I am not entirely sure what I'm doing, but to avoid permanently being That Penguin Lady, I am participating in a local spectacle: Durham's home-grown Beaver Queen Pageant. Read a history of the Beaver Queen Pageant here.
The pageant raises funds for the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA). Way back in 2016, anticipating that the Potters' Penguin Project might need a local outlet for re-homing clay penguins, I built the Pageant into the project's original fundraising plan: "If, after reasonable effort, any penguins don't sell or are declined as donations, remaining colony members may be donated to a charity doing environmental advocacy in Durham, NC (where the Potters' Penguin Project originated)."
The Potters' Penguin Project previously raised funds for SANCCOB (2017) and Earthjustice (2018-19). We returned to the Greensboro Science Center a month ago for a second Tuxedo Trot fundraising round for SANCCOB. Now it's on to the Beaver Queen Pageant (June 1) to fundraise for ECWA. We'll have several hundred penguins on hand in exchange for donations (in pageant parlance, that's "buying votes" and "buying bribes").
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| Look! Earthjustice Quarterly Newsletter, Spring 2019... |
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| ...included a blurb about the Potters' Penguin Project! |
Thus a Beaver Queen Pageant contestant was born: Adélie Pygoscelis-Beaver, penguin by birth, beaver by marriage. What's the environmental advocacy connection between penguins and beavers, you ask? Both urgently need humans to be better stewards of the environment.
Because back-stories evolve, Adélie has evolved too. She started out as Adélie P. Beaver, and because I hadn't figured out whether she was a beaver or a penguin, she looked like this:
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| Adélie P. Beaver. She's teaching me about community-building performance art. |
If you are Facebook-inclined, please follow Adélie P. Beaver's page. And if you are inclined to support a Durham environmental advocacy nonprofit, please vote for Adélie early and often at beaverqueen.org.
Adélie declared her candidacy early, by Beaver Queen Pageant standards, because she didn't know what she was doing. She has since started a semi-regular Q&A called "Ask Adélie." Here are some highlights to date:
March 18, 2019
Adélie Beaver is delighted to announce that she is canceling plans to join the crowded field of Democratic contenders for president in order to run for 2019 Beaver Queen. The next 24 hours are critical: Adélie needs to raise 6.2 million krill from individual donors to demonstrate she's competitive. Please show your support by liking and sharing this page!March 20, 2019
A perceptive reader asks, "If Adélie is coming all the way from the Southern Hemisphere for the 2019 pageant, how could she also have been contemplating a 2020 bid for the US Presidency?"
Excellent question! My parents hail from Cape Denison, Antarctica. They were what the scientific community unfortunately calls "vagrants." They unintentionally hitched a ride on a fishing boat in 1966 and ended up in Alaska, well outside their native habitat. There I hatched in 1967 (eight years after Alaska became a state). I moved to North Carolina in 2011, after the New York Times listed Durham alongside the beaches of Mexico and the wilds of Kurdistan as one of "The 41 Places to Go," but I spend my winters in Commonwealth Bay studying krill. (Perceptive readers will note that winter in Durham is summer in Antarctica.)
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
March 21, 2019
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "How do you pronounce 'Adélie'?"
Excellent question! You can listen to my name being pronounced [here]. It sounds a lot like "a daily." My campaign slogan is "Everyone needs Adélie Beaver," which would be pronounced "ev-ree-wun needz a daily bee-ver" (ˈev-rē-wən ˈnēdz ə-ˈdā-lē ˈbē-vər).
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!March 27, 2019
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "you wrote that you study krill, but your Facebook page describes you as an 'Artist.' What gives?"March 28
Excellent question! As my parents never said, "Adélie is the A in STEAM education." I studied the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music) in Juneau, and the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) in Cape Denison. Since arriving in Durham, I've spent a lot of time sculpting mud. Dear reader, I encourage you to spread your wings! Try something new! It's fun to be a well-rounded beaver!
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "Are you the only penguin in Ellerbe Creek?"
Excellent question! To paraphrase one of our nation's former presidents, "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'in' is. If the—if Ellerbe—if 'in' means in and never within, that is not within—that is one thing. If it means there is none in, that was a completely true statement." In other words, probably.
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!April 4
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "what does the P stand for in 'Adélie P. Beaver'?"
Excellent question! I have one sister named Angelica, and another sister named Eliza, so if you guessed Peggy, after the Schuyler sister--well, you'd be wrong.
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 5
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "I'm hoping to avoid voting for candidates who have trouble keeping their flippers to themselves. Are you a candidate I can trust on these matters?"
Excellent question! Your body is your body, and no one else should be touching you with their flipper or tail or whiskers or ears or anything else without your consent. Planned Parenthood describes "consent" as something (1) freely given; (2) reversible; (3) informed; (4) enthusiastic; and (5) specific. Even if you've consented to flipper-to-flipper contact before, that doesn't mean you consent to it in the future.
But I think your question indicates you understand this already; the problem is, how should one respond to unwanted, non-consensual touch? Speak up and speak out. I believe I am a candidate you can trust on these matters because I understand consent and I am comfortable talking about it. And I'm an upstander--not a bystander; I call out disrespectful flipper flinging when I see it. Because if we don't stand up for one another, who will? As Hermione Emma Granger Watson says, "I’ve told myself firmly--if not me, who, if not now, when?"
Rest assured that every single one of the creatures of the meadow who will be participating in the talent portion of my pageant program will be doing so joyfully, respectfully, and by mutual consent.
Looking for helpful information for discussing touch and consent with your kits and chicks? Planned Parenthood is an excellent place to start. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/parents/tips-talking
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 8
Ron Chew-Now's bestselling book, Alexander Damilton, was published by Penguin Random House. "Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?" Penguins. Penguins tell your story. See you in the meadow on June 1!April 9
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "OK, so your middle name isn't Peggy--but what is it?"
Excellent question! As my high school calculus teacher used to say when inquisitive chicks and kits asked questions, "You are smarter than you think. What do you think the answer is?"
Like = Philanthropic
Love = Potter
Haha = Penguin
Wow = Pygoscelis
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 12
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "Some conservative forces have been suggesting that your claim to the last name Beaver is tenuous (at best) and are demanding a DNA test. How do you respond?"
Excellent question! True story: my mom sent me one of those spit-in-a-vial DNA kits several years ago. When I finally spat in the vial and mailed it in, the results said what I already knew: I am who I thought I was. Also, I have a bazillion distantly related cousins--just like pretty much anyone else who has descended from anyone else, since everyone's DNA has to come from somewhere. Also, my mother's DNA is so similar to mine, the spit-in-a-vial company was "highly certain" she was either my parent or my child--which demonstrates that you can only learn so much from DNA testing. But I digress.
True story: I've been working a lot on genealogy recently--not because of the DNA thing, but because my family has a legacy of excellent story telling that I'm trying to carry on. My most exciting recent find is that my intellectual socialist great great great great great aunt who believed in women's education and lived in Budapest in the 19th century actually lived in the 20th century and was probably only a great great great great aunt. She would probably have loved meeting up with the communist side of the family (who had to flee more than one city on short notice under cover of dark)--I know they would have loved meeting up with her--but the internet didn't exist until recently, so no one knew she was still alive in the 1960s when my grandmother was using her name as a pseudonym in a certain Chicago neighborhood communist newsletter. If you want to know how my relatives got from Cape Denison to Budapest and Chicago, you'll have to ask more questions. But I digress.
What studying family history has taught me is that names often get respelled or mangled when folks immigrate (which is how, e.g., my great great uncle Bruno became "Dorcas Joe"). The name "Beaver" is just as much mine as the name Adélie is, as is the multifaceted middle initial P. I am who I thought I was. I claim to be no one else. I am running for Beaver Queen to share an environmental message: whether your kin live in water or on land or both, in the northern hemisphere or the southern or both, we have but one planet to share. From the Duke Park Meadow to Commonwealth Bay and everywhere in between, let's work together to leave this world a cleaner place than we found it.
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 18
Today in Ask Adélie, I'm returning to that question about what the P. in Adélie P. Beaver stands for.
I thought, perceptive readers, that you knew more than you thought you knew, but it turns out I was wrong. My middle name is not Peggy, Penelope, Prudence, Pollen (oh dear--to be allergic to one's own middle name!), Pandora, Puffin (though we're distantly related), Psychedelic, Pythagoras (swoon!), or Plato--although all were good guesses. Nor is it Philanthropic or Potter (although I strive to be both). So I'm narrowing down the choices. Middle name by democracy--please vote early and often!
* Penguin
* Pygoscelis
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 23
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "Mayor Pete is apparently a big enough fan of Phish that he'd want them to play his inauguration. What are your feelings towards Phish (and, well, fish)?"
Excellent question! Who doesn't love Phish? Ooh, and that great Norwegian indie band, Krill? But for my inauguration (should I be so honored), I'd probably go with that classic of all classics, "[I Want to Be] Your Personal Penguin" by Sandra Boynton, sung by the late great Davy Jones (RIP).
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 26
Today in Ask Adélie, I return to two previous questions: (1) what's my middle name, and (2) what's my claim to the surname Beaver? It's a long post, but life is sometimes complicated.
First, the polling results are in, and I'm grateful the majority of y'all guessed wisely, so I don't have to change my name. The P stands for Pygoscelis. Only 14 of you voted, which reinforces the claim that EVERY VOTE COUNTS. This is true whether you're voting for student or city council, state or federal representatives, president or Beaver Queen. Especially Beaver Queen. Vote early and often.
Second, because I know that journalists scrutinize candidates' histories (as they should! Those who do it well help voters make more informed decisions! Defend Freedom of the Press! We've got your back, New York Times! NEVER beg for forgiveness on your knees before the nefarious Tyrant of Tweets!), I want to make sure you hear this news straight from the penguin's mouth: I recently submitted paperwork to change my legal name.
Here's why: Approaching 24 years of wedded bliss, my spouse, Faser Beaver, and I renewed our vows this past weekend. We decided to mark the occasion, and our equal partnership, by hyphenating our last names, bringing my maiden name back out from the shadows of middle-name status.
Adélie and Faser Pygoscelis-Beaver. The name Beaver is just as much mine as the name Pygoscelis is Faser's. We are still both who we thought we were. We still claim to be no one else. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all species are created equal. Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now!
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 28
Practicing my stage waddle before Tails & Tiaras [pageant kick-off party]. Mr. Faser Pygoscelis-Beaver was the camera man, which explains why he said "arms! arms!" instead of "flippers! flippers!" Such a beaver thing to say! But I knew what he meant--we know one another's language ♥.
April 28
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "WTF is a penguin doing running for Beaver Queen?"
Excellent question! I am running for two reasons.
(1) Three years ago, I made a sacred vow to help 1,500 clay penguins find forever homes while simultaneously fundraising for environmental advocacy nonprofits. Then 1,500 penguins became over 2,100 penguins. Over 600 of those have been adopted, but if you do the math, you'll realize that still leaves 1,400+ penguins. To this end, the The Potters' Penguin Project is sponsoring pageant votes. Buy four votes/bribes, take a penguin home. Win-win! And those votes don't have to be for Adélie (although of course I would appreciate your support!)--because the most important issue at the pageant isn't WHO to vote for, but just that you VOTE, and because a vote for any contestant is a vote for the environment, and because 1,400 penguins is A LOT OF PENGUINS (although a mere hundredth the number of penguins in many colonies). You can vote for any beaver or penguin, and still take a penguin home! Want a penguin before pageant day? PM me.
(2) I am running for Beaver Queen to share an environmental message: whether your kin live in water or on land or both, in the northern hemisphere or the southern or both, we have but one planet to share. From the Duke Park Meadow to Commonwealth Bay and everywhere in between, we must work together to leave this world a cleaner place than we found it.
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 29
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "Sir David Attenborough says that penguins never give up. Is that true?"
Excellent question! Oh my, yes. Penguins never give up. Sometimes we play dead when leopard seals clamp their jaws around us, but that's called STRATEGY. And yes, we gave up air flight eons ago so we could eat more krill, but that's called EFFICIENCY.
And when it comes to enlisting help to fight climate change? Penguins rise up.
If you're slidin' on your belly, you rise up.
Tell your beaver brother that he's gotta rise up!
Tell your orca sister that she's gotta rise up!
When are folks like me and you gonna rise up?
On every glacier, in every creek, we need to rise up.
All species for the common good, we need to rise up!
We ain't got no other choice, we need to rise up!
RISE UP!
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
April 29
Here's a did you know: both Rootie 2D Beaver and Gnawty Beaver helped craft penguins for the The Potters' Penguin Project. Beavers and penguins understand that ALL species benefit when we unite to fight climate change!
May 2
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "Wait, how do you pronounce your name again? ADD-a-lye? Add-a-LEE? Piggo-what? Help!"
Excellent question! Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. You can listen to my forename being pronounced in the link [here]. It sounds a lot like "a daily."
Until I hyphenated my last name, my campaign slogan was "Everyone needs Adélie Beaver," which would be pronounced "everyone needs a daily beaver." (I had also considered "Everyone needs Adélie P"--pronounced "everyone needs a daily pee"--which is true for mammals, and good for their health, but not for penguins. We don't pee. True fact. Look it up if you don't believe me.)
As we used to say in language lab in high school, "écoutez et répétez": listen and repeat. "Everyone needs a daily beaver. Everyone needs Adélie Beaver." "Everyone needs a daily pee. Everyone needs Adélie P."
I'll give you some time to practice, and then I'll be back with a discourse on "Pygoscelis."
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
P.S. Vote early and often! https://beaverqueen.swell.gives/AdeliePBeaver
May 3
Today in Ask Adélie, let's learn how to pronounce Pygoscelis.
My parents' side of the colony always said "pie-go-SELL-iss." On the opposite side of Antarctica, folks say "pie-GOSS-el-iss" (same accent as octopodes--ahk-TAHP-uh-deez--the musicality of which I LOVE). Sometimes I hear "pig-o-CHELL-eez," which is not to my pronunciation taste AT ALL. In English, it translates as "Rump Legged," which surely indicates penguins have some kinship with beaver queens.
As I ponder differences in regional pronunciations, I should mention that Antarctica is the southernmost continent on the planet. Every direction away from the South Pole is NORTH. If Rootie 2D Beaver were to visit the South Pole and do the Wetland Wiggle ("wiggle to the left and wiggle to the right"), she'd be wiggling to the NORTH in both directions.
Ecoutez et répétez: listen and repeat. "Pygoscelis, pie-go-SELL-iss." Alternatively, "Pygoscelis, pie-GOSS-el-iss." (You can understand why it was easier to just go with P for so many years.)
I'll give you some time to practice, and then I'll be back with a discourse on "Beaver."
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
P.S. Vote early and often! https://beaverqueen.swell.gives/AdeliePBeaver
May 4
Sometimes I go to the studio to make cups and bowls, and instead this happens...
[Editor's note: I swore I was done making penguins, but duty calls.]
May 6
Today in Ask Adélie, let's learn how to pronounce Beaver.
BEE-vr. BEE-vr.
Ecoutez et répétez: listen and repeat. "Adélie Pygoscelis-Beaver. A daily pie-go-SELL-iss BEE-vr." Alternatively, "Adélie Pygoscelis-Beaver. A daily pie-GOSS-el-iss BEE-vr."
Ecoutez et répétez: listen and repeat. "Everyone needs a daily beaver! Vote for Adélie Pygoscelis-Beaver at http://www.beaverqueen.org/!" ("Everyone needs a daily beaver! Vote for Adélie Pygoscelis-Beaver at http://www.beaverqueen.org/!")
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
May 8
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "you recently claimed that both penguins and beavers are rump-legged. Do y'all have any other attributes in common?"
Excellent question! While you might think we're polar opposites (so to speak), one similarity jumps immediately to mind: We're both national animals. Beavers are the national animal of Canada. Penguins are the national animal of Antarctica--which is impressive, given that Antarctica isn't a nation. Either there's another young, scrappy, and hungry country in the making, or you can't believe everything you read on the internet. You decide.
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
Vote early and often at http://www.beaverqueen.org
May 9
Last night while I was working with slippy clay on my pottery wheel, I was listening to classic rock radio, and they played the Righteous Brothers version of "Unchained Melody." If ever there was a song about the sensuous coupling of penguin-beaver habitats, this is it!
Oh my love, my darling, [blah blah blah etc.]
Lonely rivers flow
To the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea;
Lonely rivers sigh
"Wait for me, wait for me"
I'll be coming home, wait for me.
Oh my love, my darling, [blah blah blah etc.]
May 13
When a wee penguin needs a wee tail for the big beaver pageant, it helps to know an expert knitter.
May 14
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "You've mentioned that you're a beaver by marriage. Could you tell us more about your family?"
Excellent question! My spouse Faser is a European beaver (Castor fiber) from Germany. An engineer, he studied dam-building in Bavaria and is committed to keeping all wetlands clean.
We have one kit-chick, Pulli, whom we of course adore. Pulli's greatest talents are Thinking Outside the Box, Playing Well With Others, and Pizza-Box Art (look for his award-winning icosahedron on the wall at Pompieri Pizza).
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
Remember to vote early and often at http://beaverqueen.swell.gives/users/adeliepbeaver!
May 15
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "I understand that you are a beaver by marriage, and that you're a penguin by birth, and that you're running for Beaver Queen because species must unite to fight climate change, but, um, I'm a little confused about, um, well, you know, how you and Mr. Pygoscelis-Beaver were able to, um, well, you said you have a kit-chick, and, um, could you please clarify?"
Excellent question! Here's what I have to say about that: Love doesn't discriminate.
Love doesn't discriminate
between the penguins and the beavers.
It weaves and it weaves and it weaves
between our glaciers and our rivers.
We laugh and we cry and we break,
and we make our mistakes.
But there's a reason I'm by his side
when so many have tried:
cuz we're willing to work for it.
We're willing to work for it.
Peace. Love. Beaver. Penguin.
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
Vote early and often at http://www.beaverqueen.org/
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "I notice you quote Damilton a lot, and I think I caught whiffs of The Sound of Music and Ghost: The Musical in previous Ask Adélie columns. What other musicals do you like?"
Excellent question! I recently had a chance to see a thought-provoking revival of Oklantarctica in a walk-in freezer way off Broadway. My favorite song from that show is below.
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
=====================
Semi-Aquatic Folk
The beaver and the penguin should be friends.
Oh, the beaver and the penguin should be friends.
One critter likes to slap its tail, the other hides from the orca whale,
That's good enough reason why they should be friends.
Semi-aquatic folks should stick together,
Semi-aquatic folks should all be pals.
Penguins dance with beaver brothers,
Beavers dance with penguin gals. (repeat)
I'd like to say a word for the beavers,
They come outta the creek and they make a lot of changes
They come out on land and chew a lot of trees,
And build their dams wherever they dam please!
The beavers are good and thrifty citizens,
No matter how they rearrange things.
You often see 'em dancin' in a bar room
Slappin' their tails and buyin' drinks.
Yes, the beaver and the penguin should be friends.
Oh, the beaver and the penguin should be friends.
The penguin waddles over ice with ease, while the beaver prefers wetlands with bees,
That's good enough reason why they should be friends.
Semi-aquatic folks should stick together,
Semi-aquatic folks should all be pals.
Penguins dance with beaver brothers,
Beavers dance with penguin gals.
I'd like to say a word for the penguins,
the road they tread is difficult and rocky.
They slide on their bellies for days on end with jist a thousand other penguins for a friend.
I sure am feelin' sorry for that flocky!
The beavers should be sociable with the penguins,
if they slide by and ask for water and food.
You should treat 'em like guests, make 'em welcome--dam be blessed!
Fight climate change together lest we all be screwed!
Semi-aquatic folks should stick together,
Semi-aquatic folks should all be pals.
Penguins dance with beaver brothers,
Beavers dance with penguin gals.
Remember to vote early and often at http://www.beaverqueen.org!
May 17
Last night, Faser, Pulli, and I went to see a delightful performance of Peter and the Starcatcher at DSA Theatre. The opening scene of Act II--a mermaid song and dance routine--was especially poignant: all of the mermaids had plastic waste on their bodies. Plastic coffee cup lids, plastic plates, plastic bubble pack. The message is clear: humans and other species must unite for a cleaner environment: mermaid lives depend on it!
May 19
In honor of Damilton, my most recently crafted sculptures depict young scrappy penguins of the Federalist Era. Some outfits never go out of style.
May 20
May 20 is World Bee Day, as proclaimed by the UN Member States in 2017. So here's a shout out to our 2015 Beaver Queen, Mz. Polly Nator, who helped Durham become certified as a Bee City USA in 2016. When species unite for the environment, we all win! Let's protect our fuzzy winged friends by avoiding toxic mosquito barrier sprays this summer. And next summer. And every summer. (As you can tell from the photos, I kinda have a thing for bees. I mean, I absolutely adore my beloved beaver, but oh my, check out these gorgeous bee bods...)
May 22
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "Waiting for the pageant is even harder than waiting for the series finale of GOT. I can't wait until June 1st! Do you have any behind-the-scenes sneak-peeks you can leak before then?"
Excellent question! You've probably figured out by now that I'm a card carrying member of the species Pygoscelis adeliae, a.k.a. an Adélie penguin. We tend to be a traditional bunch--pretty much the "heed-not-the-rabble-who-scream-revolution" types of the penguin world. While I've always been a bit of a rebel (I am an artist, after all), prepping for the Beaver Queen Pageant has been liberating in ways I never could have imagined. And why wouldn't it be? Imagine dressing up in a costume and pretending to be someone completely different! So now, Gentle Reader, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I haven't made a final decision on this, but--wait for it, wait for it--this here Adélie penguin is contemplating going full out ROCKHOPPER on pageant day! Yo yo yo yo yo, what time is it? Show time!
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
Remember to vote early and often at https://beaverqueen.swell.gives/users/adliep.beaver
May 24
Here's a didja know: the vast majority of penguin species live in warm or temperate climates, not cold ones. We live on every continent south of the equator, and the only penguin species to live in the northern hemisphere (not counting "vagrants," like my parents) is the Galapagos penguin--only because the equator runs right through the balmy Galapagos Islands. Nonetheless, it's mighty hot in Durham for this here penguin today. Looking forward to cooler temps on pageant day!
May 24
Today in Ask Adélie, a perceptive reader asks, "Did you just call your parents 'vagrants'? That doesn't seem very nice."
Excellent question! My parents have been full-time penguins their entire lives. "Vagrant" is an unfortunate term used by biologists to refer to species found outside their normal range. Sometimes biologists use the term "accidental" instead. We could discuss what "normal" means--normal according to whom, eh?--and my parents certainly weren't "accidental." They were simply diving for krill one day when that fishing boat picked them up; no one ever told them they were heading to Alaska until they pulled into Bristol Bay.
Imagine them, plannin’ for the future; see 'em now as they stand on the bow of that ship headed for a new land; in Alaska they could be new penguins...When America sings for them, Will they know what they overcame? Will they know they rewrote their game? Their world would never be the same.
Have a question for Adélie? She has an answer!
Remember to vote early and often at https://beaverqueen.org/
May 25
Hardly a day goes by when I don't say "So long, and thanks for all the fish." Happy Towel Day 2019, everyone!May 25
Pat, pat; and here's a marvelous convenient place
for our rehearsal. This green plot shall be our
stage, this hawthorn-brake our tiring-house; and we
will do it in action as we will do it before the Duke [Park beavers].
--Wm Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, Scene 1
BTW, while we're less than a month from Midsummer Night here in Durham, my cousins in Antarctica are approaching deepest darkest winter. May the wind be at their backs and their huddle stand strong!
May 25
The Beaver Queen Pageant is a week away. To center myself (as we potter penguins are wont to do), I went to the Durham Farmers' Market this morning and commissioned a poem (although I meant to go just to buy strawberries). The prompt was brief--penguin running for Beaver Queen on an environmental platform--and the author was from out of town and hadn't heard of the pageant, but the poem he wrote took my breath away. Peace. Love. Beaver. Penguin. #gratitude
=============
Beaver Creek Penguin...
Species, we are, will be, all--must come
together.
All interdependent all related
hawk, swoop, hare--all one.
Here, in North Carolina we're on Piedmont
Mind.
Beaver bliss in the freedom
backyards once provided,
before being measured, being sold.
The soul of Earth can't be sold is
grandmothered in is not ours.
Connected by rain cycles and roots,
migrating like water like galaxies.
Penguin, like, now, here:
For Beavers for land for minerals
for our vegetable nature,
North Carolina Penguins come together.
A penguin is never one
this is true, too, about we people.
Blue Mountains are always walking,
says the grass.
On the hillside, all together, one big breathe.
Breathe deep, as Penguins do
before standing up for what they
believe is true.
Longleaf pine, once Peopled
how much stands
now? How
many?
To walk out of the ocean,
and feel the weight of atmosphere--
to unfold in Paleolithic mind.
We are older then we remember
are penguins, beavers, hands clapping
cave paintings, agriculture, song, dance,
craft--as Beavers craft and penguins dance.
Penguin memory says:
roots feed you feed roots feed you.
To protect and relocate, grow,
learn the plants,
go light.
DURHAM, Carolina del Norte
2000&when?
May 27
More centering. Sending Peace, Love, Beaver, Penguin to the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association. Thanks for leading a beautiful and informative Memorial Day Heron Rookery Hike this morning.
May 28
Pygoscelis penguins prepare pre-pageant, promoting public philanthropic pride.
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That's where things stand, four days before the pageant. Hope to see you in the meadow on June 1!
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