Dunkirk

I went to see the movie Dunkirk http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5013056/ today. This is a part of World War II history, that I only know a little about.  It is time for me to read more about it. The movie was good, lots of action and violence, which is to be expected in a war movie.  I wish they had explained more about the history.  It touched on what was done, and used captions, but I think a few more captions would have helped people who nothing about the story to have a better understanding of what was happening.   

Trip - Day 5

July 17, 2017

We drove to West Yellowstone, Montana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Yellowstone,_Montana this morning. It was a very pleasant drive, sometimes slower than we would have liked, but pleasant.  We saw Bison on the side of the rode, again.  Our destination was the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center https://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org/, in West Yellowstone.  This is an education and rescue operation, populated with animals that can no longer be released to the wild.  It is not a rehabilitation facility, but it is a facility that educates as well as houses rescued Grizzlies, Gray Wolves, and Raptors. So, in addition to the some 8 or so Grizzlies, and 6 Gray Wolves, we saw 3 Bald Eagles, 1 Golden Eagle, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Rough Legged Hawk in the aviary, and another Rough Legged Hawk and a Northern Sawhet Owl  during an educational presentation.

We heard part of the Keeper Kids lecture, preparing to allow children into the bear area, while the bears were in their pens.  We heard a brief explanation of how the bears are managed, we saw part of one video and all of another about the wolves and bears in Yellowstone, including the Druid Pack, and we saw the lecture in the amphitheater featuring a Rough Legged Hawk, and the Northern Sawhet Owl.  It was a full day.  We had a tailgate lunch in the parking lot, since there was not much time between two of the shows we wanted to see.

We did a little shopping in West Yellowstone.  Some of the stores there look old and run down, especially the non-tourist spots (supermarkets, for example), but there were many, many new and newly being constructed hotels; some of which featured cabins about three times the size of ours at Yellowstone National Park. Interesting that West Yellowstone is facing such a boom in its existence.  I wonder where that came from.  And when? We did notice, driving out of the park early in the morning that the traffic was very heavy entering into the park.  So the West Entrance must be the new fad.  Of course, we have nothing to compare it to at the South Entrance, since we arrived so late in the day on Saturday.  When we re-entered into the park late in the day, there was almost no traffic entering into the park. 

On our way to the Lake Lodge, we found a nice level shady spot near some water, and sat enjoying the scenery.  No one bothered us, and no animal did, either.

Sensitivity

I want something to eat.  That was the title of a post I made on May 8, 2015.  As I went back and looked at it, I realized how insensitive that was.  It was about a cat, a beloved pet to be sure, but a very spoiled, sick cat who is very sure she can ask for choices in food until she gets what she wants.  She does not go hungry, unless I cannot figure out her choices.  Or unless the infection in her mouth becomes bad enough that she no longer eats, and we have to go to the veterinarian to get another injection, and then she starts eating again.

Today, as I was hearing about the devastation in Nepal from the earthquakes, aftershocks, and aftermath http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/13/asia/nepal-second-earthquake-ripley/index.html, I realized that my post about Sake and her eating problems was very insensitive.  There are people in Nepal who do not have food, who do not know where their next meal will come from, and do not have a safe place to stay for the night or the next day.

I cannot imagine this fragility in lifestyle.  It is beyond me.  I have made a donation to the Breedlove Dehydration Plant http://www.breedlove.org/ in support of their efforts to provide food for people in Nepal.

I hope you do something to help the people in Nepal, too.

The Day The World Came to Town

The Day The World Came To Town by Jim DeFede.  I think I have written about this book before http://www.amazon.com/The-Day-World-Came-Town/dp/0060559713.  This is the story of the multiple international airline flights that landed in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, after the 9/11/2001 terroristic attacks on the United States resulted in the closing of the USA airspace.

We were talking about non-mystery books tonight at the Barnes and Noble Mystery Book Club. Somehow, I brought this book up.  I was amazed that none of the members had read or even heard about the book.  I will share it with them.