28. attend a Chautauqua

Do You Like Birds?

This was the first daytime program I went to where the speaker assumed the role of his character, Richard Johnson became John James Audubon. That worked well for a kids' program at the Bowling Green schools.

Audubon told the kids what his life in France had been like at their age. His mother had let him run wild in the woods instead of going to school. But when his father, the sea captain, came home and discovered that he hadn't been learning to read and write, the boy was sent to military school.

Then Audubon shared his love of birds, starting with a stuffed robin that sang like a robin. A few kids could identify the bird just from the song and the rest knew it when they saw it.

The kids also recognized the crow puppet and were able to tell Audubon that it said, "caw." They seemed surprised to learn that in crow language, that often means, "Watch out! There's a dangerous-looking person!"

Then Audubon showed his pictures. Many of the students could identify the cardinal, flamingo, hummingbird, and owl. About half guessed that the blue jay was a blue bird, but the rest got it right. Several claimed to have seen the snowy white egret--I saw my first one in Pike County at the Ted Shanks Wildlife Area. Many students knew the duck and a surprising number also knew that it was a mallard.

Audubon encouraged the students to observe nature in their backyards, learning outside of school as well as inside.