SueBears.com Blog

In response to a complaint by a local Rabbi, the Christmas trees were removed from the Seattle International airport. These trees has decorated the airport for 25 years! The rabbi wanted an 8-foot Menorah put up with a lighting ceremony. Now my family has celebrated Christmas and Hanukkah for many years and we have a wonderful time with it. I don’t really believe the Xmas tree is a religious symbol but certainly the menorah is! I guess a lawsuit was threatened so the Port of Seattle buckled and took down the trees. Incidentally the wreaths arund the airport were left up - what are they a symbol of? And, when are they going to take down the tree in Rockefeller Center and for that matter the one at the White House? Oh please! Everybody calm down and let’s enjoy the holiday season together!

A few more sled dog pics and the promised puppy picture from my polar bear trip to Churchill, Canada! Are you puppy dogged out yet? Two more of the adult dogs are pictured here - absolutely gorgeous! AND, there were four puppies which we all got to hold for a few minutes. We heard the same growls and squeaks from them in puppy dog style. Some of the group were a little distressed that these dogs live outside all year long! And it is COLD in Churchill. But we were assured that they all live this way and much of the time it is too warm for them. Brrrrrrr! When we got back on our van (oh please let us stay longer!) our guide very seriously told us he was doing an immediate backpack check and there had better not be any puppies in them. Darn! I tried! They were very sweet and were a major highlight of that day!

One of the fun side trips of my trip to Churchill, Canada, to see the polar bears was a stop at a local sled dog raiser’s home. All 14 of my group stopped and played with the dogs (the owner wants them well socialized) and I have never seen such enthusiastic and noisy dogs! This particular dog was all over me - I had handed my camera to the guide and really had my hands full trying to get this sweet baby to calm down long enough for his photo op. He pretty near knocked me down in the top R pic; then we had a little discussion in the bottom L pic, and finally I got hold of his chain and held him from the front. No I am NOT choking him!!!! Within seconds of this picture he was jumping all over me again. During this entire time he was barking and what could only be called “singing”(soft growls and squeeks of joy! What fun! Tomorrow I will post a pic with me and one of the 4 month old puppies!

As I mentioned before I took a fabulous trip to Churchill, Canada, to visit the polar bears this October! The trip was absoutely magic for me. A tundra buggy took us out on the tundra to visit the bears, followed by a wonderful visit with a dog musher by the name of John Stetson. We played with the dogs and even got to hold some puppies in training. An incredible helicopter ride during the early morning sunrise gave a hint of the vastness of the tundra. Some would call it bleak but I call it hauntingly beautiful. A visit to to an abandoned (thank heavens) polar bear den was a treat. There were many more adventures but I wanted to share my favorite photo from the trip. There were only patches on snow while I was there and rain created a muddy environment for this baby bear who hung around with us for about an hour with her protective mother resting nearby on constant alert. But mom was very patient with her babe’s playfullness but this little girl sure got dirty. She will take a good snow bath later and get her fur in good condition when she and her mother return to the ice to feed! I understand the area is covered with snow now. It was very cold, very exciting and all just a trip of a lifetime. Here she is!

Oh fun! Holiday shopping is here! Apparently I missed getting up at 4:00 AM or earlier to be first in line for stores that opened at 5:00am on Friday. I guess though that 4:00 am is kinda late since some waited in line for 16 hours in the cold! Kmart broke with tradition and opened on Thanksgiving - nice gesture for employees - its a national holiday Kmart. Then there was the store that allowed too many people in at one time and nearly had a dreadful emergency of crushed people - sorry don’t remember the store but you get the idea. People came to blows over game systems and the police had to restore order! I realize there is logic to getting a good bargain on a laptop or digital camera but…… It’s online shopping for me all the way! Happy Holidays to all and to all a good night!

This picture just doens’t look like fun to me, but that’s just me - It’s 1:00am in the morning here! Carry on folks!

As is done every year, the President of the United States pardons a turkey (and the runner-up) on the eve of Thanksgiving at a White House ceremony in the Rose Garden. This tradition dates back fifty years to Harry Truman and has occurred every year since. How exactly do you get to be the “runner-up”? Here is Flyer (the runnerup was Fryer) for you to see. How do they pick these names? The best presidential comment occurred in 1997 when President Clinton quipped, “We can all be grateful that there will be one less turkey in Washington.” That would be nice except there are so many of them now! Oh well, please enjoy a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day wherever you are!

Here is a photo of Presidents’ Bush, Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Vietnamese “ao dai”silk tunics at the APEC Summitt. Which, not to be rude, but I think one ought to wear what one is used to wearing and leave native dress to whoever is supposed to be wearing it. I once tried on an absolutely gorgeous silk kimono of a friend but I looked ridiculous in it mainly because I am not Japanese. My friend however looked beautiful. Oh well, enough fashion talk for one day!

Someone sent this to me and I think it is a great idea - In June of 2006, the Xerox Corporation created a web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com, a free service to send greetings to miliary personnnel overseas. You can pick a card and then one of several mesages that best expresses your sentiments. This is not a scam - I checked it on snopes.com. I just sent mine! Kinda fits in nicely with the packages that are sent by Operation Gratitude. Go here to send your card.

While flipping through the current Readers Digest I ran across an article by Lisa Donafee, reviewing the incredible hand art of Guido Daniele. Mr. Daniele, an Italian artist, created this manificent work using his own children’s hands in response to a request by an advertising agency. You can view a slideshow of his work here.

As you may have read, I have followed the progress of a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons in a nestbox atop the Kodak headquarters building in Rochester, New York, for about eight years now. Kodak has maintained/sponsored this nestbox since 1989. They are wild birds by the name of Mariah and Kaver and have fledged many chicks over the years. Kodak maintains a discussion group including incredible amounts of information about this pair. But last year we had quite a fright. Mariah, the female falcon, the larger one in the picture, was injured during the nesting season. Although she was able to fly, she carried one leg hanging, thus clearly interupting her ability to hunt for herself and her chicks. Normally, the male, Kaver, would hunt for her and the babies as well, as he did. But this amazing event occurred one day and not only did he hunt for her and the babies, he actually brought the kill into the nestbox, prepared it for feeding, and amazingly FED MARIAH and put the food directly into her beak. We had never seen anything like this and raises a lot of questions for me about what exactly is “instinctual” beahvior! I think it is a beautful picture, especially when you know the story behind it. Enjoy!