The Magic of Misty

I follow the blog of a naturalist and field biologist who mainly writes about birds, and his latest posts were about a trip to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. After the first post, a lot of women commented that it was great that he was seeing so many birds, especially many on his life list, but what about the ponies?

Like my mother and me, they had read Marguerite Henry's "Misty of Chincoteague" about the wild ponies that lived on Assateague, a neighboring island of Chincoteague. The book is based on a true story of a wild pony foal that was adopted with her mother by the Beebe family from one of the yearly roundups to raise money for the Chincoteague Fire Department. I have my mother's copy as well as my own. It was one of many beautiful horse books Ms. Henry wrote and Wesley Dennis illustrated. I once wrote a letter to Ms. Henry and told her how much the book had meant to me and my mother. She sent me the postcard below. Ms. Henry got Rheumatic Fever at the age of 7, which kept her out of school for several years. She learned to love reading and later writing.

I always wanted to go to Chincoteague with my mother and see the wild ponies. That did not happen, but it is still on my life list. I always wanted to adopt one of the ponies, too. There is an organization called The Feather Fund which makes that dream come true for little girls and boys every July during Pony Penning Days in Chincoteague, Virginia.

(Book image by applebybooks.net)
UPDATE 4/5/09: The pony pictures and a video were posted today on Mon@rch's website.

Earth Mothers

The theme of Women’s History Month (WHM) is “Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet” featuring Rachel Carson, "the founder of the contemporary environmental movement, as the iconic model of the theme. Rachel Carson's work provides an admirable model for comparison." I have her book “Silent Spring” which I haven’t read, but I think about what it would be like if there were no birds (which is why it has that title) all the time. The quote on the WHM poster is "The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction." Sadly, she died of cancer at the age of 56.

Also being honored is Jane Goodall, the wildlife researcher, educator, and conservationist. Ms. Goodall, along with other pioneers like Dian Fossey, focused her research on the animals' relationships with each other more than their male counterparts did.

"What I find really fascinating is the way in which people's questions about the inner lives of animals have changed over the years. After lectures people used to be totally fascinated with the question of what do they do about death? More recently, as we've gradually broken down the barriers, again and again, I am asked, do they have souls? This reflects, I think, a change in the way people are thinking? --Jane Goodall, "The Dance of Awe," A COMMUNION OF SUBJECTS: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics, ed. By Paul Waldau and Kimberly Patton.

There's more information on the Women's History Project WHM web pages.