motivated they read for 192,423 minutes!

High Timber Times reporter Barbara Ford chronicled what happened next: “At the end of the school day on Tuesday, students gathered outside and got their first glimpse of the Duncans’ bird gobbling as he strutted around the cage. Mielke approached the giant gobbler as Duncan’s husband, Graeme, held the bird closer than a forkful of white meat on Thanksgiving. Mielke closed her eyes and swooped in for a swift smooch on the turkey’s neck. Students cheered.” (Dec. 1, 2010 issue).

Afterwards, it was time to resume inscribing books. By now (being it’s the ninth year of these reading celebrations), I’ve discovered a real pattern: If a student admits to poor reading habits, rarely is s/he expressive. There is a glazed look in the eyes (typical of the media groupie’s bored expression having to do with all things educational). Not so, the child who loves reading: here, the eyes dance, the child clearly filled with wonder about the magical worlds contained in books. A number of these came by my table. To each of them, an author like me was almost a subject of awe.

In those few, I sensed the birth of a new beginning in America. If we as a nation can somehow reverse decades of plunging reading scores, it will be because we finally pull back our children from the brink of mental, physical, and spiritual pulverization by excessive exposure to electronic imagery, and in its place, restore that serene world our children once had four generations ago—a world where their dreams may germinate. . . . And reading will flourish again.

RANKING THE NORTHWEST NATIONAL PARK LODGES

It has been quite a journey, for I began this blog series on the Northwest National Park Lodges way back on August 4, 2010, with just a couple of interruptions, it has taken until now to achieve closure. 

Just to recap, right after the Zane Grey’s West Society convention in Gold Beach, Oregon last June, our cherished friends, Bob and Lucy Earp of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Connie, and yours truly, finally managed to shoehorn all our luggage into the ample (we thought) deep trunk of a Lincoln Town Car.  To an onlooker, we’d have been considered the counterpart of Desi and Lucy in films such as their Long Long Trailer.  Finally—and I do mean finally—,we all made our nests, asked God to bless and protect us, and headed up that stunningly beautiful Oregon coast.

We were on the road almost a month.  Amazingly, at the end, we were/are still friends!  Truly a miracle; if you doubt it, just try cooping up four independent-minded free spirits in one box for that long a time without fireworks.

It proved to be a journey none of us will ever forget.  And we’d never have thought of doing it without the Ken Burns PBS Series on the National Parks and the Christine Barnes books on the National Park lodges.

If you’ve been following our trail week by week, I hope you’ll let us know your reactions.  If you have tuned in lately, I encourage you to torque up your mouse and vicariously travel along with us since that first August 4 entry.

* * * * *

We have found these lodges very difficult to rank, for there are so many variables to take into consideration.  Especially the differing reactions to the lodges compared to the parks themselves.  Not surprisingly, rarely were the two experiences ranked the same.  Note reasons why: 

CRATER LAKE LODGE.  We have all stayed there a number of times over the years so our conclusions were multi-layered.

OREGON CAVES CHATEAU.  It was the fist time for all four of us, and since we hadn’t booked it for the night, our rankings did a disservice to it.  But we’ve all vowed to return and stay over night there.

MOUNT HOOD LODGE.  Only I had been there before.  Since it was swamped with skiers, it was anything but a serene experience to stay there.  And given the fact that TV sets were in the guest rooms, the experience was totally incompatible with the atmosphere found in the other lodges.

PARADISE INN.  Only Connie and I had stayed there before. 

STEHEKIN.  The cabins were so recent that they by no means could be considered historic or unique.  But the village itself was both historic and unique.

LAKE QUINAULT LODGE.  It was the first time for all of us.

CRESCENT LAKE LODGE.  It was the first time for all of us.

OLD FAITHFUL INN.  We’ve all been to Yellowstone many times over the years, however, it was the first time any of us had ever stayed over night at Old Faithful Inn.  Because of the incredible congestion, none of us are likely to stay there again – however, we wouldn’t have missed the experience for the world!

YELLOWSTONE LAKE HOTEL.  One of the undiscovered gems in the pantheon of National Park lodges.  It was the first time for all four of us.

JACKSON LAKE LODGE.  All of us had stayed here before, and each time have vowed to return.

LAKE McDONALD LODGE.  All of us had visited the lodge before, but none of us have ever stayed over night there.

GLACIER PARK HOTEL.  All of us have stayed here before, and returned.  It is a very special place.

MANY GLACIER LODGE.  We’d all stayed here before, and we return every blessed chance we get!

PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL.  We’d all stayed here before, and love returning to it.

THE RANKINGS

 

In order to separate our hotel evaluations from our Park evaluations, we are listing them separately.  One thing will be obvious to you as you compare rankings: it is amazing that we concluded the journey friends!

 * * * * *

		Lodge Rankings
	Joe	Connie	Bob	Lucy	Total	Composite
Many Glacier	1	1	2	11	15	3.75
East Glacier	7	9	2	1	1	4.5
Paradise Inn	8	3	6	4	21	5.25
Lake Quinault	6	7	3	6	22	5.5
Crater Lake Lodge	4	5	7	7	23	5.75
Prince of Wales	3	4	11	10	28	7.0
Crescent Lake	11	2	12	5	30	7.5
Timberline Lodge	12	8	5	8	33	8.25
Old Faithful	13	13	4	3	33	8.25
Jackson Lake	10	12	9	2	33	8.25
Yellowstone Lake	9	6	10	9	34	8.5
Stehekin	2	10	13	12	37	9.25
		Park Rankings
	Joe	Connie	Bob	Lucy	Total	Composite
Glacier National Park	1	1	2	11	15	2.0
Grand Teton National Park	3	3	6	1	13	3.25
Yellowstone National Park	1	9	5	2	17	4.25
North Cascades & Stehekin	6	5	4	3	18	4.5
Crater Lake National Park	7	4	3	6	20	5.0
Olympic National Park	5	7	2	7	21	5.25
Mt. Rainier National Park	4	2	8	8	22	5.5
Oregon Caves	8	8	9	5	30	7.5
Mt. Hood	9	6	7	9	31	7.75

 * * * * *

Some last questions:    Do you like the addition of photos to the blogs?  Do you think we ought to make the series available in book form for travelers?  Of course, we’d have to first find a publisher interested in printing and promoting such a book.

* * * * *

Do you think we ought to risk our friendship once more by journeying through the Southwest National Park Lodges together?

Thanks so much for taking the journey with us.

PEOPLE WHO WORK IN NATIONAL PARK LODGES

We’ve
come to the end of this series of blogs celebrating Northwest Loop
lodges. But lodges are far more than wood, steel, stone, and glass:
it takes flesh and blood people to bring them to life. Since most
NW lodges close during winter months, it should come as no surprise
to discover that most workers are seasonal, many being students
during the winter months. I couldn’t help but notice a parallel to
life during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when Americans
(especially the young) flooded out of the cities and into the
nation’s heartland, seeking enough work to stay alive.
“Brother, can you spare a dime,” the mantra for that
generation. The difference this time having to do with our
changing mores. Back then, most of those who left home were
males; that is not true today. When we asked those who waited
tables, cleaned rooms, or otherwise kept the park lodges running
smoothly, where they came from, we quickly discovered that they
came from all across the U.S., Canada, and from around the
world. When asked why, one response predominated: “Since I
couldn’t get a job, I decided to follow my dream and see places
I’ve always wanted to see.” Or, “Since I couldn’t afford
college tuition, I logged in at websites such as Coolworks.com to see what was
available out there.” Some were recent graduates unable to
land a full-time job. Collectively, these workers were a very
attractive mix: clearly the best, cleanest-cut, most adventurous of
their age-group. Since I’m such a romantic, I asked a number
of them what resulted from the juxtaposition of young people of
both sexes in these lodge facilities. They’d smile and admit
to “lots of romances—more romances than marriages.” Yet, a
surprisingly large number spoke of marriages. One young man,
at Paradise Inn, Mount Rainier National Park, paused after my
questioning before musing, “You know . . . I must be a throwback to
my parents. . . . They met at a facility like
this, and have worked in parks ever since. They
love what they do! So it’s affected me
too. Growing up in the great out-of-doors, I couldn’t even
imagine being cooped up in a city! . . . . So, yes, I’ll
probably marry one of my co-workers just like my folks did.” They
were a most mobile group. Freed by the worldwide web to soar
across the nation and the world at the flick of a mouse, state or
national borders meant nothing to them. Shoot! All they
needed was a backpack and enough money to put food in their mouths
and pay the small fees required at youth hostels. They were
unabashedly rootless and loved the life. Their preferred
network: word of mouth. In a rain forest near Lake Quinault,
Bob and I met three very attractive coeds who were building
railings on park trails for the Oregon counterpart to FDR’s
Civilian Conservation Corps. Clearly, they were having a
wonderful time! Indeed, they were bubbling over
with joie de vivre. At Stehekin, that “island”
in time of a Shangri-la on Lake Chelan, one of the young waitresses
could be found during off-hours reading Jane Austen on a rustic
wooden bench, meditatively dreaming the vision of water and
mountains away. At Yellowstone Lake Hotel, a young string quartet
from one of the most prestigious music schools on the East Coast
confessed to coming here every summer, so that they could interact
with like-minded people from all around the world, work with
students who, like them, were lovers of the wide world, adventurers
all, and revel in hikes into every corner of Yellowstone and the
Tetons. “What’s not to like about that?” * * * * * But we
were more surprised by the number of older people we found working
in the park. At Stehekin, the postmaster chuckled as she told
of her daily excitement: carrying her bag of outgoing mail to the
boat just before it returned to Chelan. “Postal regulations
mandate that I lock the door when I leave, but I really don’t need
to. People here are honest.” When asked if she was a
native, she laughed again, “Oh, goodness, no! My husband and
I, as retirees, were sick and tired of the sameness of our lives,
so when we heard of this job, we jumped at the chance to move
here. My husband works in maintenance. Here I’m
needed, and we’ve just fallen in love with the
people here. I just couldn’t imagine leaving this magical
place.” At Old Faithful Inn, that madhouse of seething humanity,
during the unnatural serenity of one of the Old Faithful
Geyser-induced ebb-tides, I asked a lovely young woman,
effervescent, radiating happiness, and eager to be of service to
people like us, what brought her there—but before she could even
answer, an older woman broke in: “But what about me—aren’t you even
interested in me?” Then it was almost
like a dam broke as she poured out her story: Left alone at
midlife, she chanced to come to Old Faithful Inn to work for the
summer–and got hooked. She said, “I’ve been coming back here
every summer for over twenty years. It’s my life! I
live for coming back here every summer. Those who work here,”
and she looked fondly at her beautiful co-worker, “are my
children, and they treat me as though I’m
their mother. Oh the stories I get to hear!” In Colorado, I
met a United Airlines pilot retiree, who when I told him where I’d
been, responded with, “Let me tell you about my folks. Many
years ago, my mother-in-law, then a college student from back East,
from a well-to-do family, suddenly decided she wanted to go out
west to work in Yellowstone for the summer. Her father,
aghast at his daughter even daring to do such a thing, reluctantly
permitted her to go, but first made her accept a derringer for
protection. So when I asked him what happened afterwards, he
paused, a far-away look in his eyes: “Well, she never had to use
her derringer—but she did marry her employer,
the manager of Old Faithful Inn.” * * * * * These are just a few of
the stories we heard during our all-too-brief visits to these
wonderful old lodges. As an author, I’ve discovered that most
everyone I meet has a fascinating story to tell, reminding me of
that moving observation by Hans Christian Andersen: Each
of our lives is a fairy tale, written by the hand of
God.