Betty Birney’s Blog

I’ve been to Vail, CO, speaking at the Vail Mountain School last  Friday –beautiful place, beautiful school, beautiful people. I will post again about that visit, hopefully tomorrow.

Interspersed with such a great trip (except for travel delays both ways and other indignities), my dearest dog Desi has gone from racing through the yard three weeks ago to not being able to walk at all. She can walk a little now, thanks to steroids, but she has a tumor of the spinal cord. She was supposed to have surgery this week but it’s been postponed until next week. That’s probably just as well because our son (we got the dog for him when he was 11) is coming home Friday and bringing his girlfriend, Ania, another of Desi’s favorite people. Coping with Desi’s day-to-day problems has taken up time. However, her absolutely indomitable spirit is completely inspiring. The worst was having her away from us for a few days. Right now, she’s lying in my office and I feel so much better having her here.

It’s hot here – HOT-HOT-HOT as Humphrey would say, but the office is cool.

I can’t say enough wonderful things about my hosts at Vail Mountain School but I will give more details in the next post.

It was so lovely to see fall color!

Shiver me timbers! It’s September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day!  I hope ye be celebratin’ in style. Even a landubber like ye can talk like a pirate. It just takes practice. Just ask our matey, Humphrey, whose next book of adventures takes place on the high seas. (Well, Potter’s Pond.) It’s a fur-raising tale which will keep ye guessin’: will Humphrey win a treasure chest of gold … or end up in Davey Jones’ locker? (That be the bottom o’ the sea … er, Potter’s Pond.)

Ye’ll have to wait ’til February to find out if ye dwell in the U.S.

Readers in the U.K. got a preview this March for World Book Day. But they’ll learn the rest o’ the story later next year.

Here be a peek at the covers.

UK World Book cover 2008

US cover 2009

In further celebration of this illustrious day, here be a swashbuckling riddle:

Q.: Why does it take pirates a LONG-LONG-LONG time to learn the alphabet?

A:  Because they spend years at C!

For another pirate riddle, check out Humphrey’s notebook on the Humphreyville section of my website. Our favorite furry friend blogs there.

And remember, behave yourselves, mateys, or ye be walkin’ the plank!

Perhaps I need to meditate about the spelling of Intermediate. I made a typo on the photo caption on the blog – too bad I don’t have a copy editor at home like I do on my books.

I also meant to say, regarding the Houston cousins, “whom I hope to see….”

I would so hate to disappoint Miss Ahrens.

Midway Intermedita library assistant Jan Duello, me, librarian Judy Payne.

Watching Hurricane Ike do his terrible thing, it’s hard to believe that a week ago today I was enjoying sunny Houston with relatives there.

I started off in Waco at the Midway Intermediate School, spending the day with very enthusiastic fifth and sixth graders. It was my first visit to Waco and Judy Payne, the librarian, was a terrific hostess, making sure I was well-fed, well cared for and even gave me a great tour of Waco and the beautiful Baylor University Campus.  Sometimes when I travel, I only see the school and the hotel and don’t get to see the city, but I always like to get a sense of where I am and see the wonders of the area.

On Saturday, I flew to Houston, rented a car and drove out to The Woodlands, a beautiful lushly wooded planned community. I was invited to speak at a school on Monday and took the opportunity to visit my cousin and her family – the first time I’ve gotten to The Woodlands even though they’ve lived there 15 years! I had a relaxing weekend, talking, eating, talking, working, talking.  Again, a taste of great Texas hospitality.

Cousins Linda, Sam (the last of three sons still at home), John

With Susan Gerding at John Cooper

Monday, I was at the John Cooper School where I spoke to kindergarteners and up, had a great lunch in their really great cafeteria (I chose the taco bar) and signed a lot of books. Cousin Linda stopped by to check out my presentation (luckily it went well) and Librarian and hostess Susan Gerding made everything move smoothly. There was a very special lunch with students, who got to choose cupcakes by picking their favorite wonder (see below). I got the Humphrey cupcake.

Wonder-full cupcakes!

I was amazed at the wonderful art projects the students had created (school had only been in session a little over a week): Uncle Sam applehead dolls with writing about the Wonders of America … unbelievably detailed clothespin dolls like Aunt Pretty made … and Humphrey drawings and book covers. I took a lot of pictures … and they turned out lousy! I’m so sorry I can’t share them with you but all you’d see was the flash. I may work on them some more.

Now, I’m just watching the news and hoping all my Texas friends and relatives, including my husband’s cousins in Houston who I hope to see in January, and my cousin’s daughter and husband, newly moved to Corpus Christi. Odd that just after a spectacular week falling in love with Cedar Rapids, IA in April they had such devastating floods. Maybe I should stay home!

Sorry –  I keep forgetting to allow comments and to classify my blogs – I just go too fast. I want comments so if you have any from the previous post, you can put them here. I’ll try to do better … and my apologies to those whose comments I missed in the past – that won’t happen again and I’m all caught up!

Also, if you don’t know it, Humphrey “blogs” in his notebook on the Humphreyville page of my website. Check it out some time. He’s a pretty clever hamster and he LOVES-LOVES-LOVES riddles.

Now, read the post after this one, which is actually the post before it …. oh, I think I’ll go pack my which I have to pau $15 to check because I carry on my laptop and small projector.

See Y’all in Texas!

And speaking of Texas, I’m still quite fond of my picture book,Tyrannosaurus Tex, which was very popular, had a long run, but went out of print last year.