What is happiness? Why do some people have that inner glow and joyful attitude while others always appear to struggle with life? Does happiness play a role in how long you live? Many countries count happiness along with economic vitality as a measure of a successful life. Did you know that the United States ranks 11th on the World Happiness Report, with Iceland being first and Togo last?

As a parent and grandmother I look at this statistic and realize it is my job to buck the system to ensure my family’s rating tops the scale. So what factors do I need to pay attention to?

According to Andrew Matthews in his popular book Strategies for Success and Happiness, the most important factors to happiness are laughter, knowing you’re loved, loving yourself, having a purpose in life and giving of yourself to others. Money is a low factor on the totem pole of life. Matthews believes that thoughts can be trained and focused on good and uplifting things.

Let’s start with laughter. I am not the funniest person in the world but I have a couple of kids and a husband who are. They always come up with quick quips and can find humor in ordinary occasions. I am a great audience and laugh at their attempts at humor. So I guess that if you don’t have it, surround yourself with those who do. Watch funny movies (avoid those kill ‘em programs). Read funny books. Pay attention to the humor in everyday situations, and develop a big belly laugh. Laughter is contagious so if you are near a laughing person you could catch that disease.

Love, hug, hold, honor, support, stability, enable and remember. Be loved, encourage love and you will create a loving child. Most parents start out holding their newborn with love in their hearts. What happens later when the child cries at night, misbehaves or doesn’t perform as expected? Life happens. It is hard to be a parent but the one thing we can and must do is never forget that it was our choice to have this child and maintaining love is part of the job. My parents never said a bad word about me to others and as a result aunts and uncles thought I was wonderful. I felt their respect and love even when I was not 100% innocent.

My mother always did her makeup and hair before dinner. She told me once that she wanted to get herself in the mood for receiving everyone and showing her love and thus took these few moments out of her day to prepare for her family. When you show your love you also show the child that he or she is lovable. That trait produces confidence that carries through the trials of life.

How about a purpose? Those graduating from college today are going to counselors in record numbers because they are at a loss of what to do. They have been working on grades and classes without considering the big questions of what road to take upon graduation. Many graduates have not taken the time to consider their role on the world stage. Finding out who you are and what you want to be starts young. Helping children understand their strengths and weaknesses and exposing them to experiences that take advantage of their interests sets the stage. Most of us are not living on farms, feeding animals, or planting corn while watching our parents work only to follow in their footsteps. We need alternative approaches to career to help children find a purpose to living.

Have you considered bringing a child to career day at work? A fifth grade class will be visiting our office and warehouse on May 8 to learn about catalog operation. Wonderful! Most people do not think of cataloguing as a career when they are 11 years old. It is especially important to continue the discussion about purpose, encourage a broad range of experiences and job shadowing through high school. The experience is not enough though if it is not analyzed. Finding a purpose in life is not easy but with consistent conversation and helping your child focus on his or her preferences you can ease the process.

Caring for others is a trait that is often learned by watching parents. Parents have to take care of their own aging parents. They may help an ailing friend in need of help. We all need each other at some time in our lives. When my five kids were young I constantly reminded them of how important it was to take care of each other. My son walked my daughter to school when she was being bullied. My husband and I worked hard to show them how to understand disagreements and solve interpersonal issues. Our discussions seem to have worked. My children do understand that the time will come when I am not here to intercede and I get pleasure in observing the support they give each other.

Some people use animals to inspire a sense of caring and responsibility. A wealthy friend of mine sent his child to a private high school. The first thing the school did was give each child a horse to take care of during the four-year program. Many of these children had lived pampered childhoods but they came out of school learning about responsibility, caring and love for their animals. I could not afford a horse but we did bring pets into our home. The more my children were involved in caring for the animals the more they seemed interested in holding, observing and playing with them. The pleasure they received was shown on their happy faces.

What makes you happy? Do you have any other advice about providing your children with purpose? Let us know in the comments section below.

Last Christmas, my husband paid the $200 for me to participate in the National Geographic Genome Study. The study includes thousands of people interested in tracking their ancient ancestors out of Africa. Anthropologists believe that all of humankind originated in East Africa approximately 180,000 years ago. As populations expanded, different tribes traveled on identified paths through northern Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Scientists look for genetic markers from an individual’s DNA that is passed on with little change, altered only occasionally by mutations—the genetic markers the scientists look at. These markers enable them to plot the evolutionary trail of a particular family, and, as in my case, show when one’s ancestors evolved from hunter-gatherers to farmers.

My kit arrived quickly and the instructions were easy. All I had to do was rub the included cotton swabs inside of my mouth, put them in an envelope and return it for analysis. It admittedly took longer than the promised six-week turnaround time, but I was able to follow their progress with my results online. Finally, four months later, I had a story to tell: My family went through the Middle East, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, then traveled north through eastern Europe and eventually headed towards England. The most fascinating part, though, was learning that I had a miniscule amount of Neanderthal genes in me. Scientists only recently discovered there was intermingling between Neanderthal and Homo sapiens in the Jordan area.

My husband also had his genetic history analyzed, but it was by a different company. His results tell a completely different story. Because he has an XY chromosome, the geneticist was able to analyze both the male and female side of his ancestry, while my study could only follow the female side. We learned that some of my husband’s ancestors went to Spain, then north through Eastern Europe, while the other side traveled through Asia, passing through Micro Oceana (Taiwan, Hawaii).

As scientists continue to look for genetic markers, the gaps in all of our stories will eventually get filled in and genealogical studies will one day connect with ancient histories—fascinating, isn’t it?

There are so many positives that have already come out of DNA research. Forensic, medical, agricultural and pharmaceutical innovations are at the forefront. Biology has certainly changed since I was in school studying peas, and it’s very exciting to watch this incredible scientific field grow.

Have you ever done a DNA test to track your ancestry? Did the results surprise you? Let us know in the comments section below.

“How’s it going? Good?” … “Yea, I’m fine. And you?” The typical American greeting with a typical expected answer.

This greeting may be uttered face-to-face, on Facebook or by text but rarely is the response a true accounting. Do we really want to know the truth about our acquaintances? Do we want others to know what is happening in our lives? Do we spend the time necessary to make a really good friend and are we afraid of the commitment it might mean if we get involved in the life of another.

I have been thinking about my own friendships, looking at changes in ways I now communicate and asking a lot of questions. Conversation is often by instant messages, likes and short responses. I wonder if I really am more connected or if I’m developing a false sense of community. Do I have the kind of deep friendships that can be called on in a time of need?

Several years ago I had to spend ten days in the hospital. I was never left alone by my family, day or night. I have five children and they all came to town taking turns by my bedside each evening. (My husband did the day shifts). One night, however, none of my children were available and I called on a friend to stay by my side. The experience made me think about how few friends I have who I would feel comfortable asking to help me in this way. I have been one of the workaholics who do not take the time out of my busy day to socialize.

The answer to how I am—fine—is as far as it goes with most people, but spending time with live people in the actual world is the key to friendships. As life rolls on I have observed that many adults cut corners with their friendships, but interestingly enough, I have been watching young adults counteract this trend by creating a new way of connecting with a mindset toward sharing.

Countering the isolationist trend of the past 20 or so years is the Maker Movement. In our community people in their 20s and 30s are getting together on a weekly basis to do crafts. They bring their projects, at times their sewing machines, knitting, scrapbooks, quilting, jewelry supplies and computers to aide with designs and work side by side helping and encouraging each other. Those interested in fixing cars, welding objects or creating large art projects may wind up at a friend’s garage or warehouse. The focus is often on individual projects being executed among the camaraderie of 15–25 people meeting weekly.

Yes, there are book and movie clubs, chamber groups and bands that also bring people together. My grandmother met her friends at a knitting shop and clicked needles as they gossiped. In the 20th Century there were guilds such like the potter’s guilds, weaving guilds, quilting bees, etc.

But this maker movement is slightly different because it uses technology as part of craft. It has grown out of the experience computer geeks have had when working on open source software, letting anyone build on the shoulders of the past programmer. Wikipedia is a great example of how a group of people working without pay can contribute to society.

The movement encompasses those who work from home and need to get out of the house, and it has been greatly influenced by gatherings such as Burning Man where groups of people work on a communal art projects that are going to be taken to the celebration each August. They use technologies such as sensors, laser cutters, LEDs, speakers and robotics, integrating them into their crafts. By putting heads together they get amazing synergistic results.

Maker events have also grown out of the need to share resources such as 3D printers, silk organize these peer-to-peer gatherings with their ‘Do It Yourself’ applications. If society is to develop positively it needs to utilize “can do” energy that being exhibited in friendship groups. Friends who play together in this way really get to know each other will. They practice giving a helping hand. It would be fun to know what is going on in your neighborhood.

I used to know someone in college who was far skinnier than he wanted to be and would lose weight if he didn’t make an effort to keep it on. We would go out for lunch sometimes and he would say, “I don’t really want one, but I guess I should have a milkshake, too.” Sigh. Like most of us, I’ve never had that problem and have struggled with maintaining a healthy weight my whole adult life. This is not to make light of the problems underweight people but, given the statistics on overweight Americans, I’m guessing most of us relate better to my situation than my friend’s.

Two of the largest selling book genres are cookbooks and diet books, which, taken together, attest to our enormous interest in food. There are currently thousands of food books in print so it’s hard to imagine anyone having anything new to say on the subject of eating. The End of Overeating by David Kessler, M.D. manages to approach an issue that’s dear to our hearts, not to mention our stomachs, with a fresh perspective. The book’s genesis was in a simple question that Dr. Kessler had: Why do we eat what we don’t want to eat? Dr. Kessler was the former FDA Commissioner who oversaw the redesigned food label (the food pyramid) and took on the tobacco industry so he was well-connected in many fields when he decided to go in search of an answer to his query.

The End of Overeating begins by describing the mechanism through which food captures our attention. The reward center of our brain lights up when we encounter food with a high reinforcing value. Sugar, fat and salt are reinforcing foods, meaning an animal will work harder to get them than foods without those ingredients. We then produce dopamine, which motivates us to seek these foods out next time in anticipation of the reward.  As David Foster Wallace colloquially put it, “But then so how come I can’t stop, if I want to stop, is the thing.”

One reason we have trouble stopping is that the food industry uses its knowledge of our biology to give us a more pleasurable experience, which usually means eating things we can’t resist. For example, Chili’s popular Boneless Shanghai Wings are made of deboned chicken (quick to eat), which is injected with a water and salt solution (the water makes it easy to chew), battered, breaded (the breading contains salt and sugar), deep-fried, and covered with ginger-citrus sauce (mostly sugar along with more salt). Accompanying the chicken is a creamy wasabi ranch dressing, which is made from mayonnaise and contains additional salt, fat and sugar. And this is only an appetizer. As a food consultant said, “(This dish) is the quintessential example of how to cram as much hedonics as you can into one dish.”

The food industry also knows that the allure of the basic building blocks of sugar, fat and salt can be strengthened by adding factors such as variety (multiple flavors like chocolate with a caramel swirl), multiple sensory stimuli (such as smooth and crunchy together or hot fudge on cold ice cream), and emotional connections (such as the ‘fun’ atmosphere in restaurant ads). Dr. Kessler concludes that, “Rewarding foods are rewiring our brains. As they do, we become more sensitive to the cues that lead us to anticipate rewarding foods.” This makes it harder and harder over time to resist foods when we’re walking by a bakery, sitting in a meeting with muffins, or even possessing the knowledge that there are cookies in the house. Overcoming our resistance is why our ice cream, which used to be offered in vanilla, chocolate or strawberry fifty years ago, have now exploded into flavors like Ben and Jerry’s Everything But The… which contains chocolate and vanilla ice creams, Heath® bar chunks, white chocolate chunks, peanut butter cups, and chocolate-covered almonds.

After some sleuthing in the food industry, Dr. Kessler states, “I began to develop an overarching theory about eating for reward: Chronic exposure to highly palatable foods changes our brains, conditioning us to seek continued stimulation.” This sounds a lot like addiction (in fact, dopamine is the same chemical released when using cocaine). Dr. Kessler continues, “Conditioned hypereating works the same way as other ‘stimulus-response’ disorders in which reward is involved, such as compulsive gambling and substance abuse. Such disorders are characterized by a high degree of sensitivity to sensory stimuli, and they typically lead to a perceived loss of control, an inability to feel satisfied, and obsessive thinking.” Dr. Kessler found that most overweight people and many normal weight people had obsessive thoughts of food. This rings true for at least some people because Overeaters Anonymous is an organization based on the twelve-step recovery model of addiction that helps members with what they term ‘compulsive eating’.

So now that we understand the problem, what is the solution? The End of Overeating outlines several steps we can take to reprogram our brains to have a healthy relationship with food. The first is to change our emotional connections with food. We have developed simplistic associations of certain foods with comfort and pleasure, which leads us to overeat (e.g., cherry pie tastes good). By using more complex thoughts, we can push ourselves away from something so it no longer seems desirable and other things seem desirable instead (e.g., cherry pie is full of fat and sugar and I’m going to feel good if I skip it and bad if I eat it). This conscious thought will help make it easier over time to change your habitual thoughts.

Another change we can make is planning our eating. Replacing the impulsive act of eating with a thoughtful act will help us behave in accordance with our true values and give us structure that will help support us. Understanding our triggers gives us more control as well. One of my favorite takeaways from the book is the realistic assessment of my own behavior. If I know that every time I think I’m going to have just a few crackers I really end up eating more than I want, I can stop myself from taking the first bite because I will no longer believe my thought that I’m just going to have a few. This technique can be coupled with avoiding traps, such as sitting far from the muffins in a meeting. Another technique is to make rules, such as not allowing yourself to eat between meals (behavior the svelte French consider bizarre).

But also: remember to enjoy your food. Sit down with your family and have a meal. Treat it like the special occasion it is and you can quickly change your relationship to your food.

In a seminar called “Technology and Social Change: The Effects on Family and Community” J.A. English-Lueck interviewed Silicon Valley families. One mom, Sharon, told a story that was all too common. She is in constant contact with her kids via computers and mobile phones. Her children feel safer, stay out longer and are more independent since they are “in contact.” However, the only time Sharon had actually spent physical time with her kids in several weeks was when English-Lueck visited their home for an interview.

Today, teens and kids text rather than talk on the phone (though, to be fair, this is partially due to cell phone pricing packages). But can you really get the answers you need from your kids without hearing your child’s voice or having face-to-face conversations? And more importantly: are your children learning to communicate well through these short snippets of information?

The rewards of technology are many: contact, entertainment, safety, wellness help, photography, etc. But how often do we think about the hazards? Conversations are often interrupted by text messages or other notifications from smartphones and, of course, there are much more serious concerns:

• Cyber-bullying. Kids can be mean, and they are often meaner over the Internet. The effects of cyber-bullying are huge, and can even be fatal. A recent study even shows that when a child is bullied, the trauma can follow him or her into adulthood and cause psychiatric disorders like panic attacks and anxiety.
• Eye Strain and digital thumb stress.
• Bacteria. Devices are not cleaned very often and harbor a frightening number of germs.
• Sleep disorders. Teens often leave their notifications on through the night and can be awakened by text messages or phone calls.
• Reliance. Many feel they “cannot survive” without their cell phones.
• Heath risks. There is still question whether mobile devices can lead to brain tumors.

Parents: technology is great and certainly isn’t going anywhere. It’s wonderful for researching papers, scheduling meetings, knowing pick-up times, gossip and one-minute news blasts. But it’s also good to remember that educating a child requires personal interaction, hands-on learning experiences and distraction-free playtime.

Allocating time to help your child through the tumultuous job of handling a bully, selecting an instrument to learn to play or choosing a curriculum path that will lead to advanced education is important. Yes, use the computer, cell phone and Facebook, but let’s not think that an electronic transfer of information takes the place of a hug or an in-person conversation.

Very few of us have a good sense for statistics unless we work with them. As a culture, though, we are fascinated with statistics, from trivia games to airline on-time arrivals to political polls to sports. The average career-length of a major league baseball is six pitches. The average human produces 25,000 quarts of saliva in a lifetime, enough to fill two swimming pools. Fashion models’ measurements are 33-23-33 on average, while American women are 38-32-41. If it can be counted or measured, you can rest assured that someone will count it or measure it.

I had a funny experience years ago when I worked for a bank and we were scouting locations for new bank branches. We were looking for certain age and income characteristics by census tract when we came across a tract that looked different from the rest. Tract #1191 was typical, with 48% of the population male, 26% under age 18, and 75% of the houses owner-occupied. The next tract we looked at, #1220, showed males comprising 98% of the population, 2% of whom were under age 18, and 98% of the houses were rented. We were sure the data was wrong and were about to contact the publisher when we thought to take a look at a map. It turned out that the tract we were considering for a new bank branch contained 54 houses plus San Quentin Prison. I’ve always used this as a reminder not to turn my brain off when looking at numbers but to ask myself what they mean.

Context means everything when it comes to numbers because our brains are constantly trying to impute meaning. For example, what do you think when you hear that 1,000 hectares of old growth-forest are clear-cut each year in Tazmania? You may have been outraged or saddened to hear that because your brain is trying to figure out how to categorize it and decided to group it with ‘destruction of the environment’ thoughts. What if you then learned that there are 1.5 million hectares of old-growth forest in Tazmania, most of which is protected from cutting in National Parks or protected reserves? Does this context change the way you view the first statement? One habit we can get into in order to protect ourselves from faulty assumptions is to ask ourselves what the facts are and separate them from our judgments.

How numbers are gathered often impacts the results. The very wording of a question can elicit very different responses. Much has been written on this subject, but I will share a simple example as an illustration. In 2003, people were asked whether they would, “favor or oppose taking military action in Iraq to end Saddam Hussein’s rule, “ 68% favored taking action. When people were asked whether they would, “favor or oppose taking military action in Iraq to end Saddam Hussein’s rule even if it meant that U.S. forces might suffer thousands of casualties,” the number favoring intervention dropped to 43%. Partisan organizations often purposely use questions designed to elicit the response they want, although reputable polling firms try hard not to do this.

Interpreting numbers is often even trickier than gathering them cleanly. As George Bernard Shaw said, “Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive.” Our minds are quick to jump from association to causation because we’re always trying to figure out why something is happening. Psychologists even believe this is an evolutionarily adaptive trait that helps us explain the past so we can predict the future and, therefore, be safer. When it comes to statistics, it helps to recognize that association of two events (e.g., eating and dying) does not mean causation (eating does not cause dying, although if we’re talking about fruitcake, it may).

Finally, there is the math itself. Anyone who has had an elementary probability and statistics course might remember that random sampling only produces a confidence that 95 or 98 percent of the time, the real number (i.e., the number if every member of the population was measured) would be close to the number derived from the sample. This means that if you read a hundred statistics, several will be off significantly. And that’s given a well-designed random sample. The classic case of a bad sample resulted in a photo of President-elect Truman holding up a newspaper with the headline, “Dewey Defeats Truman”.  The newspaper had conducted a poll by telephone at a time when only wealthier households had telephones. Since these families were more likely to vote for Dewey, the sample wasn’t random and the results were just slightly off, shall we say.

So, the next time you read some numbers, caveat emptor, or, as Lewis Carroll put it,  “If you want to inspire confidence, give plenty of statistics. It does not matter that they should be accurate, or even intelligible, as long as there are enough of them.” But that’s a cynical note to end on, so maybe we should end with the king of pollsters, George Gallup, who said, “Not everything that can be counted counts; and not everything that counts can be counted.” You can count on that.

The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Super Challenge Sample 1
The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Super Challenge Sample 2
The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Super Challenge Sample 3

That questioning year, my husband and I decided to let our son continue to fuel his belief, and so on Christmas Eve we devised a way to prove Santa really existed. We mounted a camera facing the fireplace with a trip-wire attached. If Santa came down the chimney the flash would go off and we would have a picture of him as he entered our home. Being considerate people, we also put out a dish of cookies and glass of milk to ensure that Santa was not hungry as he made his rounds.

Amid great excitement, our son went to bed and finally fell asleep. My husband and I had a stuffed red pair of long johns placed in black boots ready to mount in the fireplace so it would look like Santa was coming down our chimney. With fireplace ashes we made foot prints in the carpet and left a half eaten piece of cookie and empty glass of milk on the table.

When our young one woke up on Christmas morning he was elated to see the tell-tale signs and couldn’t wait to develop the camera’s image. (Those were the days when you had to wait for your pictures to be printed.) A week later we had the proof—Santa was real. He was caught on film coming down the chimney. Santa did exist and our son gleefully showed the picture to his friends at school.

Unfortunately, several of his buddies were not impressed. They had already been informed that Santa was not a resident of the North Pole and never made trips with his reindeer. These friends made the truth known to our naive youngster and scoffed at him. I will never forget our son’s face when he returned from school the day he lost his innocent belief. He was deflated about Santa, but in some ways more upset about us not telling him the truth.

Since that day the question of how much you should tell an individual to shield him from the truth has weighed heavily on my conscience. Do we protect our children and try to prolong their childhood by sparing them knowledge that will one day become theirs? I have been reading a lot of advice columns about the Santa issue and realize that the way parents respond to this question can determine whether the moment is one for tears, anger or knowledge and a pleasant transition to understanding magic.

Some proponents say that it is OK to “lie through your teeth” as long as it does not hurt anyone. These adults believe that innocence and myths will fade away fast enough, that this well-intentioned magical story provides a great deal of fun for both parent and child and is a gentle way to learn that parents are not always the source of truth.

Others say that you should teach your young ones early about the real St. Nicolas who loved children and was known for his compassion and generosity. The truth is…

One of the many myths is Saint Nicolas of Myra was born in the 4th century to Greek Christian parents in Asia Minor who left him an inheritance which he gave away, often anonymously. He was known to throw bags of money into homes, sometimes down chimneys, under cover of night so he would not be spotted, thus adding an element of magic to his gift giving.

My suggestion is to take your cue for a Santa discussion from your own child. When he or she starts asking questions, it is time to bring him into your confidence and tell him the Santa Claus story with its theme of loving and giving. Ask your child to keep the secret in order not to spoil the fun for their younger friends or siblings. This confidence will make your child feel special and “grown-up.” As youngsters age, and they realize that gifts come from parents or family members they are more likely to be appreciative than if they continue to believe they are delivered from a magical being. A child of a poor parent may think that he is bad if Santa does not bring a requested gift. No adult wants to give that message.

Children can still pretend-play the Santa Claus game even if they know it is not real. I even got into the act when I was 34 years old. I had a great time dressing in a Santa suit before going to a business Christmas party. It was even fun driving to the event in full bearded attire. People in neighboring cars honked and gave me big high-five signs along with broad grins. When I arrived at the party with a bulging bag I distributed small joke gifts to everyone. That evening the guessing game as to my identity continued that until I let out my first squeaky, “Ho, ho, ho.” Unfortunately, my voice was just not deep enough to continue the stunt. Perhaps I should have gone as Mrs. Claus.

We at The Museum Tour Catalog wish you a wonderful and very happy holiday. Whether it is Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, let your children share the truth about your beliefs and the magic of the moment. Being surrounded by family and friends, the act of giving, showing kindness and good cheer make for a never-ending story.

Learning how to “see” is an art form. It is easy to walk in the woods and not realize that the ground is alive with history. Insects turn organic rot into soil, rocks underfoot may have split from large boulders deposited during the ice age and sea fossils found 400 miles from the ocean edge tell a story of ever-changing climate and land formation.

Examining the earth, both past and present, is like being a forensic scientist on a quest to solve a crime. The study of volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes leads contractors to design communities that doesn’t expose people to such disastrous occasions. Using knowledge of rock formations and fossil deposits helps geologists locate and develop energy and mineral resources.

There are four earth sciences: geology, is the science of the earth, meteorology of the atmosphere, oceanography, of the oceans, and astronomy, of the universe. As a science museum president I was exposed to them all.

One interesting experience had to do with the Willamette Meteorite, the largest found in North America, discovered in an open field in Oregon before it was given to the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 1906. This 10’ x 6.5’ hunk of nickel and iron weighs about 32,000 pounds. The meteorite was known and venerated by Native Americans but when settler Ellis Hughes found it on land owned by the Oregon Iron and Steel Company, he realized its value and tried to claim ownership, secretly moving it over a period of 90 days to his own land. This initiated a lawsuit that Hughes lost. The Iron and Steel Company was given the right to sell it to a Mrs. William Dodge for $26,000. She put it on display at the Lewis and Clark centennial before sending it to the museum in New York. Scientists now believe that the meteorite originally landed in Canada or Montana and was brought to the Willamette Valley at the end of the last ice age 13,000 years ago. Over 40 million people have seen it, making it one of the most famous meteorites.

Now back to me: one day in the early 1990s, I received a visit from a school teacher asking me if, on the chance her class could get the meteorite back to Oregon, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry would be willing to house it. Thinking that was going to be pretty near impossible I responded, “Of course.” The teacher and her class were on a quest. Big time. She was using this challenge as a learning experience for her elementary students. She had her class write letters to the media, wealthy donors and Congress. The children also got the public to write letters and flooded the New York Natural History Museum with requests to send the meteorite back to Oregon. The class received an invitation to make a presentation before Congress. I even received an angry phone call from a colleague at the Natural History Museum.

In the end, the children did not get the meteorite back, but they had an impressive learning experience. I thought the teacher was brilliant. In defense of the Natural History Museum, New York does seem to be an appropriate location for the rock. That institution is known for its meteorite collection which attracts public and scientists from around the world. Once an artifact is sold to a museum there is quite a process involved to get it de-accessioned. Many questions can be raised about rights of ownership.

A few years later, another group tried the get the meteorite returned to Oregon. For generations, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde had been using the meteorite, which they call “Tomanowos,” in ceremonies and in 1999 they demanded that it be returned to their native land. The Natural History Museum filed a lawsuit against the tribe in 2000. Eventually an agreement with the Museum was reached which gave the meteorite a resting home in the museum with tribal members able to conduct a private ceremony around the meteorite once a year. If the Museum ever has a reason to cease to display it then the meteorite will be given back to the tribe.

In 1997, a 28-pound crown section of the Willamette Meteorite was traded for a Martian meteorite from the private Macovech Collection. The crown piece was scheduled for auction in 2007 which caused another outrage by the Grand Ronde Tribes. An editorial in the Oregonian newspaper put an end to that sale, though a 4.5 ounce piece was eventually sold to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon.

Once more, in 2007 a group of students convinced Representative John Linn to introduce a resolution demanding the meteorite’s return to Oregon. The tribes had not been consulted and they did not support the resolution, saying they were content with the present arrangements, so the proposal went nowhere.

My guess is that the Museum has not seen the end of requests to return the meteorite to Oregon. It is interesting to see how important a piece of space rock is to the public and how possessive ownership can be. Around the world museums display a great many artifacts that were taken or purchased during private archaeological digs.

Do you think that these valuables should be returned to their place of origin or do you believe that the artifacts should be shared internationally, on view to a maximum number of people?

Before, during and after each excursion I read novels and guides to learn about customs, literature and history. My adventures are not comprised of merely a two or three week trip, but rather a six month long quest for knowledge and insight.

I once volunteered with Earthwatch to be on a research team studying elephants on Tsavo National Reserve in Kenya. The work had a great emotional impact on me. I returned to the U.S. concerned about the small elephant enclosures found in most zoos. After observing that elephants have a daily pattern of sleeping for 45 minutes and then walking for miles, I began to promote the idea of getting them out of their cages and into wildlife parks.

A few years ago, my granddaughter and I went to Scotland to investigate whales, dolphins, and porpoises in the North Sea. It was fun to get into our dry suits each day and go out for eight hours searching the horizon for action and, afterwards, returning to join local residents in the village pub at night. On the water we witnessed a male dolphin hit a baby dolphin, throwing it high in the air to kill it. The female dolphins came immediately to help the mother and very shortly male dolphins followed, leaping in unison when the fracas escalated. We volunteers held our breaths at the unusual sight!

In Poland, my cousin and I dug for archaeological remains in ancient burial grounds near where World War II started. We walked on bunkers built in the woods to hide German armies as they advanced. On another trip to the Ukraine with my husband, we investigated towns along the Dniepro River from Odessa to Kiev. Jumping fully clothed into the Black Sea and watching gorgeous women walking in 4-inch stiletto heels were two highlights from the trip.

In our own magnificent country, excursions with my family to national parks like Arches and Yosemite, sleeping in Redwood Forests and rock climbing in Oregon made me realize how fortunate we are. Our car was filled with song, always including “This Land is Your Land” and “Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies.” I visit San Antonio and New Orleans occasionally for business. Each time I travel for work I take an extra day to explore local museums, wildlife, theater and galleries. Overall I’ve spent some time on most continents.

At a party recently, a man asked me what I learned from my summer excursion to Cuba. A lot. The country is in the news often now that the Castro brothers are in their 80’s. I found Cuba to be a beautiful country with messed up political and economic systems. But the people were happy, well fed, had health insurance and free education. Those who lived in the countryside were especially warm and friendly, full of music and dance. Cuba is beautiful, surrounded by coral reefs, sandy beaches and caves with inside swimming areas. Giant turtles lay their eggs on beaches at night and the smallest hummingbird in the world, the bee hummingbird, resides there.

I found kindness, curiosity and friendship in almost every part of Cuba I visited, especially in the small towns. People, in general, want go about their lives unimpeded, provide for their families, enjoy neighborly gossip and feel safe. They really do not want to have to worry or think about politics, but would rather give attention to more immediate needs like shelter, health, food and relaxation.

Cities are another aspect of travel and I’ve learned to prepare for them differently.. There is a hustle, bustle and confusion that can take some time for adjustment. Learning how to get around the city safely is sometimes a concern.. But the museums, food, nightlife and energy make city travel invigorating. This past August when Mexico won the Olympic Soccer Gold, the Mexican town I was in erupted with festivities. The music, mass of people marching through town, flag waving and general merriment was infectious and I was fortunate to be there.

A big embarrassment is that I do not speak other languages. To really experience a country it is important to be able to communicate. Language and customs play a large part in gaining a comprehensive understanding of a people. I have to be dependent on translators and sign language and do not always get a full answer to my questions. If possible I try to befriend someone local who does know English and is willing to talk to me. Without personal contact books are my best resource.

At home, reading the daily newspapers makes more sense because of my travels. If an issue comes up about trade with China, I have something in my brain that lets me attach and incorporate the new piece of information. As I age I will be a more limited traveler but hopefully my mind will be more expansive. Since we live in one world and travel is fast and relatively inexpensive (imagine going by wagon train), the opportunity to see things firsthand is certainly compelling.