Truth about Bats

Here’s an experience I’ll never forget from our years living in the deep south…  We had just gotten a new kitten and she slept in a little bed next to ours.  One night I woke up b/c she was just going NUTS!  I looked over the edge of the bed and saw a dark creature flailing around near the nightlight.  I literally jumped up on the bed and screamed  (that is TRUE…I was quite a sight…never so freaked out in my life!) nearly giving my husband a heart attack.  He hit the lights and said grab something!  Running into the spare room, I grabbed the biggest book I could find that wasn’t holy – Webster’s Dictionary – and handed it to my dear husband.  Using the book, he smashed it, still not knowing what it was.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a bat.  I felt bad that he killed it, but I was also NOT willing to have one in my apartment!  We took the carcass to the apartment manager the next morning (which I’m sure she appreciated…).  Had I realized a single brown bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitos in an hour, I’m sure I would have felt even worse!!

Ever since then, I’ve had a major aversion to BATS.  So you can imagine my horror when one of my kiddos brought home the Magic School Bus book called “The Truth about Bats.”  While I still don’t like them, I’ve come to appreciate them as pretty amazing creatures.  And, it’s in that spirit I’m sharing this announcement from the City of Boise…  ENJOY!

Bats are much misunderstood and sometimes feared. A panel of experts who will introduce children and adults to the wonderful world of bats at a free program from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Foothills Learning Center, 3188 Sunset Peak Road. Admission is free; no registration is required.

 

Learn about the biology of bats, see live bats, and make a bat box to install at home or to donate to a public land agency.  Vicky Runnoe, conservation education supervisor with the Idaho Department of Fish & Game and Claudia Williams, education coordinator at the Animals in Distress Association (AIDA), will tell you all about these fabulous flying mammals.  AIDA is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured, displaced and orphaned wildlife. They will likely bring a couple of live bats to the program and will have specimens to look at up close.

 

Presentations will be repeated from 10:15- noon and from 12:15- 2 p.m. Starting at 11 a.m., a group of senior Girl Scouts will help children and adults make bat boxes.  Other bat-related arts and craft activities will be ongoing throughout the day.

 

The Foothills Learning Center is operated by Boise Parks & Recreation. The building is located in Hulls Gulch Preserve north of downtown Boise. To get there, take 8th Street 1/3 mile past the end of the pavement. The building is located beyond the parking lot on the right.

 

For information, call 514-3755 or see www.cityofboise.org/parks/foothills. ###

 

Media contacts:

Jennie Rylee, Environmental Education, 514-4845 Kristin Lundstrom, Environmental Education, 514-3755

Ringing in the new year?

Happy New Year Boise! What’s your resolution for 2009?
-GG

Christams Eve Services – 2008

Merry Christmas!!!

Are your kids a little too hyped up on Santa?  Need something to bring them back down to earth and remind them of the reason for the season?  Maybe you just need something to help YOU quiet your mind from the holiday insanities…  Whatever the reason, if you’re looking for a Christmas Eve service tonight, I hope you find one that suits your soul well. 

Here are just a few around town, be advised to arrive EARLY, as Christmas Eve services in the valley are generally well attended.  Please be advised that I am not necessarily endorsing any of these churches.  They are simply services I was made aware of…

New Heights Christian Fellowship (Free Methodist) http://www.nhcf.com/ - 9950 Ustick Road, Boise (Between Ustick and Maple Grove) – Family Christmas Celebration.  Service begins at 5:30, and includes lots of music and a Christmas message. 

Caldwell Christian Church www.caldwellchristian.org/ – 3207 E. Ustick Rd. IN CALDWELL.  Candle light Christmas service.  Service begins at 7:00.

Trinity Presbyterian Church www.tpcboise.org 4601 S. Surprise Way - 4601 S. Surprise Way, Boise.  Three services to choose from at 5:00 (Children’s Service), 7:00 (New Community Service with communion) and 9:00 (New Traditional Service with Communion). 

The Vineyard www.vineyardboise.org/ - 4950 N Bradley, Boise.   6:30 and 8:00 – both services include a performance by the children’s choir, and communion. 

Boise First (Nazarene) www.boisefirst.org - 3852 N. Eagle Rd, Boise.  5:00 and 6:30 (no childcare).

Cathedral of the Rockies www.cathedraloftherockies.org - 717 N. 11th Street, Boise.  Children’s service:  2:00, 4:00 and 5:30.  Traditional service:  7:00, 9:00 and 11:00.  Childcare is available at the 2, 4 and 7 pm services. 

Heritage Bible Church www.hbc-boise.org - 7071 W Emerald St., Boise.  Service time is at 6:30.

Immanuel Lutheran Church www.ilcboise.org – 707 W. Fort Street, Boise.  5:00 Family service, 11:00 Candlelight service.

If you would like to add your church’s service to this list, please do so in the comments section below.

Thanks, and (at the risk of being politically incorrect…) have a Merry Christmas!

-GG

Boise Christmas Light Displays – 2008

Alright!  Get the horses ready Matilda, we’re goin’ a light gazin’!

I scarcely could believe my eyes when I found this online, and you won’t want to miss it. (Shh…don’t tell Clark Griswald…he’s likely to go nuts over this one…)   Here’s the display from 2007:

The “artist” does not have a video up from this year, but last year’s stats were:

Number of Lights: Over 40,000
Number of Channels: 170 in 2007

And he promises plans for over 320 Channels in 2008.  Interested?  Get details and directions here: http://www.christmasinboise.com/index.html

Other spots to check out…

I’m told there’s a pretty phenomenal display in Sundance Subdivision in Meridian.  Enter the subdivision in the Northern Entrance off Meridian Road and turn east on Ashton.  Can’t miss it, they say.

Hidden Springs has quite a lot of lights up this year – several homes on Hidden Springs Drive, but wandering through the streets will continue to delight your eyes…

Visit http://www.idahostatesman.com/263/gallery/589839.html for a smattering of several more photos and addresses around the valley.

Lastly, here’s a rather unusual way to take in the lights…Trump style…  Go by HELICOPTER!  Yup.  Silverhawk Aviation is doing Christmas light tours of downtown Boise and the surrounding area for all ages.  For details, call 453-8577 

Enjoy!

Christmas Eve Services – YOUR HELP REQUESTED!

Photo courtesy of www.freefoto.com

Hello, All!  I’m getting ready to post a list of Christmas Eve services.  If you’d like yours included send me a direct message at:  goodlifegal (at) live.com  Be sure to include the following:

• Time(s)
• Church Address
• Contact phone at the church
• A one-sentence BRIEF description of the service (i.e. Candle light service, Children’s service, concert, special guest speaker or musician).

Thanks!!  Send me your info by Friday, December 19, 2008!!

Thanks,

GG

Save the Date – to heck with Outlook

Christmas gift idea #3.  Okay, here’s another for family and friends who LOVE Boise, but maybe don’t want to be committed to a large poster on their wall – or get tired of the same scene easily.

David Day, one of my favorite Boise/Idaho photographers just released his 2009 calendar.  I think I’m going to have to get me one of these.  LOVE the fun and unique photos.  This one is NOT like the ones you typically find around town!

Aside from it’s shape not lending itself to a stocking, these WOULD make great stocking stuffers.  Pricing between $10-$15 depending on where and how many you buy. 

Check out all the details at http://boisee.com/blog/index.php/2008/11/17/2009-boise-calendar/

Merry Christmas!  And, David, when can I connect w/you to buy one of these???

Gifts Off The Wall

Do you have an art-lover in your family?  What about someone who moved away from Idaho who might appreciate an artful memory? 

Ward Hooper is one of the valley’s premier graphic designer/artist/illustrators, well-known for his poster style art that reflects the golden age.  I ran into Ward’s wife recently who told me he’s opening up a new studio in Eagle – just behind Ruby Lou’s on old State street in downtown Eagle. 

His website ( http://www.wardhooper.com/ ) seems to be encountering some trouble today, but you can see some of his work at this link:  http://eaglearts.org/About-EAC/Ward-Hooper-Posters.html  (there’s a link to his website there also).

 You can also Google “Ward Hooper” and find all kinds of his work.

 

Hats off to this Christmas Gift idea…

I’ve always had a penchant for hats.  I often wish more ladies had the guts to wear great hats…and gloves (and honestly, we’d probably all be a lot healthier if we wore gloves more often b/c we wouldn’t pick up as many germs!!!).  Anyway, I have the great fortune of having a dear friend who MAKES THEM… From scratch! 

It’s an incredible process to watch, and her creations are just exquisite.  At a women’s tea I attended last night, she was wearing the most unusual hat – that she made of course – and got complements on it all night long. 

Anyway, one of the things I am hoping to do on my blog over the next couple weeks is provide you with some unique LOCAL Christmas gift-giving ideas for that hard-to-buy-for person in your life, and I thought I’d start with my friend Cheryl’s millinery business, Classique Millinery (Millinery is the art of making anything a lady wears on her head)! I took the picture above in her Boise studio.

Cheryl got into millinery years ago when her husband had an overseas work assignment and she discovered – and fell in love with – the unusual and incredible fabrics available overseas – but not in the states. For years, she practiced her craft making wedding veils for friends – as her wedding gift to them.  Encouraged by responses she got from people, she broadened her scope, making fancy hats, just for fun hats, special occasion hats, head pieces worn by historical reinactment actors, and, of course, wedding hats and head pieces!

Like all her hats, Cheryl Griebenow is truly a one of a kind!

 

Wanna see more, or find out more about Cheryl’s amazing art?  Visit: http://www.classiquemillinery.com/

 

Stay out of the Doghouse this Christmas

Okay, guys, if you need a little reminder about how to give your wife or significant other the “right” gift this Christmas, better watch this impressive dramatization from JC Penny… Hits the nail on the head, I’d say – ladies, what do you think??

A sign of the times…A belly-ache about the media, and growing up.

As a child I remember wondering what my dear Grandmother’s childhood was like.  Born in 1904 in a tiny little German town, she grew up in her father’s bakery.  Fortunate for me, she often told stories – mostly of the mischief she got into – but I did get a flavor of the daily scene.  Horse drawn buggies were the norm and streetlamps were few and far between.  I remember her stories about riding her bicycle to attend dances.  They were always held on the night of the full moon – not because of any kind of strange ritual, but rather, because there was enough moonlight to make your way to and from the dance hall in the dark!  Can you imagine what the night sky must have been like in those days?

She had great stories.

Anyway, as a child of the 70s, I couldn’t help but think how amazing it must have been for her to see the first cars, electric lights, indoor plumbing, telephones, and yes, later computers (though she never used one to my knowledge, and truth be told, I was the first in my family to own a PC…complete with floppy disks and no hard drive! Yessir, an IBM PS2!)!  And, even though we had only 4 TV channels growing up - 2, 4, 6 &  7 –  I had a hard time imagining what it was like for my own parents not to have a television set in their “formative” years. And, I couldn’t help but wonder, “what will the big thing in my lifetime that my kids will be surprised I lived without in my childhood?” 

Slowly, but surely, I’m finding out. 

Among the growing “gee-whiz” factor list are VHS tapes, programming on demand, hand-held computer educational toy gaming technologies, DVDs are just a few…  Trying to explain vinyl or 8-track is a lost cause.  And of course, the biggest thing of all is the computer.  Kids today can’t even begin to fathom the idea that we didn’t have one of those growing up…and that the HOT video game way back then was something called “PONG.”  That game would bore them to death today! 

My, how our world has changed.

As I shopped for Christmas this year, I found myself attracted to certain toys…not because the kiddos would necessarily like them (or even play with them), but because WE had them growing up and therefore, they should too!

Now I’ve got my sights on 10-20 years into the future, wondering not what will be NEW, but rather, what will be MISSING from my world today that will be quickly forgotten by this up and coming generation.  I find myself having a little trouble letting go of some of them… 

One of those things in particular was made all too evident to me tonight at an Idaho Press Club event.  The panel of five local and veteran journalists and editors discussed recent and coming changes in the newsrooms.  Among many things, they discussed newsroom downsizing and the impact of blogs, Twitter, facebook and other “social media.” Not lost on me was discussion concerning the recent announcement that Colorado’s oldest newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News, may be shuttering its doors in mid-January.  Really.

Journalism runs thick in my veins, and although I was trained in broadcast – not print – you still might be able to appreciate that I simply do not like the idea that there will likely be a day when I don’t even have the option of picking up a daily paper.  And, I wonder, what damage is this blasted computer screen causing to my eyes??? Will I even be able to read a computer screen when I’m 70 years old?

(Sigh)

A friend of mine on Facebook recently invited me to join a Facebook cause called “Save the Newspapers.”  I jumped.

I just got my subscription renewal for the Statesman today.  I will.

It may be prolonging the inevitable, but I’ll help that cause in any way I can. 

If you feel so moved, I hope you’ll consider renewing or adding a subscription to the paper.  Help feed my addiction!