Last summer I had a wonderful opportunity to travel to Britain, The Netherlands, France, and Greece. Although I was very excited about traveling overseas for the first time, I knew I was in good paws with my seasoned traveling companion, Boomer the Bear. Because while Boomer gets out and about Topeka and Shawnee county all the time, between naps at the children's desk and visits to area preschools, he's logged miles all over the world.
During our travels together I was delighted to discover that he was a wonderful way to connect with people, even when we couldn't communicate with very many words. At first, I felt pretty sheepish posing with Boomer in front of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Van Gogh's Starry Night. But as I looked around, I saw I wasn't the only one posing with a "seasoned traveling companion." And nearly everyone smiled to see me jockey for a position that would show my buddy at his best angle.
Best of all were the times we met children on the trip. Boomer is just as irresistible to Christophe or Pieter as he is to Tanner or Skyler. The children loved to pet him and hold him and before I knew it, not only were the youngsters trying to talk to me, but so were their parents. (The kids in these pictures with Boomer had their picture taken and posted on-line with the written consent of their caregivers.)
I have enjoyed setting up my Flickr account, and on a personal level, it will be an awesome tool to share pictures with my extended family. As a tool for the library, sharing photos may help forge connections, just like Boomer does. People love to read about what we're doing, but when we have a human (or perhaps ursine) face to go with it, we connect on a deeper level. Certainly it's more fun to look at pictures. And everybody's cool with connections like that.
I hope you enjoy my pictures with Boomer, and also check out these pictures taken at the most recent Amazing Animals program, featuring Jackie Hurst, some hissing cockroaches, a milk snake, a bearded dragon, and lots of happy, happy children!
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