Jenna likes to Read

          I started reading to Jenna when she was still inside of my womb.  I would place earphones on my stomach and play Classical music for her.  I would hold a flashlight over my belly and turn it off and on and explain to her weather it was dark or light.

          Roland read to her and her brothers read to her from newborn to preschool.  Jenna grew up reading books and has loved books ever since.  She especially likes books that encourage imagination or anything non-fiction that helps her learn.  I think that is SO AWESOME!

          Of course I have to thank the library system for setting up the Beehive Nominee’s incentive program (or summer reading or whatever else is offered) as Jenna is always on a mission to complete the program and have her card filled ASAP. 

          She’s a human sponge and absorbs everything.  She often stops the reading to ask questions about what we’re reading or to make a comment about whatever subject. 

          For example this morning, while she was eating breakfast, I read to her. We read “Lizards” by Nic Bishop.  She would eyeball the pictures and widen her eyes at reading a certain lizard shown so many times larger or smaller than actual size.  Or she would tell me about when she had seen this lizard on TV or learned about that lizard in school or what have you. 

          We had to leave for school before the book was finished. Fiction doesn’t take near as long to read as non-fiction.

          I love that Jenna loves to read.  And I am so grateful for her mind and her assortment of knowledge and her memory and her imagination!  She has been a great blessing in our lives.  It’s been a pleasure watching her grow.

We Don't Tell the Animals How to Behave

I so love it when nature seems to work against itself.  I’ve received emails featuring dogs or tigers raising pigs

 ;

or orphaned duckings accepted and raised by a non-biological mother.  I’ve read miracle stories on animal survival and unexplainable compassion.  And I think that it is totally great!

          Recently my brother introduced me to the Blog “Raising my Rainbow”  which I have checked periodically and tried to follow from the beginning.  In a few posts the blogger has sought out advice for book recommendations.  And I have checked out various recommendations that have been left in the comment section. 

My favorite book thus far is “And Tango makes Three” by Justin Richardson  and Peter Parnell – a charming book about two male penguins at the Central Park zoo who found themselves enjoying the companionship of one another and tried to imitate what the other penguin couples were doing.  The most fascinating thing about this children’s book is that it is a true story.  It actually happened.

And I wonder how much flack these animals may receive from those in the animal kingdom.  Probably not near as much as those among the human race.  Why do things have to sound so “scandalous”?  Why do we have to try to analyze every little thing? Why can’t we appreciate the genuine love and compassion?  What are we scared of? Wouldn’t it be great if all of us could learn to love and be accepting of one another?

Today is a holiday in which we honor Martin Luther King Jr. as his birthday was yesterday. His dream included acceptance. I am grateful for his victory in fulfilling that dream (though we still obviously have a long way to go) and for life’s lessons that teach us “It is okay to be different”