Lesson 649: Twenty Stories

Hello, Readers.
I'm an evening late posting this blog this week.
I've got good reason--
Twenty reasons, actually.
Read on.

#1
My nephew Erik turned 23 today!
It's been about 20 years since we joined the A-Team.
Autism diagnoses often come around the age of 3.

At 23 he remains nonverbal,
but that does not mean his non-communative.
Those who know him best,
his family, friends, and caregivers,
understand his unique language.
He speaks through facial expressions,
hand flaps,
some sign language,
tongue positions,
and sounds.

He told me today
that he didn't want to fold my towels
or listen to podcasts,
so I obliged.
It was his birthday, after all.

Instead he got extra pushes on the swing,



and got to play with is favorite
rainbow poop emoji ball
for a really long time on the trampoline--



even well past my usual motion sickness onset.
And FYI:
This is one big,
fat
Pinterest lie.



#2
The true inspiration for this week's blog
was not two decades of autism.
It was this story I saw on the Today Show this week.



The Twenty Stories van,
which is a throwback/updated book mobile,
is one of the most clever ideas
to get books into the hands of people,
and make them cool.



For the full story, see below.

#3
Mrs. Eloise,
Quest Teacher,
loves a good story.
The best stories involve hidden treasure.
Boy, can you hook anyone
with a story about a treasure out there somewhere
waiting for you to find it.



The story we've been working on
this past year is of Forrest Fenn
and his hidden treasure out west.

It is a great story
that came to the end this week.
The treasure has been found.
There is one happy treasure hunter
and 200 extremely disappointed Questies.
Click on the video below.

For those of you as interested as I was,
here is another link with a little more to the story.

For more on Fenn's interesting story CLICK HERE

#4

I always try to get my students hooked on a real life mystery.
It's an intriguing topic that captures the interest
of almost any grade level student.
You can work in all kinds of skills--
research,
determining reliable sources,
separating fact from opinion,
analyzing information,
arguing validity,
working in teams,
drawing maps,
finding evidence,
making inferences--
all good stuff.

This was a fun one we did in years prior
if you are a teacher and looking for a possible
new topic for the fall.

Who stole the bones
of this important scientific discovery?



#5
This one was my favorite!
Dorothy's missing ruby red slippers!
Check out the video teaser below.
You can find this on the Discovery Channel show
Expedition Unknown.

#6

Amelia Earhart's disappearance

has always been a favorite as well.

All of the above are such great stories,

but the best tales 

are the ones you weave yourself.

#7

There will be a lot more stories around this 

diamond in the rough, 

to become ours officially on Monday.

#8
Never did the guys who founded
Dad's Camp in 1934,
thought they'd see hospital masks
hanging on the hooks.

#9

Hazel likes it there.

She has a new friend named Star.

#10

Star

 and 

Hazel's sister Opal

will be making appearances

in the Pretty Pittie

book series 

Sam and I are working on 

for early readers.

 Readers,
can you tell which one is Hazel
and which one is Opal?

#11

We've had many long commutes

to the Big Woods while we get things settled.

Sam is a great co-pilot,

keeping his eyes peeled for deer.

We started the Tic Tac Challenges this summer,

mainly because there were tons of coupons

for them on Ibotta.

The long rides seemed to go by quickly

when we set timers to see how long until our Tic Tac Melted.

Good luck beating his newest record,

set today.

#12

I'm selfishly enjoying this time with my son,

mainly due to the absence of baseball.

It's fun to have different things to talk about,

besides the rehashing of games played.

I believe the pandemic has challenged

and stretched athletes in new ways--

positive ones!

Here's what a baseball looks like

when you run it over with the lawnmower.

#13

Here is how the Community Park looks

on a Wednesday evening in June,

 with the absence of sports.

#14

With any sort of luck,

we'll be  back in action soon.

Fingers crossed for Erie's Green Light.

#15

I caught this frog getting lucky.

The ditch running along the back baseball fields

has polliwogs swimming around!

The Community Park pond

is chock full of frogs, too!

#16

Summer is here,

which means 

I get to resume my early morning walks

with my friend Tracy.

I like driving to meet her in North East

because I can catch the sun rise over the vineyards.

#17

I'm not participating in group workouts

until Erie gets the Green Light.

I miss my friends at Team Adrenaline and the YMCA!

I've been doing lots and lots of walking.

I used to use The Walk app

to balance out my Zombies Run game

on days my legs needed a rest.

My feet can't take the pounding anymore,

so I switched to all walking.

With this walk app,

you become part of a story.

Story clips are unlocked as you complete

your miles.

You can choose your routes,

and this season I'm taking the long way around.

Some of the episodes are two hours long!

The goal is to deliver a mysterious device

that someone put into your pocket.

You must walk the 500 miles across England

to deliver it to Edinboro!

Join me!

I'm on episode 12 out of 65.

#18

Trails are really great for this game,

and also for my lens 

and twitchy trigger finger.

I've been taking lots of nature shots, 

if you've noticed.

I haven't seen that many people.
Plus,

people are really sensitive right now

on so many subjects,

the world is not conducive 

to happy facial shots.

#19

Nature.

She's really something,

isn't she?

#20

And some stories,
don't need a single word to capture your attention.

 Enjoy the rest of the weekend, Readers.
Eloise