Category — River Roots

A few weeks back I found a large black woolly caterpillar walking along the edge of the sidewalk near my office.

I picked it up and it coiled into a circle and exposed bright red bands that had been hidden between rings of black bristles. Pretty impressive! I showed it to my daughters but none of us knew what it was.

Fresh out of field containers, I scavenged a paper cup with a wad of napkins for a temporary home. It worked long enough to get us home and inside but somewhere between the kitchen and the family room we set the cup down long enough to lose track of this black beauty.  Open screen-less windows make it pretty easy for quasi-pets to escape so, after a cursory search, I presumed she was settling into a cocoon in and amongst the great outdoors.

This morning there was a nasty storm - the kind of wind & rain that makes weathermen break into regular programming to give us the blow by blow. Our regularly sun-filled family room was dim with stormy purple-green light. The kids were camped out in the bathroom with our dog, Buster. He’d taken refuge in the shower, refusing to be coaxed out for even with warm-from-the-oven-sugar-cookies.

Anxious and grabbing up odds and ends on the off chance we decided to head to the spacious safety of our crawl space, I weighed my shoe options. My rubber boots were by the back door in the darkened family room. Something bright caught my eye. Suddenly it registered that there was a large bright white moth on the back of one of my black rubber boots. Storm-be-damned I got a jar, hastily stuffed in some climbing sticks, and gently nudged the impressive moth into the make shift habitat.

It was 3 or 4 inches long with white fuzzy antenna and black circles & shapes on it’s robust iridescent white wings, thorax, & head. There were watery yellow-green droplets on either side of it’s head. None of us had ever seen anything like it. There was nothing like it in our guide to the butterflies & moths of North America. While it rained and hailed, we focused on finding the name of this pretty guest.

I scrolled through several Google screens of white moths with black circles. Some of them were close. Some

of them weren’t even moths. Finally between the field guide and online info, I narrowed it down to a Giant Leopard Moth. The description of their black and red caterpillars brought back a recollection of our long lost black beauty.

Clear sky was on the horizon just as we solved 3 mysteries - what was the caterpillar, where did it go, and

what kind of moth was this. Ready for some puddle jumping, we pulled on our rubber boots and headed out to straighten our wind-blown yard.

By remembering the past we can envision our future.

Our understanding of common experiences is anchored in history and culture. When we creatively interact with the environment, we’re also building a sense for how the world should be. If people are able to find common ground, a shared vision for the future becomes within the realm of possible.

Over the years KVHA has interwoven humanities-based principles with our grant-based programs.

We need help gathering the resources to make these things happen.

What you can do:

1 - Help us find compatible partner projects or potential collaborators.

2 - Share your talents and/or volunteer your abilities.

3 - Make a financial contribution.

Catfish Cookies Reading & Signing, October 6th, 2007Barbara Higgins-Dover, author of the recent children’s book Catfish Cookies, will present a reading and signing at Oread Books. The author will present a short activity for children based on themes from the book, followed by the reading.

Date: October 06, 2007
Time: 10:30AM - 12:00PM
Location: Oread Books, Kansas Union
Department: KU Memorial Unions
http://www.oreadbooks.com

Note: “Noodling” was historically a common practice in the Kansas River. There a many tall tales and stories of unfortunate outcomes of this approach to catching prized cats. The Natural History Museum at KU has a wonderful exhibit about fishing on the Kaw. According to local Lawrence lore, Jake… was dragged to his death by a “grand-daddy” cat in 18xx. Jake and his fishing partner, Abe, have been cast in bronze in sculpture at river front restaurant (what else… but) Abe & Jakes, in downtown Lawrence. Abe & Jake’s overlooks “Rock Island”, the setting for KVHA’s River Roots book Catfish Cookies. -ALR

From The Topeka Capitol Journal July 8, 2007

>>Imagine wading through waist or even chest-deep water, feeling with your feet and hands as you go. You encounter a hole and your heart rate quickens. You take a deep breath and submerge to the entrance of the hole, sticking your hand slowly inside. All of a sudden and without warning, a huge catfish chomps on your hand and the battle is on. Sound like fun? Depending on your perspective it could be, but most people have another word for it.”Different areas of the country call it different things,” said Fostana Jenkins of the typical terminology of fishing with your hands. “Some call it noodling, tickling, hogging, grabbling, but the number one thing is probably CRAZY!”

To read this article, please visit:
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/070807/out_183059434.shtml

 The first-ever handfishing season in Kansas opened June 15 and will run through the end of August. Two locations are open to handfishing:

1) the Arkansas River from the John Mack Bridge on Broadway Street in Wichita downstream to the Kansas-Oklahoma border and,

2) the Kansas River from its origin downstream to its confluence with the Missouri River.

Flathead catfish are the only species legal to take and a special permit is required ($27.15), in addition to a regular fishing license. For more information, see www.kdwp.state.ks.us.

Marc Murrell

Barbara Higgins-Dover is scheduled to do a book reading and signing at Lawrence Public Library on July 28. The Raven bookstore will be there and available to sell them at that time. You might want to mark that on your calendar. See River Roots Page See Other Catfish Cookies Posts

Also, her first magazine article has been published with Womens Focus. It is titled, “Three Easy Ways to Get Out of Town.” She refers to Lawrence hiking and biking trails, Legends are in KC and Elms Resort and Spa in Excelsior Springs. You can go online to see it at www.womensfocusmagazine.com.

Can digital technologies and storytelling facilitate community-based education?

Spinning yarns around the digital fire

…Storytelling brings people together in a common perspective, and stretches everyone’s capacity to empathize with others and share experience” [3]….. Collaborative and group–based activities can promote prosocial behavior, or “positive social interaction skills such as cooperation, sharing, kindness, helping, showing affection and verbalizing feelings” [10]…. This increasing awareness of the importance of communities in learning environments includes ways to use computers and technology in order to encourage collaboration [11]. In what ways can digital technologies (in particular the Internet) add new dimensions to dialogue, storytelling, or collaboration?

KVHA is pleased to announce the release of Catfish Cookies, the first in a new community storytelling series called River Roots. The primary author, Barbara Higgins-Dover, shares a bit of family river history with the readers. Alison Reber, the book’s editor, wrote several environmental history pieces. StreamLink’s Gabrielle Iversen illustrated the book using original watercolor paintings. See the website http://www.catfishcookies.org
for a listing of location the book is available or to purchase the book online.

Catfish Cookies compliments a river history exhibit at the University of Kansas’ Dyche Natural History Museum, and is being used as a spring board for discussion about river protection. Recordings and web-based extensions are planned.

A little science, a little history, and a little fish named Rippler. See the Kansas (Kaw) River through the eyes of a young and timid blue catfish. He dodges Stinky and Slimy, two bullying channel cats and befriends the biggest cat in the Kaw - a flathead known as “King Catfish.” Read the story and learn some more about the real catfish, the places they live, and the people who know them. There’s even an authentic Kaw Valley recipe for catfish cookies. $12 book, $3 shipping & handling

Author Barbara Higgins-Dover
Illustrator Gabrielle Iversen
River Roots Editor Alison Reber
Lawrence, Kansas 2007
ISBN 0-9790209-0-5

River Roots books are productions of the Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance.

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Catfish Cookies is beautifully illustrated using original watercolor paintings. Among other things, the book includes a piece about making peanut butter cookies with catfish rennet. An underwater short story about a young blue cat, a pair of channel cat bullies, and a royal flathead is augmented by several environmental history pieces.

While Catfish Cookies is general enough to be any river in the Midwest, the Kansas (Kaw) River below Bowersock Dam sets the scene. This area has a rich fishing history yet is also a place people often associate with river pollution. Catfish Cookies compliments a river history exhibit at the University of Kansas‘ Dyche Natural History Museum, and is being used as a spring board for discussion about river protection. By design the book gives readers a way to connect abstract concepts like self-determination and heritage alongside community and environmental awareness.

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January 2007 KVHA Triplet Newsletter

This newsletter is actually three individual program newsletters merged together for a start of the year SHA-BANG! “The Watershed” is the general newsletter for the Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance. “Dragonfly Messenger” is the newsletter for the Kansas StreamLink Program. “The Wakarusa Review” is the newsletter for the Wakarusa (River) Watershed Restoration & Protection Program. Articles range from program updates to indepth issue pieces.

Newsletter on SCRIBD.org