Trumpeter Swan
image - Wikipedia
One - I like to learn something new every day, if I can. Today, I learned from an article in this morning's
Arkansas Democrat - Gazette that I have lived in ignorance of a wonderful thing that is almost next door to me (well, within 60 miles). Around 200
trumpeter swans are currently in residence at a small lake in north central Arkansas. The swans have been coming to this private lake for almost 20 years (my ignorance is that, until today, I didn't know that), arriving with the full moon in November and leaving with the full moon in February. The article was accompanied by some wonderful photos which, of course, I cannot reproduce here. Therefore, I offer this YouTube video of a special report on Arkansas' trumpeter swans that was produced by television station AETN, the PBS station in central Arkansas. The video is about 9 minutes long, but I hope you'll watch at least some of it.
Trumpeter Swans in Arkansas
Produced by AETN
Two - There are several things that push my 'hot button.' Education or, more specifically the lack or poor quality thereof, is one of them. Another article in the above mentioned newspaper pushed that button. According to a front page article written by Evie Blad, more than fifty percent of the 22,342 first time students entering Arkansas' (public) institutions of higher learning in the fall of 2010 require remedial course work in at least one subject - mathematics, English, or reading. Inquiring minds want to know... why? What in the world has happened to our educational system? Is it just in Arkansas? If the system itself is not to blame, who is? I solicit your comments.
Three - It's official. With this post, since the first day of January, 2011, I have published as many posts as I did in
all of 2010.
Alary! * If you have no idea what this means, you never played a children's game that was a popular recess activity when I was in elementary school. (I know, I know -- back in the Dark Ages!) Male readers, you are excused; this game was played exclusively by girls, as far as I know. As I remember them, the accompanying words to the game are "One, two, three, alary; four, five, six, alary; seven, eight, nine, alary; ten alary, postman."
Tomorrow is also a day.
