Smokey's Birthday Party

On August 9, 1944, Smokey Bear was "born." I attended his birthday party yesterday at the Forest Discovery Center in Pisgah National Forest.

Smokey Bear, and his famous slogan, "Only YOU can prevent forest fires," were begun as a public service campaign. How did they determine August 9, 1944, as his birthday? That is the release date of the first Smokey Bear poster.

Many people mistakenly believe the entire Smokey Bear campaign began because of a little burned bear cub. In fact, the little cub who became the living symbol of Smokey was rescued in 1950 in New Mexico. He lived the remainder of his life at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.

The image of Smokey Bear became protected by federal law with the passage of the Smokey Bear Act of 1952.


The Forest Discovery Center did a fine job of arranging Smokey's party. Multiple tents and staging areas allowed wonderful activities for the kids. Face-painting, making birthday cards, practicing with fire fighting equipment and several others delighted the children.

Here, the kids play Smokey Bingo.

Brevard Fire Department provided a fire engine. The little ones loved climbing up and sitting in the driver's seat.

Firefighters helped the children don hats and jackets and use a portable fire hose to shoot at "flames." There was a long line at this activity and the firefighters were so patient, giving each child individual attention.

Many children walked around with Smokey masks they made at this booth.

This little girl plays "Pin the pail on the fire."

All participants won prizes, of course. The little girl was eager to show her father what she won. (No comment at all on the shirt. This is Western NC, folks.)

Finally, Smokey makes an appearance, escorted by a Forest Service volunteer.

About a dozen birthday cakes were placed at the various stations and served to the party guests. Each was decorated differently.

This little guy watches patiently for his father to bring his cake.

It is of interest to note that ALL of the people involved in helping with this party (and maintaining the Discovery Center as well), are non-paid VOLUNTEERS. Reduced funding for the National Forest Service and the National Park Service has led to an increased demand for volunteers.

I can't resist addressing the controversy about Smokey's full name. You may remember when you were in the second grade and heard the joke:

Question: What is Smokey the Bear's middle name?

Answer: "the"

There is no "the" in Smokey Bear's name. It all began with a song about him and the writers added "the" to make the rhythm flow better. Why does this matter so much to anyone? I haven't a clue. But some folks will correct every person who mentions Smokey the Bear, informing them there is no "the." You figure.

BTW: One of the most well know slogans in the United States, "Only YOU can prevent forest fires," was changed in 2001 and the current slogan is, "Only YOU can prevent wildfires."

Fridays are Golden

Most of the photos I have posted show our Golden Girls in calm states. This is not always the case. These girls have a wrestling match at least once a day. The match usually begins with one or the other picking up a blue tug toy and shoving it into the other dog's face. Often they will pull the toy for a while. At other times they will go straight to the main event.

We are fortunate enough to have a very large den with heavy furniture. This is where the wrestling matches take place. (They know this behavior is not allowed elsewhere in the house.)

No one has ever been injured during the bouts, although Ellie routinely ends up with wet ears. We do not referee the matches. The game belongs to the dogs. They will twist and turn, jump on one another and become a tangled Golden mess.

The wrestling match will end as suddenly as it began. By some signal not recognized by humans they abruptly stop and life goes on as usual.

And now, the contestants! Ellie, at 64 pounds is wearing the blue collar. Lucy at 65 pounds is wearing the red collar. Let the fun begin!

Here we are approaching another weekend. I do hope it will be a good one for you. Stay safe and have a lot of fun.

Tommy Towhee

One of my favorite birds is an Eastern Towhee that has visited with us for the past two years. I know that spring is really here when I hear him singing his little heart out in the same tree between our house and our neighbor. He starts his "Drink your teeeeee" song very early in the mornings when we walk the dogs. He always makes himself visible as if to say, "Good morning." Actually, he is more likely thinking, "When are you going to put out that Golden hair for nesting material?" (Many of the bird nests around here are lined with silky Golden Retriever hair. When you have two Goldens, you have a lot of leftover hair to pass around.)

Last summer, we were delighted to have him visit our birdfeeder, a bit unusual for a ground feeder like the Towhee. He comes to see us almost every afternoon and follows the same pattern. He flies to a nearby tree and sings his little "Chweeeee", flies to the deck railing, hops a few times and then flies onto the sunflower feeder. He doesn't mind at all if we are sitting on the deck at the time. He simply goes about his business, glancing at us now and then.

Initially we thought he was coming for leftover suet. When the woodpeckers pulverize the suet cakes, we would crumble some of it and put it in the seed tray. With the hot weather we are having, we are changing the suet more often and don't want to put the old suet in the feeder tray. That doesn't seem to bother Tommy Towhee. He eats the sunflower seeds.

He is such a friendly bird, lovely to look at and wonderful to hear. I caught some shots of him the other day when I was on the deck.

Isn't he a sight to behold? And isn't it silly for me to think this is MY bird? But how many times do you have a bird that comes at the same time almost every day, and doesn't even mind if you are around? As far as I'm concerned, that does make him MY BIRD.

Knit Wits

Last fall, my neighbor told me about a knitting group in our neighborhood and asked me to join. I told her I didn't know how to knit, and wasn't really interested in learning. Several other neighbors asked me to join and told me just to come and enjoy the fellowship even if I didn't knit. It became apparent that I needed to attend these monthly sessions or appear to be a not-so-friendly neighbor.

I decided that if I were going to join a knitting group, I'd better learn how to knit. So, I purchased some yarn and knitting needles, along with a simple instruction booklet and started knitting a simple scarf. With a little help from my neighbor, I was quickly hooked. I find knitting to be very relaxing and I get a great deal of pleasure in giving away items I have made for a particular person.

I mentioned that I've been doing a lot of reading and knitting in this hot and muggy weather. So I decided to show you my latest project...a beaded scarf. It looks more complicated than it actually is. Once you have strung on all those pesky little beads, the rest of the project is fairly simple, except for having to continually slide the beads further down the yarn, bringing them forward as you need them. This is for my daughter-in-law, who loves scarves as much as anyone I know.


Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I would enjoy knitting. When I took it up, I figured I would knit once a month, at the knitting group (cleverly called the Knit Wits). I am very thankful that my neighbors were persistent. In addition to the knitting, I learn some really good gossip at these sessions. There's nothing like a knitting session to bring out interesting conversation.

Hazy Daze of Summer

The "dog days" of summer are coming to a close as Sirius the Dog Star will no longer rise and set with the sun. This continues to be a very hot and dry summer in the NC mountains. We've had record-breaking heat for several weeks with no end in sight. The air is still, and we aren't getting our customary cool down during the night. In other words, it's pretty miserable.

The mountains are quite hazy from the heat. This is a shot from our community. With this haze, the Blue Ridge mountains are truly blue.



The katydid chorale starts at twilight and continues throughout the night. They are silent and seldom seen during the day. However, I did see one on the house. They are beautiful things.




The "fall" webworms are back, busily fashioning tents, especially in our sourwood trees. One more insult to the trees in this exceptional drought year.

Here's a close-up of the little buggers.

Birdwatching is pretty much limited to the deck. Deeper in the forest, the birds are more silent, less active, and difficult to see. We have a little water dish on the deck which we refill several times a day with cool water. The birds probably don't care if the water gets warm, but it makes me feel better giving them a cool refreshing drink of water.

This little goldfinch seems to appreciate our trouble.

Ooh, she changed the water again.

Gee Carolyn, thanks a lot.

In spite of my grumbling, there are a few advantages to this weather. My house is cleaner than usual. And I'm getting a lot of reading done. I just finished Joanne Harris's The Girl with no Shadow, a sequel to Chocolat. It's a nice summer read. And I'm getting more done on my knitting projects. Of course, I could do those very things on rainy days. And I am so desperately hoping for some of those...and SOON!

Objects D'Art

A great variety of "art" adorns the yards of many houses here in the rural south. Among the most common are the cement creations of a goose with goslings, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, two toads sitting under a toadstool umbrella, deer, squirrels, and all sorts of animals. While some people may view these works as tacky, they give joy to the owners. And, as far as I'm concerned, that makes them works of art.

We also have some "art" in our yards, although most are not in plain view. Our artwork is placed in the forest, by the path to the creek. And while others may view them as tacky, they do give us joy as we walk through the woods.

When you take the path, you might encounter trees that seem to talk with you. This one is sticking out his tongue at you.


Buoy bells are scattered throughout the woods. Because they are so far below the canopy, they seldom ring. Only when the trees are swaying do they give their resonant tones.

All the buoy bells are esthetically rusted, except for this one. It was "guaranteed" to rust and we have been waiting for 8 years for that to happen.

You might come across a yard bird or two. This one looks up at you with his stogie in his mouth.

Our most recent acquisition is a turkey, made from an old tank, metal bars, and an old metal rake. This turkey will be going into the woods as well, but when we brought it home yesterday, we put it in the front yard temporarily. Lucy noticed it through the dining room window. Her tail went straight up and she did a muffled "woof" at this new thing in the yard.

When my husband took the golden girls for a walk, Lucy focused on the turkey and went right up to investigate.

Ellie, always a bit more cautious, stands back at first.

Then she approached the turkey as well, and the two of them gave the smell test. The turkey passed the test.

We love the natural beauty of our backyard and we appreciate all of it. But we also like our whimsical artwork scattered throughout. Walking down the stone path to the creek, we enjoy seeing our objects d'art as well as nature's scenery.

Art and life ought to be hurriedly remarried and brought to live together.

Hugh Walpole

Fridays are Golden

Fridays are always golden, and this one is especially so. Every now and then, something happens in life that gives us unexpected joy. Such a thing happened in my life this week.

You may recall a post I did in honor of Ellie's birthday. Through the miracle of the Internet, I received a comment on that post from someone who owned a Dichi golden. Not only a Dichi golden, but a Dichi golden with the same parents as Ellie. Not only the same parents, but from the very same litter!!! Yes, she was Ellie's sister and littermate! What are the odds?

The owner took a couple of quick snapshots and sent them to me. The girls look very much alike. [NOTE that Ellie's sister has a short summer haircut, so you have to imagine her hair as long and silky as Ellie's.]

So here is Ellie's sister:

Just look at that smile!


So ready to please.



Does the smile look familiar?

How about this one?

This is their father, Kona (Ch. Dichi Snowshoe Big Island). Kona received his AKC championship points by age two, quite a feat for a Golden Retriever.

(Photos of Kona and Star from the Dichi Website.)

This is their mother, Star (Dichi Star Light Star Bright). Star always had a great sensitivity to human emotions and many of her offspring are certified therapy dogs. Sadly, Star died this year.

I simply cannot tell you how excited I was to see this beautiful sister of our beloved Ellie. I look forward to further communications and sharing of pictures.

So, it's Friday again. The first day of August. Here's hoping you have a wonderful weekend, filled with great surprises.