“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”
If that whirring noise bothered you yesterday we apologize. It was the sound of Mark Twain rolling over and over in his grave because San Francisco and the Bay Area was HOT yesterday. 110 in Martinez hot. Even though Mr. Train never actually wrote that, I’m sure he would have been shocked. I’m still shocked.
But hot days are good for sitting inside and planning. At our Kiwanis appearance yesterday Worth A Dam was given a donation and asked to do a presentation for the Boys and Girls Club in Martinez again. That’s a boisterous fun arena that usually requires a fairly short lesson followed by a very fun activity. When I was trying to imagine what we should do I thought of our old wildlife buttons from Mark Poulin. There’s no way to do the keystone activity but why not let every child pick ONE to keep and have them draw that animal?
Maybe the post card could say something about saving beavers…hmmm. Don’t kill the beavers is too heavy handed. How about just thanking them for saving them? 
Better yet, why not draw the animal on the button they selected on the back of an irresistably adorable postcard and deliver them to the mayor?
So yesterday I made the graphic and ordered a bunch of 5 x 7 postcards of these with funds from that donation. The hands in the corner are the emblem of the boys and girls club, and should work in our favor. We can also bring a poster and have kids sign their name over ‘their animal’ based on the button they drew. Then leave it with the facility but the postcards will be delivered to city council. Adorable kid drawn images on the back of beavers or the animals assist will help.
Fun fact. This photo was taken of children drawing beavers on our very first Earth Day event in 2008. We had no idea an activity like this would be so popular and just bought pens and paper on the way at the drug store. The two little red heads at the back are the daughters of one of our current council members. I was the daycare teacher of the sons of another. And that doesn’t even count Mark and Lara who saved our beavers the first time around.
There’s no such thing as a sure thing. But I feel that the odds are good it will be at least difficult to quickly dispatch these beavers.
More treats include this fine letter from Charlotte Burns in Palmer, Massachusetts, which clearly needs all the beaver defenders it can get.
Letter: Beavers were only reclaiming their wetlands
It saddens me that residents of the Guelphwood Road area on the Charlton/Dudley line are so adamant about killing beavers that have flooded this road. They built their houses on the edge of a wetland but will not accept that wetlands are homes to critters like beavers.
Beavers play an important role in our environment, creating ponds, slowing sediments which provide food for other critters, and increasing biodiversity of flora and fauna. Their ponds improve local water quality by neutralizing acidic runoff and acting as a sink for pollutants. Dams improve the quality of water by filtering it. Modern Americans seem to prefer sterile, groomed, critter-less environments: chemlawns which kill butterflies and bees, and clean ponds with only stocked fish. They fear buggy, sloggy wetlands which are our greatest flood prevention. This neighborhood needs to get its priorities straight. Killing off nature is having disastrous consequences. Houston was built on swamps; Maine’s blueberries are not getting pollinated; and we’re creating daily crises with global warming. We need to work with nature, not destroy it. Change must start in our own backyards.
Charlotte Burns : Palmer
Beautifully written and well said, Charlotte! We need more writers like you in every state. And speaking of the wisdom to accept beavers, here’s the audio from the Blue Heron Nature Preserve on Altanta NPR yesterday.
