Zoey Rockshindle: Chapter 10

Mellisa was at school.

This turned out to be quite a problem for the desperate birds, and as they wandered around
anxiously on Mellisa's doorstep waiting for her to come out, just that thought dawned on Zoey.
She stopped pacing.

"It's Monday," she muttered.
"So?" Woody asked.
"Mellisa's at school!"
"Oh, no," Woody said. He paused. "Wait, what's school?"
"It's...there's no time for explaining! And there isn't enough time to go get Mellisa, either! Now,
 what bird regurgitates food for their babies?"

Woody thought, then said: "Hens! Hens do!"
"Good! I know a spot where there are hens!"

And off she flew, beckoning Woody to follow her.

Soon they arrived at an animal farm, and both birds plopped down on the fence overlooking the
chicken coop. Zoey couldn't help but realize that, before now, she had always thought of this farm
as a "pig dwelling" and had never really appreciated it. But she pushed that thought out of her
mind and swooped down into the farm.

"Excuse me, hen, but--hen? Excuse me--"
"BucAWK! BAWK! Bawk-bawk-bawk-BUCAWK!"
"Hi, I'm--"
"BAWK!!"
"I was just wondering if you--"
"Bawk bawk BUCAWK!!"

And that pretty much explains how visiting the chickens went.

"We're hopeless. Chickens won't even acknowledge our existence, they just keep blabbering away
about eggs and roosters. Anyway...we better go back and check on the baby bird."

They arrived at the park about two minutes later. Woody plopped down in front of their tree, followed by Zoey. To their surprise, a plump little chickadee sat inside next to a sleeping baby bird.

"Uh...hello?" Woody said.
"Oh, I'm sorry, is this your little baby bird? It just looked so hungry and helpless...I couldn't resist,
I had to feed it..."
"No, it's great that you fed it! We were just trying to get it some food!" Zoey was practically jumping up and down. "What did you feed it?"
"Well, it seems to like torn-up flesh. I tried everything, until I realized what it wanted."
"Thank you so much, um..."
"I go by Pin. And you?"
"I'm Zoey, and this is Woody here--" she gestured to her friend. "--we just came upon an egg one
day, and...it hatched after a while of sitting."
"That's very interesting." Pin said.
"Well, Pin, it's been nice having you. And I was wondering...I'm not exactly in the position to take
care of a baby bird...are you interested in adoption?" Zoey asked.
"Um...Really? Wow, yeah! That would be great! Could I stay here to look after him?"
"Yes, I think it's time for me to move on to a different home. The tree's all yours."
And that settled it.

Our Big Move

Recently my family made a big move.

We packed up and left Bellingham, Washington.

After spending a few months in Colorado, we realized that we'd been missing out on sunshine, beauty, and fun. All the while we'd been up in Washington, waiting for a summer that basically never came! All we got up there was clouds and rain.

So, we took a little road trip to explore Colorado and New Mexico looking at towns we might want to live in. Santa Fe: too hot and dry. Taos: same deal. Telluride: we wouldn't be able to start a

farm there. Crestone (a small, cute town) too...in-the-middle-of-nowhere. Denver: no consideration involved. Too crowded!!

Then we came across a town near Aspen. It was perfect: great farming area, flat (for biking), enough sun, rain and snow, awesome place for skiing, nice community, cool schools, and a

gorgeous view of Mt. Sopris. We all loved the town (that I like to call Onnie), and we're in the process of moving here. I'm so excited!

Fragrant Water-lily

Fragrant Water-Lily, White Pond-Lily

Description...

Flowers smell sweet, are white to pink-ish, and they open at dawn and close at dusk.

Leaves look like giant green pack-mans on the water because they are flat, notched at the base, and float.

Where found...

Found in ponds, marshes, lake edges, slow waters.

Native to Eastern North America, introduced to all western states except Idaho, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

Uses...

Root tea good for:

Mouth sores, sore throat, dysentery, chronic diarrhea, bronchitis, urinary tract irritations, vaginal yeast infections. May be used as an eye wash or to diminish men's libido. Good for cancer.

Root and leaf poultices are good for:

Sores, boils, tumors, and rashes.

Chew stems for toothaches.

Book Report for: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

I recently finished a book titled 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,' by Sherman Alexie.

This modern-day story is about a Native American teenage boy named Junior Spirit, who lives on an indian reservation in Washington. Alcohol plays a major part in this boy's life. It controls and ends many people's lives where he lives. There isn't much money, either. So the schools aren't very nice. What starts Junior's little adventure is when, on the first day of high school, Junior notices that the school is so old and run-down, he has to use the same book his mom used. This gets him feeling angry and unimportant. So, in his frustration, he throws the book at his teacher. Later, Junior's teacher gives him some advise. He tells Junior he should leave the reservation to have a better life, somewhere nicer. So, as a start, he transfers to a nicer school, a school where he gets a better education. There he is happier. But his home is still depressing. Many people on the reservation think of him as a traitor for going to school with white people. Even his best friend Rowdy ignores and is mean to him. This is the story of how Junior finds hope in his new school while trying to face the problems at home.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a good book. I enjoyed this book for many reasons, partly because I love reading diarys. But also because the characters had real-life problems (such as food disorders and drinking addictions) which made the story more realistic.

What I didn't like about this book was...

-How it ended. From what I remember, the end didn't seem to wrap itself up, like how I'd hoped it would.

-Some people might not like that it doesn't have an obvious conflict.

I strongly suggest this book to people who are interested in Native American Reservation culture, like reading diaries, or just need a good book to read. And I'd give it a three-and-a-half star rating.

Zoey Rockshindle, chapter 9: The Bird

Over the next couple of days, Mellisa, Zoey, and the Woodpecker had

a lot of fun together. They were confident that Zoey's parents were not

at all worrying about Zoey. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Rockshindle were happy

Zoey was away for a while, because they figured:

"Well, we might as well not worry about her. It won't do any good. And

she sounded fine in her letter. She's probably having the time of her life."

Indeed, that was practical thinking. But risky, too. If Zoey were not a bird

that could fly away at any moment from danger, she might've gotten into

trouble with that bad, snobby attitude of her's.

Luckily she was safe with her friends in the park wandering about. Zoey spent

lots of her time sitting on the abandoned eggs. The weather lately had

been cloudy, but with no rain. It was a bit depressing, but with her friends,
Zoey was happy.

One morning, Zoey woke up to a cracking sound. At first, she thought it

was pecking, and was angry with the Woodpecker, because they had

made a deal for him not to peck on the tree she was in. But then she

recognized it as an eggshell being broken. She jumped up, and ran

over to the eggs. A little beak was trying to make it's way through

the shell. It poked and scratched, until finally, Zoey could see a
squirmy, wet little body struggling out of the shell.

"Wow!" Zoey cawed as it made it's way onto the ground.

"WOODY!" She screeched.

In a few minutes, the woodpecker swooped into the tree cave and plopped

down beside Zoey.

"Woody, go get some bugs. Quickly, please!"

The woodpecker raced out of the cave. In a second he returned with a

mouth full of bugs. But the baby bird just would'nt eat them!


"Oh, no," She said. She was beginning to understand.

"What?" Woody asked.

"It doesn't want bugs. Some baby birds have to be fed food
that's already partly digested." Zoey said. She gulped.

Woody looked grossed out. He said:

"I guess...we could try."

So, since Woody didn't seem as eager to do it, Zoey ate the worms,

then unwillingly put her open mouth above the hungry baby bird's mouth.
But it just didn't feel right. It wasn't only gross--Zoey didn't think
she was meant to regurgitate, being a crow. Didn't crows feed their
babies bugs? She couldn't remember.

"I don't think crows can throw up," Zoey told Woody. "They feed their
young bugs."

Zoey and Woody knew what they would have to do.

"We need Mellisa." Woody said.

Wish Rillzo Eco-Village

Just the other day, my family and I took a little trip to Wish Rillzo.
Here is how it went.

First, we drove for quite a while, until we got to a body of water.
There was a ferry boat sending people across (in their cars).
We waited for a few minutes, then drove on, too.
It took about half an hour for the ferry to take us all the
way to the other side of the water. When we got there, we drove

up a hill and around a few corners. I looked up from my book,
and saw we had arrived at a place called
Wish Rillzo Eco-village.

We got out of the car and met a few people. We found our friends
that we had planned to meet there. We explored, and saw they
had a trampoline, chickens, bee hives with bees, community
houses, gardens...
...It was a dream come true. I new right away that I wanted to
live there.

Then I met a man named Nils. He stepped out of his car and
introduced himself. We told him our names. Then we found
out he was a Bee Man, and he was about to go "check on some
bees." Now, I've always had a kind of connection toward bees.
When I was much younger and we lived in a trailer on a mountain
for a while, a swarm of bees came to hang out nearby.
I watched, then stuck my hands right next to them.
They crawled all over my arms and I didn't get stung once.
I loved it.
And the two times in my life I've been stung, I didn't hate
bees afterward.
So when this man said he took care of the bees, I liked the
sound of that. I asked him if I could help him, and he said yes.
So he put me in a real bee suit and lead me to the bees.

For hours we did things for the bees, scrapping off beeswax,
giving them sugar, cutting off male brood and feeding it to
the chickens, watching the queen bee, and having fun.
It was an absolutely amazing experience and I learned a lot.

Also, while I was at the awesome Eco-Village, I helped build
some of a house, brought in chicken eggs,
(like I do where we live right now) played soccer,
Found a "secret" passageway, and I hope
next time I'll get a chance to jump on the trampoline.

I really, really want to live there, and my parents are seriously
considering it.

In my opinion, bikes are the greatest things that were ever invented

by humans. I think there are many reasons why they are better than

cars. Here are a few.

Bikes...

-Are healthier for the Earth, since we don't have to dig up and use oil

to power them.
-Are healthier for the environment since they do not pollute.

-Are healthier for people, since exercise is very good for our bodies.

-Are lighter.

-Are smaller.

-Have sharper turns.
-Allow your body to absorb more vitamin D, since you're not in shade.
-Can go on trails and sidewalks.
-Are a lot less expensive.

-Are easy to operate.

-Are, to many people, more fun.

Lately, my family has been biking a lot more than driving. I've set a

personal record and haven't gone in a car for nine days.