Blueberries

I'm not sure exactly what it is about blueberries that I love so much. They're a nice color, they're delicious, and they're easy to pick. But it's more than that.

When I think of a perfect summer in Indiana, I think of picking blueberries. I remember one summer, about ten or twelve years ago, a couple of friends and I took our kids blueberry picking. (Do you remember it, Kathryn?) That day--after driving out to the country in my friend's old giant sedan, with kids and sunny blue skies, picking blueberries from the bushes in rural Indiana--that day seemed to capture the essence of summer. And I think, somehow, it brought back the simplicity of my own childhood summers, running in the sprinklers, drinking from the hose, playing Green Ghost in the neighborhood.

So now, it's hard to keep me from Blueberry Acres in LaOtto, Indiana during blueberry picking season. And check out how delicious these recipes look. Sheesh.

Christian the Lion

The last few days I've been listening to a great story on audio book, The Lion Called Christian by Anthony Burke and John Rendell. It's the story of two Australian men who bought a lion cub (yes, a lion) from Harrod's Dept. store (yes, a dept. store) in London in 1969 or 1970. They kept the cub in their home in London and they tried to provide for his needs, but when he got to be about 150 lbs., they just couldn't handle the care for him. So, they enlisted the help of George Adamson who rehabilitated the lion into his natural habitat in Kenya.

Their story became popular when footage was uploaded to You Tube a couple of years ago. The footage shows the moment when Christian's former owners "Ace" and John are reunited with the lion after a year of separation. The lion is so amazingly affectionate to the two men that many people found it quite moving, and interest in the story was rekindled. A new edition of the book was published. It's really a remarkable story, and the book itself is quite well written, describing that amazing connection between animals and people.

Here's the link to the video. (And, no, this doesn't mean that I now want to own a lion...although the thought did cross my mind. This story is a great example of a cautionary tale against bringing exotic animals in domestic situations. However, listening to the story does make me want a kitten.)