Category: practice reading story

The 2D Dream

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I had a dream that did not seem like a dream. It was really unreal.

I woke up one morning and sat up in my bed, but things just didn’t seem right. I

pushed my covers away and got up, walked to the bathroom as I usually do. I noticed

that the doorknob was harder to turn than usual. I thought no big deal and continued

into the bathroom. I turned on the water in the sink and washed my face and started

to brush my teeth and noticed that the toothbrush and toothpaste were flat. I

thought it must be another one of those strange mornings and continued getting ready

for the day. I tried to dress. I noticed that my jeans and shirts were flat like

clothes for a paper doll. There was only a front and a back. There were no sides. I

was trying to see how I would fit into that. I put on the clothes and I noticed that

they fit! I was now flat as a sheet of paper! I no longer had sides! I opened my

bedroom door and looked for my dog Bite. He was his usual shaggy-self waiting for me

in the hall next to the wall. When I went to him to pet his back, I noticed that he

had no sides either! Bite had only a front and a back with a flat tail! I ran to the

kitchen to find my mother who was also flat, cooking flat breakfast in the kitchen

while my flat father was reading the sports section of the newspaper. My family

acted like this was normal and nothing was wrong!

I quickly took Bite outside for a walk like I usually do before I leave for school.

It was a beautiful morning with the sun in the bright blue sky with white puffy

clouds. I walked Bite on his leash down the sidewalk and noticed that the houses

looked the same from the front, but there were no sides to the houses. You could see

the cars in the driveways, but only from the rear. There were no sides. The trees

were in the same places that they always were but they were flat. I hurried my walk

with Bite and returned home. I had a flat breakfast waiting for me. It was hard to

eat and I didn’t feel full. The hardest part about breakfast was drinking liquids.

They were in flat glasses and were hard to pour into your mouth. I grabbed my

backpack and ran to catch my bus. Everything weighed the same and things were still

hard to carry. I had a hard time seeing my bus because it was also flat. Everyone

acted like this was normal.

School looked the same except it was flat. There were no long halls anymore and it

didn’t seem crowded when you entered a classroom or hall. The gym seemed smaller and

unusual which make playing games very different, but no one seemed to notice.

Can you imagine playing flat basketball or flat volleyball? Everything else about

the day seemed normal: the computer, the English, and math assignments. It only

became odd when we went to science class. The science teacher discussed all of the

dimensions that are known to man so far. He acted like we had never experienced the

third dimension. School wasn’t out soon enough for me. I couldn’t wait to get home

and go to bed and wake up from this nightmare! I skipped dinner and didn’t do my

homework. For the first time since I was small, I was in a hurry to get to bed.Just

as I was falling asleep, the alarm went off and I woke up in my bed. It was six A.M.

A regular day in my regular world.

Everything was in 3D as usual. So was it all real or just a nightmare?

Berry Bear and Boo Bunny Travel to Bootes

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Berry Bear and Boo Bunny Travel to Bootes

Berry Bear and Boo Bunny were sitting in Berry’s cave one morning. They were doing their usual thing of eating berries, honey, and carrots when Berry Bear declared that he was bored and wanted to do something different. He told Boo Bunny that he had a spaceship in the field just below his cave and said that they should take a trip. Boo Bunny asked him where would they go? Berry Bear said they should leave earth and go to the nearest star that begins with a B. They should go to Bootes since both of their names begin with B.

Berry Bear had spacesuits that he and Boo Bunny put on and climbed into the spaceship and planned their trip. They took a compass and turned it north because Bootes is north of earth far in space. Three-two-one-lift-off! They were on their way to Bootes! They passed the trees, passed the birds, passed the clouds, they even passed the moon! Yes, the moon! Up, up and up they went, far into space! The sky was now dark with bright globs of lights! It was a beautiful sight! Berry Bear and Boo Bunny were moving so fast that in a snap of your fingers, they were there at Bootes. Boo Bunny told Berry Bear to find a good place to land, so they chose the planet Bot. It was a giant blue planet that circled around Beta Bootis, one of the stars in the Bootes constellation. Bot was not hot or cold and it had bright yellow clouds with a bright red sun in the sky.

The spaceship landed on Bot. Berry Bear and Boo Bunny were greeted by purple three-legged people of all sizes with heads that had a mouth and one large eye. They ran constantly from side to side. The people called themselves Bottoms. They greeted Berry Bear and Boo Bunny by grabbing their paws with their hands and dancing in a circle one time. Some wore a sunglass that covered their eye. They were very friendly and so many. Boo Bunny became so dizzy and fell down after greeting all of the bottoms. All of the buildings on Bot were shaped like pyramids and every Bottom had a pet at their pyramid house. They either had a six-legged dog or a six-legged cat. Some of the pets were plaid, striped or polka-dotted.
The Bottoms decided it was time to eat, so they took Berry Bear and Boo Bunny to their pyramid restaurant to eat. The Bottoms drove three-wheeled cars and trucks. When they reached the restaurant, they had green fizzy sodas and red and yellow vegetables, but they were tasty treats. The Bottoms said that they do not eat meat, but they have great treats to eat! They eat pink, blue and white ice cream with red, yellow and green drizzles on top. The meal was delicious to Berry Bear and Boo Bunny! They were full to the top! They were taken to see some of the animals that live on Bot, like the llama looking animal that they called the boojim. The boojim was silver with lots of curly fur. It ate the pink straw that grew on the blue ground. They also saw birds of all colors flying on their backs through the sky. They saw animals that looked like half furry orange elephants called buppers. They reached a river of yellow water that emptied into a yellow lake with fish that jumped every now and then. There were boats on the river that looked like Hong Kong Junks.

The red sun began to set and the Bottoms all went to their pyramid houses to get ready for bed. One of the Bottom families invited Berry Bear and Boo Bunny into their home to spend the night. Boo Bunny found it very interesting that the Bottoms sleep while hanging upside down from a rod inside the top of their pyramid home and they never fall off the rod. Boo Bunny and Berry Bear slept on the floor of the pyramid home.

When morning came, everyone woke up and started to get ready for the day. The bottoms came down from the rod, showered, brushed their teeth and ate the breakfast that the mother Bottom made. It was brown ham and red eggs. It did not look so great, but it smelled wonderful and tasted really good! Boo Bunny and Berry Bear thanked the Bottom family for inviting them for the night and prepared for their return trip home to earth. They said goodbye to all the Bottoms as they returned to their spaceship and boarded ready for their trip back to earth. All the Bottoms waved good-bye and gave them a present of twenty bottles of green fizzy soda to take with them on their journey home. Soon Berry Bear started the engines and before they knew it, Boo Bunny and Berry Bear were home drinking their green fizzy sodas and talking about the happy memories of their trip to Bot!

The Thumbprint Detective: Where’s the Turkey?

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I just received a phone call from the house at 7777 South Bay Dr.
It’s Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve and someone has stolen the Thanksgiving Turkey!
It looks like another case for the Thumbprint Detective.

Everything looks quiet outside. I’ll just knock on the door and start solving the case.

The dog Chewy:

I was taking a nap on the warm hall floor, and the great smell of that big bird was in the air when all of a sudden, I heard the sound of feet marching and I saw the bird without a head walking out of the kitchen to the pet door. I have never seen anything like that before!

The bird Squawker:

I was in my birdcage on my swing, getting that last set of reps in, when I saw this very small dark red line pass down the hall to the kitchen. The line was moving fast and it didn’t say a thing. The line took the big bird and a whole bunch of things. Thank goodness it didn’t see me on my swing!

The fish Fish and Bowl:

We were taking our usual evening swim when we saw the big bird, the pie, the dressing and the cake that Kelsey just baked walk out the little door near the floor in the kitchen! We have never seen food walk like that!

Niece Kelsey:

Aunt Vivian and I had just finished baking our Thanksgiving meal and had placed them on racks on the counters to cool. When we came back, something or someone had taken all our food and left. That’s when I called you to solve this theft!

Nephew Chris:

I was upstairs watching movies, enjoying the smells of the baking, and beginning to yawn when Kelsey yelled that all the food was gone. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could, but the kitchen was empty and so were the goods!

The cat Sox:

I was sitting in the kitchen window, waiting for that big bird to cool. You know I love birds! They make tasty meals, when this moving dark red stomping line came into the kitchen and just took my meal! It stopped at the big bird and then the dressing, pie, and cake. It went right under all of it and took all of the food out of my door and did not hesitate! I got closer to see what was this! There were millions of them carrying the food that was baked!

I went into the kitchen and walked through the pet door where some of the gravy and sweet crumbs had fallen on the floor. I pulled out my magnifying glass and what did I see in the backyard, but a high rise ant mound with red ants at guard waiting for someone to try to pass.
I asked one of the guards for the head ant in charge and I was sent to General Carpenter, the master ant and officer of them all!

The perpetrator: General Carpenter

This is the time when all ants must prepare for the winter you see. It is not every day that an ant can have access to a picnic so warm and great! So when one of my food scouts smelled the wonderful food with an easy way to join in, he came back and reported the location and we planned how to get in. It was very easy for us to get in and so much was baked, that we decided just to take the rest home to our condo for all of our family to partake! It is going to be a great Thanksgiving picnic for our families to eat!

Well, it looks like the owners will have to call in an order for a catered Thanksgiving meal! I’ll suggest that maybe they should consider totally closing that pet door so that the rest of their meals will not be walking on the floor out of the door. I must be leaving now and my bill will be at the desk by the front door.

This is another mystery solved by the Thumbprint Detective!

The Solar System Dance

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She was dancing her colorful dance with the sun,
When she was outdone by the smallest one, little Mercury closest to the sun.
Then she was circled twice by Venus day and night.
She and her moon are number three with the only visible life forms for all to see.
The fourth is the dance of the red one that is the goal for the next exploration.
Then in comes the rocky donut ring of small planets, rocks, dust and things.
Jupiter, the largest, comes spinning in the dance class full of gas.
Along comes Saturn twisting with her colorful rings!
In comes Uranus on its side with a slow roll.
Whirling rapidly like a big blue top, Neptune takes the solar floor on its outer edge like the rim of a bowl.
On the outer edge is a small piece to be barely seen, is Pluto dancing like in a dream.
Dancing together for billions of years in the Milky Way is the solar system we call home today!

Ernie Bean and His Big Blue Submarine

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One late October night, Ernie Bean had a dream that he had built a big blue submarine and traveled the ocean to new places he had never seen. When he woke up the next morning, he decided to follow his dream and build a big blue submarine! There were a few problems with Ernie’s dream. Ernie lived on a farm far from the ocean and he had never really seen a real submarine. Ernie was determined and would not give up on his dream. He was going to build his big blue submarine. Ernie knew he would need some help building this submarine, so he told his two best friends, Mike and John about his dream and his plan to build his submarine. They thought it was neat and the greatest thing to build and travel in a big submarine! Mike and John agreed to help Ernie build this big blue submarine. Ernie knew he had to get started, and would be starting from scratch, so he went to the only one around who he knew who may have seen a submarine and that was old Admiral Sternrudder. He lived in a small house near the lake and kept a large collection of ships in bottles there. Ernie, Mike, and John decided to pay the Admiral a visit for help building a submarine. The Admiral listened closely and said Ernie had a pipe dream. He explained that they don’t build submarines on land far from the sea. He said it would take a lot of steel and iron, cranes, frames and welders to build that sort of thing. Since Ernie insisted, the Admiral loaned Ernie a book on ship and submarines and wished Ernie, Mike, and John well with chasing their dream.

Ernie, Mike, and John read the book from cover to cover, soaking everything up like a sponge, and finally hatched a plan to build a submarine right here on land! Ernie, Mike, and John were known to march to a different drummer and could not be stopped when the started something new. Ernie drew up the plans. Mike added the measurements and John gathered the materials needed to build the submarine. They decided to visit Scrappy’s JunkYard to find most of what they needed. They told Scrappy what they were building and Scrappy asked if they were in over their heads? He said he knew a man who ran marine scrap yard far away on the coast, but it would take a while for the parts to make it to town. Ernie, Mike, and John said that would be great! See what happens when they put their heads together! The boys decided that the submarine would have to be motorized so that it could make it to the shore. John found the right thing-three old tractors could do the job! Scrappy had a couple of old cranes that he was willing to trade. Ernie had collected quite a few spare parts from his neighbors’ farms and traded them with Scrappy for the parts they needed.

They visited Root and Trunks Lumber Yard for as much spare wood as they could get for the frame. When the told Limb Root and Leaf Trunks about their plan, they told the boys they had rocks in their heads but would help them with the plan. Limb and Leaf showed them the section of the lumber yard with the surplus wood and told them they could have as much wood as they wanted. The last stop they made was at Hit The Nail On The Head Hardware Store for the blue paint. Mike calculated that they would need 1,000 gallons of Marine Blue paint to cover the submarine. The boys placed their collection of material and tools outside of Ernie’s barn. Ernie, Mike, and John rolled up their sleeves and worked on building the submarine day and night. The word got around to the neighbors in town and they started to come to Ernie’s to see the building of the submarine. Some said the boys were out of their heads, some said their idea was crazy and so was their dream, some called the submarine a white elephant, and some said it was queer as a three dollar bill. Only one little girl said she supported their dream. Ernie, Mike, and John did not seem to care. They gave them a deaf ear and just kept building the submarine. One day before they knew it, they had completed the thing. It was one giant blue submarine. They cranked it up and checked it out! Everything worked as planned. The boys packed their bags and climbed into the tractor and began their journey to the coast. The neighbors gathered down the streets of town as the big blue submarine passed down the main streets to the highway that ends at the coast. The neighbors gawked and some even cheered. Others did not have a clue. Some were so happy that they didn’t know what to do! The boys got lots of looks and were asked by many for pictures as they kept trucking down the highway headed toward the sea.

Ernie, Mike, John finally reached the ramp, christened the submarine with a bottle of apple cider and launched it into the water. They climbed into the sub and began to live their dream. The boys learned early that if you stick to your goals and follow your dreams, you can do anything! Ernie, Mike, and John were now sailing the world in their big blue submarine!

What Do You Hear?

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We seem to ignore and take for granted our five senses until we start to lose them.
We seldom give them a second of our time to think about them. One of our most simple
sense that we rely on the most, yet abuse, is hearing.

When do you stop hearing the sounds around you?
When do you stop hearing the sounds of the birds when you wake up in the morning?
When do you stop hearing the bees buzzing as they start their day early taking the nectar from the flowers that have just opened to face the morning sun?
When do you stop hearing the dog barking in the yard next door to greet you good morning as you pass by on your daily trip to the bus stop?

When do you start hearing the voices of other boys and girls?
What do you hear when your mother or father tell you to do your chores for the fifth time today?
Is it the muffled sound of ducks quacking?
Is it total silence?
Or does their request fall on deaf ears?

As you get older you will be forced to play life by ear because you turned a deaf ear to the instructions you received when you were younger.
The walls have ears and if they could talk!
You will stop listening to your friends’ advice because it will sound like they had nothing between their ears and you were hearing things!

You will then become all ears to people who are more seasoned than you and keep one ear to the ground for further directions.
Everything the seniors have been saying all along will become new like you just put on a fresh set of ears!
I heard that!
Did you?

If you’re lucky, you will end up grinning from ear to ear because you think you have figured life out!
This will be music to your ears and you will probably lend an ear to one of your friends who is still playing life by ear.
By this time you will have children of your own who will play their strange music so loud that you can’t hear yourself think!
Silence will be music to your ears!
And you will remember why your grandmother used to yell that children should be seen and not heard!
Don’t throw them out on their ears!
They will still be wet behind their ears.
Maybe by then, you will know when to turn a deaf ear.
You will hear it again for the first time because you ain’t heard nothin’ yet!

Time

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Time.

It doesn’t travel in a line.
When we are young, it slowly passes.
The older we get, the faster it flies by!

We can’t see it.
We can’t smell it.
We can’t taste it.
We can’t feel it or hear it, but like the wind, we know it’s there.

It’s round like the face of a clock,
Or a sundial or the sun as it travels across the sky.
Round like a baseball, basketball, soccer ball or the moon.

Time waits for no one.
It passes invisibly, quietly without any sound.
Time sneaks upon us.

We only see the results after it has passed.
We lose time.
We save time, but we can’t show it.
We can’t find time.
We can’t count time.
We try to take time, but we can’t hold it.
We are out of time.
We only see the results of time as it passes us by.
Time’s up!

We can’t wait on time.
Time is a second.
Time is a minute.
Time is an hour.
Time is a day.
Time was yesterday.
Time was last week.
Time was last month.
Time was last year.
Tomorrow comes but is never here.
Time is today.
Time is now!

Things to Know About Our Fifty States: Part One

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All aboard Students! Everyone on this train? We are going across this country to visit every state and find at least two important things about each state!
So, have your tablets and cameras ready as we take this trip across the North American continent. You will not want to miss a thing! All of the states have something interesting they are known for.

Our first state is Alabama. One of our southern states. It is known for its NASA facilities, auto manufacturing and its iron and steel products. It was the birthplace of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Our next stop is Alaska. It is our largest state. It is known for it’s beautiful scenery with the Aurora Borealis. It is usually the only place in the USA where the Northern Lights can be seen. It also supplies oil to the mainland. The mainland of Alaska has only one time zone which causes northwest Alaska to experience two sunsets in one day each year. It is also the only state in the nation to experience 24 hours of daylight and 24 hours of night! At their closest point, Alaska and Russia are only three miles apart!

We move on to one of our desert states known as Arizona. Home to the Grand Canyon. It is one of the richest mineral zones and grows vegetables and fruit for our country. It has the most solar observatories in the United States.

Now it’s time for Arkansas. It’s known for its parks, caves and hot springs. It is our largest producer of poultry, dairy goods, and bauxite.

Next, we will visit California! It’s our golden state! Known for its gold, music, movies, wine, food, amusement parks and beautiful sequoia trees. It has the second largest city in the USA and also the state with the largest population.

On to Colorado. It is a beautiful mountainous state! Gold and uranium were once mined and supplied to the United States. Denver houses the US Mint.

Next, to Connecticut a state to the north. It has the largest maritime museum in the world. It was one of the original thirteen colonies and it is home to the oldest public library. It is home to the first frisbee, hamburger, Polaroid Land Camera, insurance company, FM radio station, and the arsenal for the thirteen colonies.

Down to Delaware! It is another one of the thirteen colonies. Home of the Nemours Foundation started by Alfred Du Pont, the inventor of the first combustion locomotive, the state has only three counties and the only state without National Parks or Monuments.

Now to Sunny Florida! Home to large citrus and avocado crops, amusement parks, car racing, NASA space program, water sports, tropical warm weather, and alligators. The oldest city in the USA is located here.

It’s up to Georgia, another southern state and the last of the thirteen colonies! It is known for its sweet peaches, pecans, peanuts, cotton, hogs, automobile manufacturing, southern fried chicken and soul food. Home to Martin Luther King, Coke, and Girl Scouts.

We will have to board a ship to take that trip to our fiftieth state Hawaii. It is the last state to be added to the union and the only set of islands. Known for its beautiful beaches, mountains, and scenery. It also gives us those sweet pineapples, coffee, cocoa and vanilla beans. Home to Pearl Harbor and the World War II museum, the only royal palace and tropical rainforest in the US. It has taught us how to surf, given us the largest volcano on earth and honors a royal monarchy.

We will now take our ship back to the mainland and board the train to Idaho. It’s known for its potatoes, water rafting, fishing, winter sports and more than 72 kinds of precious and semi-precious gemstones are mined there. Idaho has the deepest river gorge in North America.

Now traveling over to Illinois, Illinois had the first “skyscraper”, back then it was a building over ten floors. Now it has the tallest building in North America in Chicago. It had the first aquarium and is home to the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico. Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution abolishing slavery.

Moving on to Indiana, where the first professional baseball game was played! Ninety percent of the world’s popcorn comes from Indiana. It is the home state of “The King of Pop”, Michael Jackson and his family. It is also known for its covered bridges. Speaking of building, it has provided the limestone blocks that were used on the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Pentagon, the US Mint and many other building in Washington DC.

Next, we are headed to Iowa. It is the only state with two borders that are rivers. It is the largest producer of pork, corn, eggs, and ethanol in the USA. The first female lawyer to practice in the United States was from Iowa. Fenton Place Elevator is the world’s steepest and shortest railway. It is also home to Quaker Oats, the largest cereal company in the world. Iowa is also known for its camper and motorhome production in Winnebago.

We will now stop in Kansas for a short break. It is famous for beer, wheat, and private aircraft production. Home of the designers of the helicopter, Amelia Earhart-the first licensed female pilot, Pizza Hut, and the inventor of the dial telephone. It also has the windiest city in the USA!

Our next stop is Kentucky. Kentucky is home to the Kentucky Derby, Mammoth Cave-the longest cave in the world and the US gold reserve, Fort Knox. It was the first state to observe Mother’s Day and has the only US city built in a meteor crater. It is also the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the key leaders in the Civil War.

Moving deep down south to Louisiana. It is known for its cotton fields, oil, and gas refinery and production, giving us jazz music, the French Quarter, Mardi Gras and spicy cajun cooking! It also holds some world records. The Superdome in New Orleans is the largest steel-constructed room unobstructed by posts in the world. Its capital building is the tallest in the USA. It also has the longest bridge over water in the world. Louisiana has the Crawfish and the Frog Capitals of the world.

Next, we will be stopping in Maine, the only state with one state at its border. It is the blueberry capital of the world. Maine is the biggest harvester of lobsters in the USA. It is home to the smallest lighthouse in the USA and the largest globe in the world.

We are on our way to Maryland! Maryland is home to the first school and the first dental school in the USA. It is home to the sailing capital of the world. It is also home to the production of the first umbrellas in the USA and Babe Ruth and Edgar Allen Poe. Maryland is home to the first railroad station.

Now pulling into the station in Massachusetts, one of the original thirteen colonies! It’s known for its cranberries, toll house chocolate cookies, cod fishing and Boston Cream Pie. It is known for having the first subway system. It is where the first basketball game was played and home to the basketball hall of fame. It is home to the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane!

All aboard! We are on our way to Michigan! It’s the home of the car capital, the largest cement plant, the largest limestone quarry, the largest registered Holstein dairy herd, and the largest producer of magic supplies in the world! It is home to the first university in the USA. Michigan is the cereal capital of the world and home to the first soda pop. It has the longest freshwater shoreline in the world and has the world’s only floating post office! Michigan is also known for its cherries and the ‘Motown Sound” of the sixties and seventies!

We have to keep this train moving, so we are almost at our next stop, Minnesota! It is the land of more than 10,000 lakes, the source of the Mississippi River, the largest shopping mall in the USA, the largest skyway system in the world and the 3M company-makers of scotch tape and post-its notes. It’s home to the Milky Way, Snickers and 3 Musketeers candy bars! Minnesota is also home to the first bus service in the USA and the first supercomputer in the world. It is also where the first pacemaker was invented and placed on a patient and the place of the first open heart surgery. It is also the home of the musician Prince and actress Judy Garland.

Our next stop will be Mississippi! It is the home of the first teddy bear! The birthplace of the blues music and one of four cities sanctioned to host the International Ballet Competition. It is also where the first lung transplant was performed. It is also the catfish, cotton and pecan capital of the world.Mississippi is the birthplace of Elvis Presley, Morgan Freeman, and Walter Payton- the first football player to have his picture on a box of Wheaties cereal.

We are stopping now in the state of Missouri. It has the tallest man-made national monument in the USA. It has the largest beer producing plant in the United States. It also was the first to host the Olympic Games in the United States. Missouri is the home of the “Live Music Show Capital of the World” and the first public kindergarten in the United States. It is also home of the first ice cream and waffle cone, cotton candy and Dr. Pepper.

Now we are moving west to Montana, the largest landlocked state in the USA! Montana is the only state whose constitution recognizes the cultural heritage of the Native Americans and is committed to the preservation of their cultural integrity.It is also home to Yellowstone National Park and the geyser called “Old Faithful”. Montana is known for its gold and the sapphire from the state is the only gem from the US to be included in the Crown Jewels of England.

Next stop on this trip is Nebraska. It is home to the largest indoor rainforest and the largest hand planted forest in the USA. Nebraska is also home to the largest Mammoth fossil in the world. It is also where Kool-Aid started, the world’s largest railroad classification yard where railcars are repaired and serviced, and the birthplace of billionaire Warren Buffett.

Now we have arrived at Nevada. It is the largest gold and silver producing state in the USA. The federal government owns 85% of the land in Nevada. It has more hotel rooms than any other city in the world. It has more mountain ranges than any other state! It has the tallest freestanding observation tower in the US. It was the first state to ratify the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on his or her “race, color or previous condition of servitude.” Nevada is also the driest state in the nation and it also has the most hot springs. It is home to half of America’s wild horses and burros.

Now we will be stopping in New Hampshire. It was the first of the thirteen colonies to declare independence from Great Britain. The first successful planting of the potato was made in New Hampshire. The first alarm clock was invented in the state. It is also the only state that does not require by law for adult drivers to wear seatbelts while driving. New Hampshire has the shortest coastline of all the coastal states in the nation.

Our next stop is New Jersey. New Jersey has the most diners in the world and the most shopping malls in one area in the world. It is the only state that has had every one of its counties deemed “urban” as defined by the Census Bureau. It is the most densely populated state in the USA. New Jersey was the first state to sign the Bill of Rights. It was also the place of the first professional basketball game. New Jersey has more horses per square mile than any other state. Thomas Edison created most of his inventions in New Jersey. It is against the law for drivers to self-serve themselves gasoline. It is the only state the have full-service gasoline stations!

We are on our way to New Mexico! It has the highest and oldest state capital in the nation. Microsoft was founded in the state. It has the largest Latino population in the USA. New Mexico has the largest hot air balloon convention.

Next, we will be in New York, home to the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, and the largest city in the USA! It has the longest toll road, the first steam boat, and the oldest chartered city. It was the first state to require license plates on automobiles! It was the home to the first railroad with a locomotive engine. It has also been the birthplace of the most governors in the USA. New York is home to the most visited waterfall in the world.

We’re on our way down south to North Carolina. The first airplane was successfully flown from there by Wilbur and Orville Wright. The first English colony in America was in North Carolina. The first English child born in America was born in North Carolina. The state is the largest producer of sweet potatoes, tobacco, furniture, bricks and textiles in the nation. It also has the highest waterfall and tallest dam in the Eastern USA. The state is the home of Pepsi Cola and Krispy Kreme Doughnut.

We now will be making our way to North Dakota. It is the largest producer of spring wheat, durum wheat, sunflower seeds, oats, barley, lentils, honey, edible beans, canola, and flaxseed in the United States. North Dakota is the second largest oil producing state in the nation. It is home to more wildlife refuges than any other state. It is home to the largest buffalo statue and the inventor of the roll film camera.

Our next stop will take some days to travel so we will continue next week with great things to know about our fifty states!

References:

http://www.50states.com
http://www.funfacts.co

The Thumbprint Detective: What’s That Flying in the House?

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I just got a call from 7777 South Bay Dr.
The owners of the house have a mystery they cannot solve and is not right.
It appears that there’s something dark and spooky going on at night.
I’ll pack up my things and head to the house to investigate.

It is dark outside with a full moon and many stars.
It seems rather quiet considering there are a lot of small people in costumes in the streets walking from house to house and cutting through the yards.

Now that I’m at 7777 South Bay Dr. tonight, I’ll ask one of these small people if they have seen anything here that wasn’t right.

The Costumed Pirate:

I came to the door and rang the bell. When the owner answered it looked like a dark cloud of something flew out at the top of the door! It scared us so bad that the owner hit the floor and I ran from the door! I hope you find out what that was soon! You know strange things happen during a full moon!

The Costumed Fairy and the sheep:

We were walking down the sidewalk to the house where the pirate stood when a dark cloud of something flew quickly out of the door. The dark cloud flew up high into the sky and left in a hurry and then it wasn’t there anymore!

I’ll talk with the occupants of the house to see what they saw.

The cat Sox:

I was sitting in the window watching these strange people go by when all of a sudden there was this great dark whooshing and gush of wind in the house then Chris opened the door and it all went out! It was the scariest thing so I hid under the chair! Go ask Chewy! He was there!

The dog Chewy:

I was sitting in the living room playing tug of war with Chris when the doorbell rang and Chris stopped and went to the door with a bucket of candy and a lot of sweet smelling things! When Chris walked to the door there was this dark cloud and lots of clatter then the cloud flew out the door over Chris’ head. I ran and hid in my bed! Ask Squawker he was close to the door.

The bird Squawker:

I was on my perch in the living room enjoying my seeds when a dark cloud of black bird looking beings flew from the kitchen ceiling and to the front door and when the door opened, I didn’t see them anymore!

Nephew Chris:

I was playing with Chewy while waiting to see if any costumed candy lovers would stop at our door. The doorbell rang and I answered it ready to dish out candy when I heard this loud whooshing and flapping and a dark mass came over my head and out of the door. I immediately fell to the floor and covered my head. I heard Kelsey screaming as if she found something dead!

Niece Kelsey:

I was in the kitchen getting more candy for Chris when I opened the pantry and out came a dark cloud of dark things with wings. I knew they weren’t birds. They have never been in our kitchen. I’ve never seen them before. That’s when I called you as they left out the front door!

I’ll ask the fish if they saw anything. I want to be sure I’m not missing a thing!

The fish Fish and Bowl:

We were swimming around and through our castle when it suddenly got dark and our water got rough! We started to think things were going to get tough! Then it got quiet as the dark left through the door. We don’t want to experience that anymore!

Let me look in the pantry again. If I look up I can see a big dark hole. I must see where this leads. I’ll climb up, up and up…..
I’m in the attic and it is dark as it can be at the end I can see a small amount of moonlight through the small hole in the soffit. As I turn on my flashlight I can see that a cloud of bats has been living here. They sleep during the day and find food in the night. The timing must have been just right when Kelsey opened the pantry door and the bats left into the night. There is an old bat hanging from a corner rafter. I’ll see if the bat will talk to me.

The perpetrator Old Bat:

We found this old attic a wonderful place to be! There was a tiny opening for our family to enter and live here. Then one day last week there was some house repair and we figured we needed to find a second way out so we found a large opening at the other end of the attic, our new living space had two exits and we could use either place! One to enter and one to exit, but we weren’t counting on people, animals, and birds in the space. Now we will have to find a new place!

Well, it looks like the owners will need some assistance from a bat moving team to assist with this mess since bats are protected animals and are guaranteed the best! Now that my obligations tonight have been filled. I will call you tomorrow with my bill!

This is another mystery solved by the Thumbprint Detective!

The Thumbprint Detective: Why the Fireworks?

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I just got a call from 4444 Lakeshore Dr.
The owners at their lake house have a mystery to solve.
I wonder why a mystery shake on a holiday fling?
I will gather my things and head to the lake to get a new take on things.
There are beautiful fireworks in the sky over the lake.
I don’t see anyone outside or is it a mistake?
I will go to the backyard. Everything looks to be at peace. Oh! I see my first interview with the niece!

Niece Kelsey:

We were just beginning to enjoy our grilled meal when suddenly there were fireworks that looked like they were coming from the grill! There were ground spinners, sparklers, poppers, snappers, and snakes! The noise and the mess was threatening our meal. That’s why I called you to find out what is the deal?

There is the nephew on the lawnchair. I’ll ask him for anything new.

 

Nephew Chris:

We were all here in the backyard grilling some food when all of a sudden there was a loud boom and fireworks started shooting in the sky from everywhere.It really surprised and startled our guest. I tried my best to keep the guest at rest. I stored the box of fireworks near the shed far from the house and any fire. I wonder who moved them and started the fire?

 

It’s time I question some of the other witnesses on this matter. I’ll start with the bird he always has chatter.

 

The bird Squawker:

I was sitting on my perch eating my seed treat when all of a sudden there was this loud clap of thunder and whistles in the air! I flew to my cage and hid until nothing was there. I’m glad you came. I thought I was cooked! Ask fish and bowl they saw it too!

 

The fish Fish and Bowl:

We had just finished our wonderful meal when our tank shook and all of these colors glowed outside our tank! We thought we went to heaven! I hope you find out what happened and tell us if it was real!

 

There appear to be two missing. I wonder where they can be? Has anyone seen them? Where are Sox and Chewy? I must search the house.

 

Why Chewy’s in the bathroom hiding between the toilet and the sink and Sox has tucked himself tightly under Kelsey’s bed. I wonder what these two have to dread?

The perpetrator: The dog Chewy:

I was outside in the yard just doing my thing when Sox and I found this box with some really nifty things in it. The box had brightly colored toys and nice large bones to chew so Sox and I thought we would take just a few over to the porch where there would be more light, but when we passed the grill……

 

The perpetrator: The cat Sox:

A spark from the grill must have fallen on one of the toys and they popped, boomed and lighted up the sky! It scared us so badly that we ran inside! Chewy ran to the bathroom and I hid under the bed. I’ve never been so frightened! I’ll never touch those kinds of toys again!

 

Well the owners will have quite a clean up. At least it’s in the back. I must be going! I’ll leave my bill on the adirondack!

 

It looks like another mystery solved by the Thumbprint Detective.