Teachable Moments from Around the Globe Via Postcard

What is a Gila Monster you might ask? The Gila Monster can be found in the Sonoran Desert in Phoenix, Arizona area. The Gila Monster's bite, although rarely fatal to humans, serves to overpower animal predators and prey. The poison is not injected like that of a snake, but flows into the open wound as the lizard chews on the victim. Our postcrosser Sue says she has never seen one even though she enjoys hiking through the dessert, which is very hot and very dry with an average of 7 inches of rain per YEAR. Happy Postcrossing! Thank you Sue

Greeting from Tucson have reached us yesterday. These three postcards have lots of facts, we love it! They read: Most of these desert plants can be seen in and around Tucson with the exception of Organ Pipe Cactus (found South West of here) and Joshua Trees. Cacti are spiky, but beautiful!


The second postcard reads: Hi! There's a roadrunner that we sometimes see on our property, and yes they truly are a comical sight. But they are also tough enough to kill rattlesnakes!




 Postcard facts: Roadrunner clown of the dessert. The comical roadrunner prefers running to flying and have been clocked at speeds of 15 miles per hour (MPH). They are approximately 22 inches in length and their diets consist of insects, lizards, centipedes, mice and snakes.

Postcard #3 reads: Thank you for your NC and SC postcards. We hope to visit those states when we can travel again. You're always welcome to visit us in Tucson. We have room for family! My husband and I love to sit in the lawn chairs in our yard and watch the colorful sunsets- an almost daily ritual.








Peace  ✌☮ &  Love ♥ Pat D. & John R.

Pat writes: We have lots of Gambel's Quail living on our property. They are fun to watch! When startled, they dash into bushes, their head feather's bobbing as they scatter.

Postcard #2 reads: The dessert is ablaze with colors, and many plants will bloom through May and June. This is why Hummingbirds aren't coming to our feeder (they have real nectar.)

Postcard #3 reads: Arizona is famous for colorful sunsets. My husband and I sit on our patio and watch the sun set over the Tucson Mountains.

Postcard #4 reads: Arizona is the Grand Canyon State. It is also a four corners state, the others being Utah, Colorado and Mexico.

Postcard Facts:

Gambel's Quail - Found Primarily throughout Mexico, this species also stretches into the American Southwest, and is the most popular game bird in Arizona.

Picacho Peak State Park - Spring in the Sonoran Desert brings an abundance of wildflowers, including Mexican gold poppies, brittlebush, and lupine. These wildflowers germinate only after heavy seasonal rains, and once pollinated, their heat - and drought- resistance seeds are dispersed by wind, which then remain dormant in the soil until the following year's annual rains.

Arizona - Arizona is blessed with bright sunshine and fantastic weather year-round. You'll find endless places to fish, swim, run, pedal, paddle or to just sit and be amazed!

Arizona - Arizona became the 48th state on February 14, 1912, and is the sixth largest state in the U.S. at 114,006 square miles. The state also carries the distinction of leading the nation in copper production.

So many wonderful facts about Arizona thank you so much Pat & John!

Today among the postcards from friends we also received three from family in Tucson, Arizona. From Pat D ( and family) she writes: Hi! My hubby and I live in Tucson, Arizona. This postcard shows what the desert looks like on the outskirts of the city, but there are many cacti and other desert plants in town too.

The second postcard reads: This photo shows downtown Tucson, where the city's highest buildings are. I can see these buildings from my classroom (I'm a teacher) downtown.

Postcard #3 reads: Hello again my K-1 class has been learning about dessert variable and invariables. The Javelina belongs to the class of variables called mammals. They travel through Tucson in dry washes:  we see them in our yards. They are not a type of wild pig.

The Javelina, also known as the peccary, is the only pig like animal native to the Americas. The Javelina can be found from the Southwest Untied States to Argentina. Javelinas average 20 inches and weigh about 50 lbs.They have grizzled brown -black fur and live in small groups and eat roots, insects, worms, and fruit.

Thank you Pat D we have learned so much and next week we will obtain some books from the library on this interesting Javelina.

This was by far an interesting assortment of postcards we received at once from Brenda P in Florida, USA. The very first one I noticed was the postcard of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Our daughter is beginning to wonder about what is beyond earth. So this is a great postcard we will for sure be picking up a space book at the library this week. We love flowers too so the Dogwood was interesting and when we looked it up we discovered that it is our state flower. I knew what our state bird and other things where but interesting to find this out from a postcard swap. On March 15, 1941, the North Carolina Legislature approved the dogwood as the state's official flower. The two Egypt like postcards are actually from The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and the Florida International Museum. We love Egypt and are so excited about these 2 postcards. The three coast postcards are of Costa Rica, Brazil, and Napoli,Italy we must get info on Napoli since this is our 3rd postcard from there. The cute church postcard is of the Cedar First Ward Chapel in Cedar City, Utah. The Winslow sign card is from Arizona. Yearly in late August visitors from all over the world travel to Winslow on to the Hopi Villages to witness the most spectacular religious rite in the world, the Hopi Snake Dance. This ceremony is a prayer for rain and is performed with live rattle snakes! A caravan sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce leaves Winslow on the morning of each dance. Anyone interested in traveling with this caravan (for which there is no charge) may write to the Chamber of Commerce, Winslow, Arizona and will be notified of the exact dates. This leads us into The Family of God postcard which shows it is wonderful to share knowledge and do spiritual things together. And finally the NOISE is actually a postcard of a painting by Ed Ruscha in the 1960's. This painting is oil on canvas, with the word NOISE in bold letter filling the width of the canvas against a dark background forms an arresting image which seems to appeal impossibly to one of senses that the painting cannot reach. We enjoyed every single one of these in different way thanks again Brenda P for sending us many teachable moments!