Author: AmandasWorks

Moomin is the Best 1990’s Cartoon You Don’t Know About

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In these times of nostalgia worship and a thriving enthusiasm for all things absurd, fantastical, and almost purposely bad, it honestly takes me by surprise that more people haven’t heard of the enchanting experience that is the animated 1990’s show, Moomin. When it was released to English speaking audiences by the CBBC in 1991, it reached its final form as the slapdash cultural dogpile of an English dub of a Japanese animation based on a series of Finnish comic strips.  And from this, one of the most tonally discordant, awkward, and utterly enjoyable cartoons is now available for you to add to list of things to binge watch.

The show is set in the fiction land of Moomin Valley, where several kinds of somewhat human resembling characters live in near absolute bliss and harmony. It centers on the lives the Moomin Family, who reside in a large round several storied house known to all who visit as Moomin House. The family consists of three large, round, adorable white fluffy hippo type creatures. The show’s main character, Moomintroll (or just Moomin for short) is the bright, kind, adventurous son of Moominpapa and Moominmama. Along with them come a cast of many other characters, some of whom are arguable more popular than the show’s title character. Their adventures together over the series range from being some of the most wholesome and stress reliving examples of goodness and simplicity to some dark twists and ongoing mystery that fits in among the most iconic upsetting episodes of classic cartoon moments we all remember from growing up.

The wonder begins with the show’s classic hand drawn animation. From the very first second of watching, the art style alone dates the show and sets it apart from the kind of animation we are used to seeing today. There’s a traditional opening song that is just as obnoxious as it is catchy. It’s energetic and goes on for way longer than what feels necessary, and is of course muddled somewhat by the audio quality. In the English version, the song is played over mostly recycled clips from the episodes. Why the CBBC didn’t just use the Japanese version, with its soft, calming tune and a more coherent opening credit type organization is beyond me, but it’s one of many decisions that adds to glorious oddity that endears me so. The animation for the show itself is mostly consistent, but the longer you watch the more you begin to see times where the frames bounce around and where small blips and age sprinkle across the sweeping evergreen backgrounds. These are the quirks that always hit me with wave after wave of memories of the kinds of movies on VHS I loved to watch growing up, of times when you had to sit and wait for the movie to manually rewind before you could watch it for the 3rd or 5th time in a day so long as the player didn’t overheat, of when the movie was actually on a tape reel and nothing was digital. 

The English version also contains several awkward cuts and disjointed transitions between story lines and events, and some moments of some truly awful voice acting that never fail to spark joy. At times, it even falls into the same vein of entertainment as the English dub of the 1980’s Voltron TV series, or the 1990’s Mega Man show, or the absolute flawlessness that is Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Of course, that’s before you also notice moments of the strange audio distortions that sprout up here and there. For these little charms alone, 1990’s Moomin takes on some of the greatest qualities that I can remember being what made the kind of shows I used to watch growing up feel so different to what we see airing on TV today.

As for the content of the show, you will watch on to find a wealth of story after story made of pure wholesome gold. Moomin Valley is a place that exists without electricity. It exists almost entirely without evil or hatred, poverty or crime. The doors are always unlocked, everyone in valley knows and cares about one another. Children run through the woods and mountains and caves and go on adventures with no thought to worry of abduction or getting hurt. Moomin House specifically is implied to be renowned as a bastion for the weary, and was built by Moominpapa himself to have extra rooms and beds for anyone who require them. It’s commonplace for the shows more reoccurring characters to practically move in with the family and stay for every meal, there is always enough, and there is never any worry of overstaying the Moomin Family’s welcome.

The Moomins themselves are an endlessly loving and supportive family, both to each other and to everyone they meet. The family and their friends constantly look out for one another and think nothing of taking on exhausting, tedious tasks for the sake of making someone else feel happy. Examples of this are almost endless, but to name a few, the crew help build workshops and homes for people, they house and protect two small guests on the run from something that terrifies them, and expect nothing in return. In one episode, they even use hundreds of flowers to create a portrait of Moominmama that is so large it can only be seen in full from above to surprise her.

One of the most popular episodes of the series, however, is “The Invisible Child”; the story of an invisible girl who is brought to the Moomin House in desperate need of love. It’s a touching three part tale that still pulls the heart strings and deeply connects to even its modern day viewers. In short, it’s tells the story of Ninny, a girl so neglected by her nasty aunt that she loses her voice and can no longer be seen by anyone. In her time at Moomin House, and under the constant but gentle encouragement and care of the Moomins and friends, Ninny slowly comes out of her shell and moves through her trauma. There are set backs, but the kindness and patience of her support network never wavers, and she eventually is able to leave Moomin Valley a bright, bold, vivacious girl. These episodes have gone on to become the foundation for several fundraising events and organization partnerships to help victims of abuse, and many viewers will watch it again and again to recapture the feelings of love, safety, and hope throughout.

Which, of course, leads me briefly celebrate the character that is Moominmama. While at first she may seem to be little more than an agreeable housewife, she is truly the embodiment of every fuzzy feeling the show has to offer. Of all the characters, she is the cornerstone that keeps everything together. Her meals are legendary, her sweet demeanor unflinching, her empathy limitless. She commonly refers her talents to a book passed down by the women in her family from her grandmother, the book everyone in the valley considers to be the keeper of the cures to all ailments and invaluable knowledge found nowhere else. In “The Invisible Child”, it is mostly by following the example of Moominmama that the characters are able to help Ninny.

Moominmama isn’t the only character worthy of individual note, though. Viewers everywhere have certainly latched onto a couple of others that have become as recognizable and beloved as the Moomins. There is a nomadic boy of indeterminate age named Snufkin, Moomintroll’s best friend. He is popular for being very worldly, having unique and wise advice for his friends, and his mature and easy going manner. He values spending time alone as much as he values the people he cares for, and finds the greatest joy in his simple uncomplicated lifestyle. He is the kind of person who would turn down the offer to earn money for an afternoon fishing in the summer sun, and a steady home for the freedom of being able to pack up what he can carry on his back and explore the world around him whenever he feels the need to. In fact, in both the show and the comics, it seems that the only unfailing constant in Snufkin’s life is his promise to always return to his friend Moomin, who in return cares very deeply for Snufkin misses him horribly when he leaves every winter to see the world. There are many theories about the relationship between the two, but nothing romantic has ever been confirmed.

The other fan favorite is a small woman named Little My. She is unnaturally tiny for her age, the smallest character on the show, but nothing about that seems to dim her larger than life personality. Little My is bossy, loud, nosy and headstrong, but she is also resourceful, brave, and practically indestructible. To her enemies, she is a terror. Time and time again through the show, she boldly takes on challenges fearlessly and somehow always finds a way to come out on top. She is a great foil to other female characters like Moominmama, or another fuzzy white hippo creature named Snorkmaiden, who are tamer and traditionally feminine. While they might content to be cooking and homemaking, Little My is sure to follow the boys out into the wilderness to inset herself into the thick of whatever adventure unfolds.

Now, there is some darkness that lurks in stories that come sprout up over the one hundred some episodes. Not to say that is in any way a turn off for most. Some of the creepiest moments from the more recognizable titles of our youth are also some of the most cherished and favored. Articles web-wide and gathered lists of them, from the violent antics of Tom and Jerry, the freakish apocalyptic future episode of The Power Puff Girls, or even the eldritch nightmares that feature in several episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog. Moomin has more than its fair share of these episodes as well. For examples, seek no further than the first few episodes of the show. In the first episode, a magical hat turns Moomin from his cute round self into a pink and red hairy, lanky gremlin type creature with beady yellow eyes and wide mouth. We the viewers watch Moomin have a full panicking breakdown as none of his friends or family believe who he says he is as the terror of his new form dawns on him. 

Some of my personal favorite moments of the show come from plot lines like this that seem so absurd and freakish that it’s impossible for me to recap them with friends without sounding like I’m rambling through some sort of fever dream. There is a man called The Hobgoblin who appears several times, for instance. He is a mysterious person, drawn with enormous eyes and eyelashes and no eyebrows. He wears all black except for his flowing cape, which is red. He can grant wishes and use magic, and he travels the world on the back of his flying black panther. If you’re hoping for any more information about him than that, you won’t get it, at least, not from the show. In his first appearance, he comes to Moomin Valley to find that Moomin House is being quickly overgrown by a magic tree. With a large wave his cape, the world turns blood red and the regular cast look on in awe as within moments the tree withers and dies. After that, they return to him his fancy hat, and he goes sprinting off into the sky.

There is another character called The Groke, an enormous dark figure with two unblinking eyes and large shinning teeth that lurks in the night, especially in the winter. She is feared by all residents of the Valley. Everything she touches turns to ice and dies, and though what little we know about her is that she is terribly lonely and always seeking friendship and warmth, she is always rejected and avoided, and her powers put even lingering near a campfire forever out of her reach. Very rarely does anyone hear her speak, but on the occasion that they do, it comes as a terrible wail that comes on the harsh cold winds from far away. Her song on the Moomin soundtrack is easily the most anxious and creepy, designed to make your hairs stand on end. She appears several times throughout the series, including the nightmares of the characters.

Easily the best demonstration of the discordant tones clashing in the series comes from an episode about a pirate ship that sinks near to Moomin Valley that’s soon overwhelmed with the crew. On one hand, Snorkmaiden is taken hostage by the captain after the rest of his crew is captured. He holds a knife to her throat, spends most of the episode engaged in a standoff with police, and shouts several threats of hurting or killing Snorkmaiden to the crowd outside, and also makes comments that sound more sexual in nature. On the other, the voice acting is fantastically awful in the best of ways, the captain also tells Snorkmaiden that his claims are all a bluff, and the incompetence of the police chief and townspeople is hilarious as they try to resolve the situation. It’s an episode that definitely feels like it was meant to be fun and lighthearted, but the execution completely missed the mark.  

Though, I would say that there’s more to the creepiness than just scripted baddies lurking in the night. As previously mentioned, there are some odd cuts and strange dialogue moments throughout that go unremarked by the characters and makes you wonder if they’re meant to be unnerving at all. There are tigers with more human like faces that can speak who come to Moomin Valley and try to eat the Moomins, that is, until one nearly drowns while his tiger-wife looks on in horror. There’s a confrontation in a winter episode where Little My and Moomin realize in horror that they are being watched by the cold stare of the Groke from the distance, entirely isolated in the woods, that’s immediately cut to a new scene where they are back safe at the house, no mention of the run in again. On a similar note, in a story line where The Groke wants something from inside the house, she vows to return after she fails to get it. As one episode closes, the narrator wonders if the Moomins will be as able to stay safe next night she comes, when they are all sleeping. These examples combined with the myriad of questions about the world that the show poses and then never answers leaves viewers guessing at how pure the land of Moomin Valley truly is, and where the implications made in the show actually lead. 

And now, I hope I have convinced you to at least give it a shot. It’s also worth mentioning that if you’re entertaining the idea, but you just not into older cartoons, the BBC has recently released an updated, beautiful CG animated retelling called Moomin Valley. There are two seasons out now, and they have done, I feel, an excellent job of capturing the purest of the magic of the old show. The creep factor is way toned down, and the voice acting is excellent, but it’s still such a pleasure regardless. There’s even a wonderful new soundtrack that features several popular artists from the UK, and there are some new ideas being brought to life as well as some of the best and most memorable old episodes re-imagined. I’m also very pleased to tell you that if either the new or old shows have captured your interest, you can find the full episodes of the old show on Youtube by the official Moomin account, and a quick google search can help you watch the new show online for free as well. Happy watching, everyone, and feel free to leave comments about what you think about the show!

The Boulder Series Final Part 6: Bats Are More Helpful Than You Know

The Boulder Series

Bats are often portrayed as creatures of horror. They’re popular around Halloween and in Scooby Doo intros, and they don’t spring to mind as being cute or friendly, but Boulder has actually befriended the bat, and now they’re existence in our ecosystem is essential, and they’re proving to be quite a good friend to have.

It’s common to see a bat around Colorado, especially in and around Boulder, given our location near to the flat irons, which are an excellent place to be if you are a bat. Though, bats might be more common than you think. 45% of all bat species in the US can be found in Colorado, most of which are located in Boulder County. They are closely monitored by volunteer groups that help to watch the bat activity in Colorado, all coming from a selection of different state park, open space, and wildlife branches of local government for the sake of keeping our bats safe and thriving.

And why would they do this? The many species of bats that live in boulder have actually become incredibly important to the ecosystem in Boulder in many different ways, from their poop, to their diet, and even their significant impact on things like medical care and pesticides.

Bat poop, also known as guano, can actually be used a fertilizer. It is also used in many household items, things commonly used for cleaning up. And they produce a lot of it, with the way they eat bugs. Their diet, is in fact, probably the biggest immediate benefit Boulder gets out of their winged friends. Brown bats are a very common species found here, and a single one can eat six hundred mosquitos in an hour. A whole nest of them can totally change the bug populations in our world, which makes for a better balanced ecosystem, and less bug infested, itchy summers for all.

Bats are also on the leading edge of several kinds of medical interests, such as their amazing hearing and echolocation that continues to be studied to help understand and improve our own technologies for the hearing impaired. They also produce a type of anticoagulants, or a blood thinner, that proves to be even better than many medicines on the market today. And finally, another fantastic perk to having the only flying mammal around in such an abundance would be for the simple fact that where there are less bugs, there are less pesticides. Local farmers can enjoy being able to ensure less chemicals in the food that they produce simply because the bats are already hard at work to fill their bellies.

So, the next time that you see a bat house set up near a body of water, you can be very proud to know that it is there, and to know that the bats that might be huddled inside are doing a lot each day at dusk to ensure that our summers are as bug free as we can make them, and that just having them near us to appreciate and learn from can help society continue to build and grow.

The Boulder Series Part 5: Local Environmental Projects

The Boulder Series

In a state like Colorado, knowing that there is wildlife around us comes to most Boulder residents as a given. It’s no shock to see a deer in the early morning, or see small chipmunks or mice scurrying about while hiking. Many people see a group of prairie dogs and think nothing of them; they’re just a part of our every day lives. However, there are biologists that are paying closer attention, from the smallest creatures to the largest, and they are always working on a variety of projects to help us help the wilder side of our state live with us too.

For instance, many residents know that where there is open space in Colorado, there are prairie dogs who live there. But in fact Boulder County has started to place restrictions on the little guys, but for their own good. With their large numbers, they can seem pretty under foot, and can wander into places that aren’t good for them. So, people working with this prairie dog management have categorized areas that are good, pretty okay, and not a place that’s safe for colonies. This can seem pretty boring, but what we have learned about the colonies and the best place for their habitats has created the opportunity for Boulder County to move forward with plans to reintroduce other species of ferret back into our wildlife, and that’s pretty cool.

Boulder and Jefferson counties have also been keeping busy with research on mountain lions, specifically pertaining to how to protect them from us, and us from them. It’s not unheard of for mountain lions to come into conflict with humans in the past, and as the population of Boulder grows and more and more people are getting out on the trails, these kinds of instances happen more and more often. It’s also true that relocation of the animal in this situation is also not always the best solution and can have results that are even worse for the animal then whatever situation they came from. So, studies have been conducted in the past, and more in the future, for a special kind of condition used with the wild animals so that they are safer, and have the ability to protect themselves better in the future.

It can be pretty lack luster, but the truth of the matter is there is still so much about the wild parts of our state that we don’t understand fully yet. And, if you are in possession of a motion sensor wild life camera, you can help! Boulder County Open Space has a project currently running called Critter Snap, which is an ongoing amalgam of wild beasties in our area, and already has over one hundred volunteers. The purpose is to understand what is around us and how often they come by, but the project is open to all who wish to view it as it is underway. So, if you’d like to participate, you’d be furthering local scientific studies at a very low cost to you, and if not, you can always pop over to their web page and take a look at the frankly beautiful quick shots of nature. Science may not always be exciting, but it sure can be pretty, regardless.

The Boulder Series Part 4: Voice and Sight, is it Right for You?

The Boulder Series

As winter gives way to spring, the heat is slowly returning to the Colorado front range, and that means that Boulder residents are returning to their favorite warm weather past times. For many, this means going out hiking with their dogs in tow. Boulder is home to hundreds of canine companions, and it’s no strange occurrence to come across proud pet owners and their pups on the popular trials near town. To many outdoor enthusiasts, it’s also a great opportunity to let their dogs loose to romp in nature. The legality of such a practice can be blurry, which is where a dog tag, normally called a Voice and Sight tag comes into play.

Voice and Sight tags are issued by OSMP (Open Space and Mountain Parks) to indicate that the dog wearing them is properly trained to be off leash, meaning they are under the voice and sight control of their owners and guardians at all times. It is law in Colorado that all dogs caught off leash while out hiking must have them displayed on their collars.

To be able to receive a proud purple tag, dogs must prove their vaccination records, and owners must attend a free one-hour class on training and dog handling, and pay a registration fee.

For Boulder city residents, this registration fee is $13 dollars. For Boulder County residents, $33 dollars. For those who come out of town to enjoy the trails around Boulder, the cost of the tag is $75 dollars. There are also renewal fees that come around every year between November and February. Registration and tags can be completed and purchased online, as well.

It can certainly seem like a steep price to pay, especially if one is unsure that the need to prove their dog’s capability to respond to command will ever arise. However, even these costs are less than that of the ticket hikers will receive if they are unlucky enough to be caught. The first offense for not having the tag on an unleashed animal is a maximum of $100 dollars, and every infraction after the first in the following twenty-four months is charged another hundred dollars, plus other fines.

A benefit to the tags, though, is that they are recognized throughout most of the hiking trails nearest to Boulder, so there are many opportunities to the use the tag once registered. Maps on bouldercolorado.gov show all of the trails where your buddy is allowed to run free with Voice and Sight tags.

Trails that do not, for a quick reference, include the NCAR hiking trail, and the first stretches of the Chautauqua and Enchanted Mesa trails, in which dogs are mandated to be leashed. Also, McClintock Upper is a no dogs allowed trail, which has reported popular bear activity in the area. Hike a little deeper into the rich mountain terrain, though, and you should be set.

And, if you aren’t the type to unleash your pet while out in the wilderness, you need not worry about the tags at all, they’re only a concern for those who hearts and paws love to wander.

The Boulder Series Part 3: Finding the Right Dog

The Boulder Series

Getting the opportunity to visit your local shelter in search of a new dog is a joyous event that brightens the lives of not only the humans who get to bring home a new friend, but also the pups who get to settle into loving forever homes. Forever homes are the ideal for any shelter, of course, but there are a lot of factors that go into that decision, and each and every person adopting a new pet should take seriously and pause to consider.

There are many tests and quizzes online from places like the American Kennel Society and Animal Planet that are great for narrowing down your choices and comparing different breeds, and if you have the chance to select a pup purely by breed, these are great resources for you. However, many shelters might not have the one kind of dog that you’d been told to look for online, so it is still important to know what factors are going into this decision and keep them in mind as you look around.

The first thing a person adopting will need to consider is what kind of size of a pet you want. Take your living space into account on this issue. If you live in an apartment, it’s likely that a Great Dane is not the dog for you. Energy level is another factor many people overlook in the face of a cute dog. There are some breeds, like Pit Bulls and Huskies, that are commonly very high energy. They might be a great partner for a person who loves going on runs, or going hiking, but not so much for someone who comes home from a long day only looking for a short trip out and then an evening of calmness.

Temperament is something many new pet owners are looking for, but this qualification includes other factors like how much time a person has to spend on training their new dog each week, if they’ve owned a dog in the past and are more experienced or not, and whether or not the person looking has kids, or if they are expecting to have them soon. There are certainly breeds that love to love and are great with families, like the popular Golden Retriever or a Labrador. These breeds are commonly very loyal and easy to train, great for first time dog owners. A dog like a Shiba-Inu, however, are commonly more independent in nature, less cuddly and more stubborn.

In these decisions, it is important to talk to the employees of the shelter you’re visiting. Ask them questions, let them know what you need, and make sure to address any concerns you have right off the bat. Those lovely people are truly your best resource when making a decision on a certain furry friend, and there’s no reason to be shy about what you as a pet owner will need to make both you and your new pet as happy as the both of you can be. Keep these few tips in mind, and look online for different quizzes to narrow down your choices, and you are another step closer is finding your perfect pet and giving a lucky pup a forever home.

The Boulder Series Part 2: CU Boulder and Comfort Animals

The Boulder Series

Ordinarily, CU Boulder is seen as a liberal leaning, animal friendly campus with daily visits of dogs belonging to students and locals alike. It’s no rare thing to see pups of all ages and sizes out playing fetch or taking a stroll, especially on the campus’ largest open quads, such as Farrand Field or the Norlin Quadrangle. Though with mental illness becoming more frequently reported by students, it’s becoming apparent? that one growing source of self-care is still unfortunately banned by most universities.

Mental health issues have been growing on college campuses for years, and as conversations about them finally take center stage in our country, gaping holes in care are becoming achingly apparent. Surveys from the year 2000 done by the American College Health Association showed even then that a staggering 38% of 16,000 students reported feeling so depressed it was hard to function. And this was eighteen years ago. Luckily, more conversations also call for more treatments, and one popular treatment for a variety of mental illnesses’ comes in the form of a pet.

Many people today diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and other common ailments have turned to what is called a “comfort animal,” a kind of therapy pet. This animal takes on different forms for different folks, from tarantulas to lizards to dogs, dependent on what kind of critter gives an individual peace. Unfortunately, variation in pet doesn’t account for much when all animals are still not allowed in dorms or college sponsored housing.

It is not uncommon for students these days to find themselves financially unable to consider any kind of housing options past what their university offers, and it is no secret that real estate in Boulder does not come cheap. And a job might be out of the question for an individual who is already a student and struggling with mental care. Currently, these students don’t have many options.

CU does bring in the local Therapy Dogs of Boulder County every so often during finals week, which is always a very popular event. However, having access to a pet for one week out of every semester for some simply isn’t enough. CU also offers some leeway, as comfort animals are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, but even still students might be turned away and not given the treatment they need.

A large reason for these hesitations on CU’s part come from the complexity and lack of regulation around the issue. How does one determine a therapy pet from just a regular pet? What proof would a student need? What would happen to students in dorms who have allergies and phobias of certain animals? There are also concerns for property damage, animal disruptions, and having the ability to house an animal in a humane way. For those who have these concerns, this list of complications to the issue seem like reason to put a halt on any kind of change, as many universities have done in the past. Yet, change may force itself as all across America the costs that comes with the lawsuits from students who were denied pets begins to dramatically outweigh the costs of refurbishing a dorm. Some students have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from colleges who turned their therapy pets away, and there are sure to be more similar cases on the horizon.

Clearly, the solution to the problem would come much quicker with clearer litigation and well thought out execution. Perhaps part of the answer could be specific animal friendly dorms, as CU already has Bear Creek apartments and Williams Village off sight for students. CU loves to share its statistics about its successes as an institute of learning, and that has in the past included the mental wellbeing of those who pass through their halls. Why stop her here?

The Boulder Series Part 1: Boulder and the Bee Crisis

The Boulder Series

I wanted to include in this blog several short animal focused articles I wrote for my home town. If you’re not a local, you still may have heard of us. Probably the most left leaning city in the state, possibly the Midwest. If you’re from California, I know you’ve heard of us because half of you are already moving here. Tommy Chong’s son lives around here somewhere, and Chong himself once praised us as the “hippie capital of the west”, so we’ve got that too. Happy reading!

It is common knowledge that the bee population across the world is in peril. Which is no small thing, considering their importance. At least a third of all of the world’s food supply relies on the pollination habit of bees, flowers, of course, rely on bees, and in fact most kinds of fruit and berries and general plant life would cease to exist without them. In recent years, the largest contributor to the death of these fuzzy insects has been insecticide, something humanity may only be learning too late as the numbers of bees on our planet continue to dwindle away.

However, there is still hope for the bees, and of course Boulder, Colorado is home to dozens of different bee communities who are all working toward the same goal, befriend the bee. As it happens, Boulder itself has been a major honey producer since the late 1800’s. Our climate and our local plant life are very attractive to the average bee, which has presented an opportunity to the city to now give back in the bee’s time of need.

The Boulder County Beekeeper’s Association runs a blog discussing all of the latest legal battles and victories across the country, and across the world with a helpful forum for beekeepers young and old to discuss their challenges and share their secrets to a larger community. They have classes for new beekeepers and meetings to discuss upcoming changes and the latest programs, the next one coming in early July.

Local government is getting involved too in what is called the Bolder Pollinator Garden Project. It is exactly how it sounds; special bee friendly gardens are being established around the city to encourage our local counts of wild bees in the area, and any and all gardeners willing to help out can add their locations to the list. The gardens have special requirements beyond simply being a garden. The project’s website encourages the use of local plant life, flowers that bloom all season, of course, but also a safe place for bees to find a nest, and reminders to provide lots of food for local caterpillars, since butterflies are also major pollinators. The biggest requirement though would probably take form in the ban of any kind of pesticide use on your garden. Currently, there are six gardens around the greater Boulder area that are contributing to the cause.

Boulder’s private sector also has a stake in the survival of bees, including one local honey producer called Highland Honey. They produce the kind of honey Boulderites love: raw, medicinal, delicious. They also have information on their website about beekeeping and common facts about their bees and their product that the public should know. They offer mentoring, as well as a place to buy certain kinds of bees and bee keeping supplies, and are truly trying to give something back the community.

The luckiest part of all of these people working together, is that we stand the chance of making a real difference to the bee community, and it’s easy to find a way to get involved no matter how much you want to do. Every little thing matters, from growing a garden, raising caterpillars with your children, and stopping the use of pesticides on your own land. And if your interest goes beyond casual and you’re looking to become much more involved in the local bee community, there are many facets for you to jump into, and maybe even become a new beekeeper yourself.

Sailing Home

Short Stories

For all her life, she’s known she comes from a different place, a different universe. She knows that she lives between two planes of discordant realities. She can exist among normal people, move through their spaces and talk and act like them, but she herself is something more, something transcendental, and something supernatural. Maybe something a bit monstrous, it depends on her mood.

             When she is young, the household staff complain of constantly having to shoo her out of the oddest of places, like the belly of the ancient grandfather clock in the main living room, or from the large pools of the marble fountain in the front yard. If they would ever bother to ask, she would just tell them that being in the clock allows her to watch, untouched, as time passes before her, since her people have this control over time. Or that the fountain’s water is just a pure enough blue that if you were to lay in it and open your eyes, you could truly see what the sky looks like in the plane of existence she comes from, wobbly and an array of hues that hint at infinite depth, but they don’t ask her.

As one could assume, she finds herself conflicted much of the time. Not because she is a lonely child and her affluent father is so often away on long trips. Or because her mother is so fraught with the ideas of his affairs that she can only muster the energy to sit by the tall windows that overlook her garden and the sea behind their home. No, she doesn’t really think of her parents all that much. They are creatures of another, lesser developed dreary existence that she doesn’t bother herself with outside of occasional observation. She finds she is conflicted between the sea and the sky. The endless expanses of blue of both capture her soul, and she can’t decide to which she belongs the most to.

            Sometime ago, after sharing her truth at a family reunion when she is seven, her distant uncle had told her it must all have boiled down to a fascination with the color blue, since her father had once hoped for a boy and had painted the nursery and bought blue toys for it, and then never returned to change it when she was born a girl. He said the whole matter was nothing more than the product of a little girl brought up in a blue room, but she doesn’t think that’s right. She knows she’s more than that. Her uncle’s insight simply stunted by the simplicity that he would amount to. Humans, she thinks, are limited to the small plane which they live and the tiny ideas that encompasses. 

            She thinks it must be because the sky and the sea are the only things that transcend the two planes that she lives between, aside from herself. The house her family lives in sits on the edge of a beach, and so she often clutches her dolls and stares out across the waves to the small seam on the distant horizon, where the sky and the ocean must actually come to meet, and realizes that it must be a physical place, and even more, a passageway. She assumes that must be how she ended up here, by using that opening to push her way through, though she can’t remember why she would have done so, perhaps by accident. Must have been so, since she misses it so much and feels it pull on her mind almost constantly

            When she is ten, her father holds a rare event at the house where all his boating friends gather around their family’s private dock. On this night, her father had brought his new girlfriend to the party. The girl is asked to mingle by her mother, and then to report back, but she really only goes to breath the salty air and feel the rush of the water against her toes as she listens to whispers of how young this new girlfriend is. Humans, she thinks, worry about the most useless things. 

            Eventually, her father introduces the girlfriend as Vivian, who works for yacht selling company. Vivian is tall, slender and sleek. Her hair is so blonde it seems white and blinding, and it is long and glossy around her shoulders. Vivian wears clothes that hang like they were made for her, and she wears big shiny jewelry and daintily holds a tall thin glass filled with a light bubbly liquid. The girl finds herself in awe of this new woman. Vivian is the most beautiful human she’s ever seen, which is almost enough to be captivating. She wonders if Vivian also came from her universe, and decides she wouldn’t mind if that were so, and asks Vivian if she’s ever been to the place where the ocean meets the sky. Vivian laughs with an ugly sneer and calls her a child, so the girl puckers her lips like her mother and calls Vivian a name she’s heard spat from her mother’s lips, though she doesn’t know the meaning, and her father seizes her by the arm and drags her back to the house before she can savor the dumb look on Vivian’s face. In the tradition of all her father’s visits to their home, he spends a short moment screaming at her mother, who screams back, and then he disappears back to his party. Her mother retreats to her chair near the windows and sobs and scowls down at him through red rimmed eyes, and the girl climbs into the grandfather clock and waits for it all to pass.

            It’s when she’s fifteen that it finally happens. It had been years since her father moved to Malibu with another new woman, someone who’s shimmery clothes and glossy appearance no longer draw the girl’s attention. They don’t speak often. Last week on the phone he told her that he didn’t want her to come and visit. He said it wasn’t the right time, that he was still moving in, and maybe she could come in a year or two when he was more settled. She hung up shortly thereafter. The maids overhear the conversations and sometimes try at awkward attempts to comfort her, but they always seemed off put by what little reaction she provides for them. If there would be anything good about a place like Malibu, it would be that it also sits on the ocean. But since she has that here, and has no more patience for her father than her mother, she thinks that it is all the same.

            Her mother had gotten up from her chair some time ago and had made a proper socialite out of herself. Now most nights she puts on a fancy dress with some matching fur wrap and leaves the house at dusk with young men waiting at the door. She isn’t home much during the day either, or if she is, she often doesn’t want to be disturbed.

            Perhaps, had either of them been watching, they would have seen that their “shy” child was no longer simply obsessed with the ocean and the sky, she was communicating with it. They would have known that she wasn’t just watching all day, she was listening to it whisper her name on the soft sea breezes and twinkle at her with every rise and fall of the sun, like a warm beacon to show her the way.  They would see that she carries one sided conversations down on the beach, or that the waves seemed to tug at her ankles with a strange amount of force. As it is, the girl thinks it’s better they remain as all humans are; simple, oblivious, and constantly too preoccupied to see the magic she possesses. 

            The weather is warm on this night. It’s the night of the summer solstice, and her mother departs around nine with a flirty giggle and a wiggle of her bejeweled fingers, leaving the girl alone again in a large house that is both too big and too dark for her preference. Her father hasn’t called again in a very long time. The night sky is clear and the stars shine with a brightness that cast shadows along the ground. The air coming in through the windows is humid, and it wraps around her more like a friendly embrace. The sea is calm and twinkling. The stagnation of this life has festered in her like a swamp for far too long, and it is the loveliest night she’s ever known. She knows it’s time. She goes to her room and picks out a light blue dress she bought patiently in the spring that reminds her of the times she would lay in the fountain and look at the sky and wish for another existence. She puts it on and steps out of the house.

            The air feels good on her skin, and the earth is cool beneath her bare feet. She follows a path worn into the ground to the dock. It’s old now, and it creaks under her feet, but it will hold, she knows. She walks to the end, and smiles down at the water. It’s clear tonight, and she can see the stones resting in the sand at the bottom like secrets. She sits down and kicks her legs slowly, feeling the soft water skim across her toes like feathers. Her eyes follow the moon beams across the waves to the point where the sky comes and to kiss the ocean, and watches as the sea twinkles at her yet again. She breathes deep. She pushes herself to the edge of the dock, and pushes off.

             Her feet plant on the surface of the water, and it curls around her toes like the soft sandals she’d lost two summers ago. She stands for a second, wobbling back and forth, her arms flung out to keep her balance, and begins to get her bearing and feels the tide rolling beneath her toes. She takes a tentative step. Her foot accidentally swings too wide and the water underneath her planted foot squirms like Jell-O, but she stays upright. She assumes her difficulty is a simple lack of practice, and continues clumsily forward.

            It takes a while, but soon enough she is able to walk with ease. What feels like hours pass, but she does not pause. She comes upon nothing else in her journey, no boats, no seagulls, there are no other souls around as she walks. The world begins to feel as though it is pulling in tight behind her and falling away, leaving nothing but the feeling of discovery and the summer mist. She looks at the glittering sky and thinks the sun is very late in rising, but the moon has not budged from its place high in the sky; beaming down at her and wrapping her in soft light. When she finally reaches her destination, she finds it is far more grand than she had thought.

             It appears quickly from the soft sea. One moment there seems to be nothing, just further expanse. Then suddenly before her the ocean bends up sharply to the sky and stretches on in a line as far she can see in either direction, like it’s hitting some unseen wall, and crashes in booming waves that scatter drops of water upward that become the blue in the night sky. Simultaneously, the sky is throwing clouds back down towards the sea that burst apart with each new wave with the sound of loud thunder and settles as a fine fog over the surface of the otherwise still water. She begins to make out a seam in the depth of the chaos of it all, a faint light that glimmers beneath each crashing wave, a winking eye, a twinkling star. She steps towards it, her heart hammering. This feels familiar. She feels like she’s so close to home, whatever it might be. The sea under her feet curls to lift her higher as if by an unconscious command, and then she can stare right into the light. She can hear voices calling her name, much louder now than the faint flutters she’s heard all her life on the coast. She leans in to touch it, and as her hand passes through the barrier, it disappears altogether, becoming the spray of the water and mist of the clouds. It feels cold, but only a bit, and it tingles. She yanks her arm back, and finds her hand there again, completely reformed. It feels no different. She reaches again, slower, and the cold sensation warms into the feeling of slowly sinking into a hot bath, and the tingling is a tickle, not a pain. Resolve solidified, she gives herself to it, let’s herself fall through, and with one mighty crash of the waves and sky, it swallows her whole, and she disappears. The place where the ocean meets the sky quiets and stills, and the girl is gone.

Here We Begin

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Be who you are and say what you feel because in the end those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.

— Dr. Seuss.

Welcome one and all! I have created this blog as a way for me to start putting my work, from my articles to creative pieces, out into the world. If I am doing any kind of publishing or co-authoring or editing you can also expect to receive news on those projects here as well.

As for what this blog will cover, well, I suppose you will just have to stick around and see.

Hope to see you there!

Amanda