Be Curious by Dani Buehler

Walt Disney once said, “(W)hen you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.” Well Walt, I like your style! To be curious means you often stumble upon those wonderfully delightful W questions. Why, What, Where, When….and although it breaks my pattern, How? Currently, I am constantly confronted with curiosity. A stream of Whys come from both of my boys, and, while, sometimes the stream becomes a torrent I can barely manage, I often find myself amused with the barrage of questions. I have found myself researching and deciphering topics that I would have never explored on my own. Seeing the world through the eyes of a four-year old is a truly magical thing. And, in nodding to Mr. Disney I add that, when you’re curious you find lots of interesting things to read. Therefore, I would like to recap my week of curiosity and corresponding reads with you.

Each night, we read to our boys and currently the hot topic in our house is DINOSAURS! Did you know that pterodactyls are now not considered a dinosaur but a winged reptile? Sorry 3rd grade Dani, that diorama of a pterodactyl did not fulfill the assignment. And, the giant Quetzalcoatlus is the largest winged reptile yet found with a 36-foot wingspan. Interested? Checkout “Flying Giants of Dinosaur Time” by Don Lessem in the LPL youth section. On our next path we wandered back into modern times and encountered a moose. Did you know that a moose is the largest member of the deer family and can run at speeds reaching 35 miles per hour?  Also, the moose can jump fences as high as 7 feet and was built to thrive in the cold. My son and I enjoyed diving into a recent “Ranger Rick’s” magazine and finding out these fascinating factoids. Further reading of the same “Ranger Rick’s” taught us that ladybugs, also called ladybirds, are not bugs at all but, beetles. Beetles, such as ladybugs, have mouth parts built for chewing and bugs have mouth parts built to pierce and suck liquids from their food. Did you know that?

Continuing with curiosity, I found my own spark of inquisitiveness lite when I encountered another magazine, this month’s “Montana Outdoors.” The cover caught my eye as it displayed Flathead Lake (one of my favorite places). And while I was perusing this periodical, I found an appealing article on buttes. Did you know that there are over 600 named buttes in Montana? And many share the same name, Square, Black, and Haystack being some of the more well known. Lastly, I joined the masses and began the “Outlander” series by author Diana Gabaldon. These novels are a popular book series, as well as being a recent addition to Netflix. This popularity has made them a current must-have at the Library. The series delves into a specific time period with a good amount of magical realism and romance. Consequently, as any good Librarian, I have decided to research the world it explores. Did you know that Jacobite is derived from the French form of James and the Jacobite Rising in Scotland of 1745 was “an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_rising_of_1745)? Did you also know, that after the unsuccessful uprising by the Highlander Scots, Gaelic was outlawed in Great Britain? Ah, the things you learn.

Curiosity. It can take you on a wonderfully weird journey into the depths of information. I encourage you to keep that spark well fed and endlessly seek out the Whys. This was my week with Why, what would yours look like?

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