It is amazing how fast the month has sped past and all of the miles that have rolled under my tires. Since last time I wrote I have seen 3000 sand hill cranes on the Platt River in Nebraska, told stories at two museums that featured two different Audubon exhibits, and presented several Earth Day and Arbor Day performances.

This weekend I am at The Wings of Spring migratory bird event in East Alton, near St. Louis. Next weekend I am at a migratory bird event in Vermont at Herrick's Cove

I had a wonderful interview with the Binghamton NY public radio station this morning to publicize this weekends performance at the Roberson Museum. Greg Keeler of WSKG was well informed. He asked some great questions and we played name that tune with bird calls. The interview is posted on their web page. Click here to listen in...

One of my goals is to post some video on my web page. I was surfing the net and found a few videos on You Tube! Here is an interview from the award winning Storywatchers Club video series.

Last weekend I was at the Dubuque Eagle Fest in Iowa. One of the oldest and largest such festivals in the Midwest. In addition to telling Eagle Tales I also gave a special performance of Audubon's Eagles. The World Bird Sanctuary was there presenting their wonderful live bird of prey show. They always do a great program with a lively balance of education and inspiration. When their hawks, owls and vultures fly about the room everyone says, "wow!" in a hushed breathe. We saw lots of eagles, had a great day on the river, and made a few contacts so I will be back in Dubuque for the Midwest Birding Festival October 17, 18, 19, 2008!

Prairie Folklore Theatre finally has a home! We have just negotiated a long term lease of the G.A.R. Hall in Downtown Peoria. This gorgeous Beaux Arts style building was built by and for veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic, the victors in America's Civil War. It has been lovingly restored and cared for by the Central Illinois Landmark Foundation. The building will celebrate its centennial and part of our plans include a series of concerts, theatrical presentations, a Civil War Research Center and Museum. We are planning exhibits on Abraham lincoln in Central Illinois and the Underground Railroad in Peoria. Please Contact Fox if you would like to be involved.

The Web at Dragonfly Pond wins a National Award!

One of the oldest environmental groups in the nation, The Izaak Walton League, has chosen my book as the Conservation Education Book of the Year! They gave the book a really nice review in their magazine and I have been invited to be a keynote speaker at their national conference next summer! Click on the title to order an autographed copy!

40 DAYS OF GRATITUDE

Look closely for the hummingbird!

WOW! What a whirl-wind of an autumn! This fall I logged countless miles! From the Holly Springs, Mississippi Hummingbird Festival to the National Science Teachers Conference in Denver, from the Chickasaw Nation Early Childhood Education Fiesta to the Murphysboro, Illinois Apple Festival, I am grateful for all the hosts, organizers, audience members and workshop participants who make this work so rewarding.

I send a hardy and sincere thank you to all of you who listened well, sang along, played the theater games in a workshop, had the courage to tell your own tale, and especially those who invited me to share my talent and did the hard work of organizing an event! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Our church is sponsoring forty days of gratitude from Thanksgiving into the New Year. One of the few clichés that I love: An Attitude of Gratitude! Every day I look for things that I love, often share praise with those around me, and even in a sticky situation look for the things of value I can learn from the experience. For what are you grateful?

THANKFUL FOR MY FAMILY!

I spent Thanksgiving with both sides of my extended families. Thanksgiving Day, my wife, twin daughters and I went out to Roseville to visit with her family. Her Aunt Jean makes the best homemade noodles, served with fresh roast turkey and gravy spilled over everything, it is hard to imagine anything tasting better. Then on Friday we drove to Toledo to have a feast with my mom, four brothers and their families. My mom claims it is the first time in more than a dozen years that we have all gotten together for a meal at her house. I do feel blessed to have such a wonderful family. Thirty-one of us shared in the feast.

All through the day we laughed, ate hors’ devours, shared stories, feasted on turkey, poked fun, ate pie, laughed and ate some more! My brothers are all avid hunters and fishermen. We quickly fell into a conversation about ice fishing. My little brother Gary talked about a crappie so big he had to enlarge the hole in the ice to get it out and this reminded me of one of my favorite tall tales told by my Uncle Joe:

ICE FISHING

I will never forget ice fishing with my Uncle Joe out on Lake Erie. I don’t know if you have ever been ice fishing, but imagine cutting a hole in the ice, sitting on an upturned bucket, on the ice, and an icy cold wind is howling down across the lake, straight from Canada. We did not have one of those fancy fishing shelters, with a heater, microwave, TV and satellite receiver. We just sat there on the ice with our little pop-up poles. I was freezing! About the only thing I was catching was a cold!

I looked over at my Uncle Joe and he’s catching them left and right. I’m not catching any! He’s catching big ones and little ones. I have not caught one. It took me a while to get up my courage, but finally I asked, “Uncle Joe, what’s your secret? Why are you catching so many fish and I’m not catching any?
“Arg-grumble-grumble-arg.”
(Talk with your hands over your mouth, shivering, like you are really cold and have a mouth full of marbles.)
“Come on Uncle Joe, please, tell me your secret, why are you catching fish and I’m not.”
“Arg-grumble-grumble-arg.”
“Please, what is your secret?”
(Spit up into your hands, cough to clear your throat and then say:)
You have to keep your worms warm!

FAMILY STORIES

The Holidays are a great time for collecting Family Stories. Take a pad and paper, schedule in advance and spend some quality time with your elders collecting the stories of your ancestors. If you follow this link,Lesson Plans, you will a lot of ideas for using family photos to collect family stories, information on conducting an oral history interview and how to turn your notes into a story. I am also a fan of www.ancestry.com where my cousin Makali has been doing some of my homework for me. I plan to visit my Aunt Irene and my father in Tennessee later in December to add to the web site. What I like about the Ancestry web page is that it is a community effort and we all benefit from each others research.

I have also presented several family literacy nights this month. I love the bubbly excitement when a room full of 300 parents and their children are all telling stories at the same time. For more about hosting a family literacy night please visit Family Literacy Night or Contact Fox

My Grandma Boden

As the school year get's rolling, I am working on my first edition of my new electronic newsletter. If you are interested please drop me an e-mail and I will add you to the list. Contact Fox

Steamboat Coming! Steamboat Coming! Steamboat Coming! Black Smoke Fills the Sky!

That is a song I will never get tired of! Could you imagine spending two days floating up the Illinois River on an authentic paddlewheel boat? As the Riverlorian and cruise director for the Spirit of Peoria riverboat I spend almost every Monday and Tuesday from late May through October telling stories on this gorgeous packet boat.

Pere Marquette, the French explorer, said, “Europe has no river to compare to the beauty of the Illinois.” And most passengers agree!

In addition to performing, I lead nature hikes and a history hike. Telling stories along the trail is very different from stage craft. It is fun to play with the audience and be spontanious, because it seems every week something else is blooming or the conversation leads to a new discovery for me as well as the hikers.

Today, on the boat, we had several families with kids who especially enjoyed the ghost stories. I do love the moment in Mark Twain’s favorite story, “The Ghost with the Golden Arm,” when I speak slowly and softly, “Give me back my golden arm…” and then I scream “YOU GOT IT!” and the whole audience jumps! There was one boy in the front row who was so frightened he later said , “I like it when you made me jump out of their skin!”

You can find Twain's version of this story on my web page: How to tell a story. I will warn you he uses an antiquated black dialect, but with a little adaptation you can make the story your own. Start practicing now, Halloween is coming! I will also say that I have learned a little trick to add to Mark Twain’s advice. Early in the story I make aloud explosion or thunder and lightening sound to scare the audience and figure out who is easy to scare, so I can pick on that person when I scream “YOU GOT IT!”

Think about joining us on the riverboat some time soon! Spirit of Peoria

This week I am in Tennessee visiting my father, researching family history, and working on my new book!

If you have not been to www.ancestry.com I would highly recommend it. They have links to lots of great information on your family tree and a place for you to post your findings as well as swap information with other researchers who may have done some of your homework! My cousin had already posted a fair amount of information and I am adding pictures and stories this week. My goal is to move beyond the so-and-so begot so-and so, typical geneology and look for the stories behind these names and faces. Here is a song I wrote about my family tree that is a fun model for creating your own song A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words. Check back soon to see what else I have found in my research.

And yes, I am working on a new book. I will make a formal announcement after the contract ink has dried!

Butterfly Weed

This is the summer for finishing our backyard wildflower garden. For Father’s Day my family bought me 70 prairie plants from Prairie Queen in Morton Illinois. (I highly recommend them for the quality, diversity of their plants, but especially for their expertise and friendly service!)

Some of the gems we acquired include scarlet monarda, rattle snake master, compass plant, pale purple cone flower and black eyed susans. A few plants we bought that I have never grown and I am excited to learn more about include monkshood, prairie violet, (Illinois’ State Flower), prairie smoke and lead plant.

Black Eyed Susan

The eventual goal is to make half of our back yard a prairie and the other half a forest, with a transition zone that includes Carolina spicebush and sumac. I have already planted about twenty trees including pecan, tulip poplar and a few varieties of oak.

The best part is the spiral path that we are building. Like the Celtic symbol triskela, or an old labyrinth with winding paths that have no beginning or end; the stone path path is an opportunity for meditation, contemplating our connection with the wild world. Check back in a few years to see how my garden grows.

Swamp Milk Weed

Gardening is more than hobby for me; I have written several articles on Butterfly Gardens. And you may also know that I have written activity Books including Exploring Prairie Wildlife. I am having a summer sale on this book, buy a classroom set and receive a special discount of 25 for $40, that’s less than $2 a copy!

If you would like to learn more about prairie plants, native landscaping or restoration efforts there are lots of great lesson plans, planting guides and information about prairie wildlife on-line.

Bee Balm or Bergamont

www.prairies.org is the place every one should begin. There are games for kids, photos of prairie plants and information about visiting a local prairie. There are also lots of links to other great web pages.

What are the wildflowers of your area? How can you landscape your yard to reduce watering and weeding, save you time, labor, and money and help the environment, reduce pollution and provide habitat for local birds and butterflies?

Yellow Cone Flowers at Apple River Fort

Today, we visited one of the largest prairie restoration efforts in the country, The National Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Prairie City, Iowa. My daughter Lily and I snapped photos of some of our favorite flowers that were in bloom. I also took a few photos at a smaller restored prairie at Apple River Fort in Elizabeth, Illinois where I presented a program on Native American Games. These pictures are sprinkled through this article. Thanks Lily!

Fox, Outstanding in his field!

This past weekend Prairie Folklore Theatre performed Black Hawk's Band at Apple River Fort in Elizabeth, Illinois. As one audience member said, "I could not imagine a better place to perform this show." It was simply amazing to have the opportunity to tell his side of the story as part of the 175th anniversary of this horrific tragedy in American History. Photos coming soon.

Check Back Often. My summer resolution is to post more frequently!

Darwin opens at The Field Museum!

Today I was at The Field Museum in Chicago for a press conference as Charles Darwin! It was a great experience to be in character in the exhibit space talking to reporters and a high school group who were allowed to preview the exhibit. It opens this weekend, June 15, and runs through January 1, 2008.

This amazing exhibit explores the story behind Darwin’s revolutionary idea. It includes lots of personal artifacts, interactive media, live iguanas, frogs and gorgeous orchids. What I like best about the exhibit is that it strikes an insightful balance between the man, his personal life and the scientist, his professional life. Researching the performance I was also intrigued by the scientific mind of his period and his personal religious struggles. He told a friend he felt as though he ‘was committing a murder’ by publishing “The Origins of Species.”

I am impressed by the rigorous scientific process of his work and the high standard he held up for himself as he sough to develop the proof for his theory. As his friend, and Illinois entomologist Benjamin Walsh wrote in his defense, Magna est veritas et pravalebit. “Great is the truth and it shall prevail!”

I will give performances as Darwin June 16 & 17 at 1:00 in Rice Hall at The Field Museum as part of the opening weekend’s events. My hope is that with Darwin’s 200th birthday coming up, all of this research will be put to good use!

For more information about Darwin visit The American Museum of Natural History who developed this exhibit. I also love the on-line maps from The Voyage of the Beagle. The National Science Teachers Association has developed several interactive lesson plans for teachers to use when teaching about Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, the Galapagos and Evolution.

Bud Burst!

I just found this really cool web page that includes information on President Thomas Jefferson's favorite science, Phenology. Phenology is the study of the timing of life cycle events in plants and animals. In other words, studying the environment to figure out how animals know when it is time to hibernate, and what ‘calendar’ or ‘clock’ plants use to begin flowering, leafing or reproducing.

In order to chart global weather patterns they are asking folks to send them data about when certain flowers bloom. It includes lots of lesson plans for teachers and exciting information about both wild and domestic flowers. Has the frost nipped your buds? Log-on and be a part of this important scientific study. WARNING: You might have fun... and be sure to stop and smell the flowers along the way!

Hello Folks,

Well I am nearly done and still very interested in your opinion. What do you think of the new web page? Any and all comments appreciated!

Contact Fox

Hello Folks,

I am right this moment in the middle of redesigning my web page, as you can see. I would love some feedback if you wanted to e-mail me any questions, suggestions, etc. Thanks in advance!