National Book Lovers Day

Today was National Book Lovers Day.

There is no question that I am a book lover. I have quite a few books in my house 🙂

Farm Scene, The Secret of the Cave, Arthur S. Maxwell, Harvest Time, SiblingsOf course, part of it is because I come from a family of book lovers. I like this picture of my Dad with two of his siblings. He is holding a book while posing for this picture at the farm.

Of course, since I am a book lover I had to find a copy of the book my Dad was holding. It was not easy as very few libraries had it in their collection. See: The Secret of the Cave

Reading on Tricycle, Reading, Trike, Large TricycleWhen I was little my Mom would tell me to go outside and play. I found that I could ride my trike and read at the same time.

book worms, reading, National Book Lovers Day, Happy HollistersHere of course was my natural position when inside. I would prop my feet up on the coffee table and read a book. In this picture I have my little cousin Melaine sitting beside me. You can also see a couple more books tucked back behind the blanket on the couch.

Happy Hollisters, Jerry West, The Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach, Stratemeyer SyndicateIn the picture above I am reading one of The Happy Hollisters books. I tried to read all of them when I was a kid, but never did find them all.

The Happy Hollister, Jerry West, All Dust JacketsNow, that is not a problem as I own the complete series of books. I slowly hunted them all down at used book stores. I could have easily gone on-line and bought them, but it was much more fun to find them on my own. A lot cheaper too, unless you factor in all the time for hunting 🙂

See: The Happy Hollisters II

I am also thinking about our board meeting of the Tracy Friends of the Library last night. We work together to help support our local library by running a book sale and helping promote literacy in our community. Another way that I can share my love for books.

Livermore Outlets, Reading Sculpture, Little Boy ReadingOf course, I could ramble on about books all night. However, I will simply close this with a picture I took of a sculpture at the Livermore outlet mall.

See: Reading Sculptures and Reading Sculptures II

Are you a book lover?

Steven

 

Posted in Books, Culture, Education, Memories | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Zoos around the World

Tonight I am thinking about zoos around the world.

Sao Paulo Zoo, zoos, South AmericaWhile in Sao Paulo I visited the zoo and it had me thinking about what zoos I have visited around the world. Had I visited zoos on all continents?

South America – Check

Omaha Zoo, Henry Doorly Zoo, Tiger Bite, Drunk Woman, Stupid PeopleI have visited the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, plus many others in the US.

Toronto Zoo, Zoos, Toronto, CanadaI have also visited the Toronto Zoo.

North America – Check

Rhino and Lion, Nature Reserve, Animals, South AfricaI visited a Rhino and Lion park near Johannesburg, South Africa. Although technically a nature reserve, it is set up as a safari park and I am going to count it as a zoo for this quest.

Africa – Check

Himalayan Tahr at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, AustraliaI have visited the Taronga Zoo in Sydney several times.

Australia – Check

Ueno Zoo, Tokyo Zoo, Giant Panda, Pandas, TokyoI have visited the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo as well as zoos in Singapore and Mysore, India.

Asia – Check

Jena, Germany, Museum, phyletisches museumI searched my memory to see if I had visited a zoo in Europe, and the only thing close was a visit to the Phyletisches Museum in Jena, Germany. For this quest, it needs to be live animals.

Europe – No

Perhaps on my next trip to Germany I will try and visit the zoo in Leipzig. I actually thought about it during my last trip. Now that it is the only continent that I need for my zoo quest I may have to make it happen.

Orca near Melchior Island, AntarcticaWait, there are seven continents. There are of course no zoos in Antarctica, but I did see many animals in the wild there when I cruised along the Antarctic Peninsula. Here is an orca that I saw on the trip.

The cruise was a water and ice safari in a big boat 🙂

Antarctica – N/A but Check 🙂

Have you visited a zoo on another continent than the one you live on?

Steven

 

Posted in Animals, Australia, Canada, Culture, Germany, Japan, Nature, South Africa, Travel, Zoo | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments