Flat Matthew slips and slides

This morning Flat Matthew was going to go with Tom and me to help clean the museum store at the railway. I had explained to him that Round Matthew likes to help keep the store in good shape, and now was a good time to clean it because most of the things we sell were in storage. That would make it easier to dust the glass shelves. On our way out, though, Flat Matthew slipped on the icy sidewalk and hurt his head.



So he decided he would stay home and sit on the sofa with Sundance and watch Saturday morning cartoons instead.

Sundance and Cassidy both like to sit on the sofa and watch television, but they like it better if they can sit on someone's lap. So Sundance was happy to have Flat Mathew for company while she watched Jimmy Neutron and Phineas and Ferb.

Do your pets like to watch TV?

Michael

Flat Matthew, the flamingos and other birds

Yesterday Flat Matthew stayed inside because the weather was bad. We had snow, sleet, freezing rain, thunderstorms and hail.

Today is a bright and sunny day, but it is still cold and windy out and the roads are icy. So I took Flat Matthew around and told him about our flamingos.

Tom built the house where we live on part of the farm his family has owned in Wisconsin since 1844! Most of the neighbors knew him, because he and his family used to camp here when they lived in Chicago. Rich and Peggy, though, who live in a beautiful log home across the road did not know us. They have a very nice yard and gardens that they keep in great shape, and Peggy teased Tom that she didn't want to look across the road and see a bunch of pink flamingos in our yard.

So naturally we went looking for pink flamingos. Today we have about 30 pink flamingos that we set up in large or small groups and move around the property. In the picture Flat Matthew is standing in front of a row of flamingos coming through the woods beside the driveway. Another flock is right by the entrance to the drive, which makes it easy for people to find us.

Fortunately Peggy thought it was funny as do our other friends. People even started to give up flamingo things, like this neon flamingo that a friend who is a priest in Chicago gave us. That one stays in Tom's office and studio beside his art supplies.

Other people have given us flamingo ornaments for the Christmas tree, a cookie cutter shaped like a flamingo, a flamingo wind chime and a small flying flamingo for the flower pot on the deck.

Tom made Peggy a flamingo that he painted purple and covered with glitter, and she now has it in her front yard. But the best flamingo is one she made and gave to us. Christmas morning of 2007, we went out and standing in the snow at the end of the sidewalk was this wonderful flamingo Peggy had decorated with beads, sunglasses and tophat. Today it is on the bench by the front door to greet all our visitors, including Flat Matthew.

Peggy and Rich also gave us a bird feeder, and Flat Matthew has been watching the birds with us. Because of the winter weather, there have been lots of birds at the feeder. In particular, we get a lot of woodpeckers, including pileated woodpeckers. You may never have seen one of these large birds, but they are the model for the cartoon character, Woody Woodpecker. We have seen up to three at a time in our backyard.

We also have an opossum that visits from time to time and a couple of squirrels. There are albino squirrels down the road from us, but we have never seen them in our yard.

I showed Flat Matthew our bird guide book where we keep a record of the birds that we see. We have noted over 30 different kinds of birds, including a large flock of wild turkeys and even an eagle.

Do you know anyone who is a birdwatcher? (Or who has flamingos in their yard?)

Michael

Flat Matthew Spreads the Wealth

Flat Matthew walked up the road today to help Jerry on the farm.


Flat Matthew checked out the corn and used the corn to feed the cows. Flat Matthew is little, so he had to feed the cows one ear at a time.


After Flat Matthew was done feeding the cows, they lined up for a picture with him. Flat Matthew was very careful to stay on his side of the fence. Each of the cows weighs almost a ton, and Flat Matthew would be even flatter if a cow stepped on him.

The cows went "Mooooo ...." Flat Matthew didn't say anything back - he just grinned. Flat Matthew knows how to get along with cows.


Jerry wanted Flat Matthew to help spread the wealth on the corn field across the road from Tom and Michael's house. Flat Matthew checked the wealth to make sure that it was wet and smelly (Eeewww, Flat Matthew!), but he didn't fall in. Flat Matthew still smelled like a rose!


Then Flat Matthew went for a ride with Jerry, all around the corn field, spreading the wealth. The wealth will help Jerry grow more corn this summer, and the cows will have plenty to eat next winter.

Flat Matthew liked riding in the tractor. The tractor was way up high and made a lot of noise.

Tom

Flat Matthew and the Ho-Chunk

Flat Matthew learned about the Ho-Chunk, a Native American nation that has been very important in the history of Wisconsin Dells.

The Ho-Chunk are known as the "People of the Big Voice". The Ho-Chunk language is the mother tongue for the Sioux and other Plains Indian languages.


We took Flat Matthew to the Kilbourn Library to see the display honoring Chief Silver Tongue, who sang at the Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial for many years. The ceremonial celebrated the traditional dances of the Ho-Chunk.

The Ho-Chunk have a long history at Wisconsin Dells. The river was a gathering place for the Ho-Chunk, who came to participate in sacred ceremonies.

When Europeans came to the area in the 1830's, the Ho-Chunk were removed to South Dakota and Nebraska. Later, the Ho-Chunk began to return to Wisconsin.

The earliest Ho-Chunk to return to Wisconsin settled in Black River Falls. The Ho-Chunk opened a school and bought land for hunting and farming in the area.

Later, the Ho-Chunk returned to Wisconsin Dells.

Chief Yellow Thunder was the first Ho-Chunk to return to the Wisconsin Dells.

Chief Yellow Thunder bought 40 acres of land just south of the city. He lived on the land until he was a very old man.

Other Ho-Chunk families also returned to Wisconsin Dells, following Chief Yellow Thunder.



Flat Matthew visited the land bought by Chief Yellow Thunder. The Sauk County Historical Society put up a monument to Chief Yellow Thunder many years ago. Today the land is owned by the Ho-Chunk nation.

Many Ho-Chunk -- the Funmakers, the Dekorahs, the Lonetrees, the Thunderclouds and many other families -- now live in the Dells area.

The Ho-Chunk opened the "House of Wellness" not far from Chief Yellow Thunder's land. The center has a gym and swimming pool, exercise rooms, medical and dental clinics, and rooms for meetings.

Flat Matthew visited the House of Wellness, but it was dark and we did not take a picture. He watched a basketball game, and looked at the swimming pool.

Flat Matthew did not have his swimming trunks, so he did not go swimming. Do you think Flat Matthew should have gone swimming?

Tom

Flat Matthew and the arts

Today Flat Matthew helped me send some books out. I have been writing magazine articles for many years, but recently I published my first book, a mystery novel. Although people can buy it online, some order it directly from me. So Flat Matthew helped me pack the books to take to the post office.

I pointed out to Flat Matthew that by keeping this journal of his adventures, we were writing a book little by little. After I explained about writing, he told me that I should write a book about Round Matthew and how he volunteers at the Riverside & Great Northern Railway and what he does every day helping his dad and mom and the other adult volunteers. I thought that sounded like a good idea, too. I will have to talk to Round Matthew and his parents about it.

I write and Tom paints. After helping me with the books, Flat Matthew looked at some of Tom's paintings. This one in our living room is of the street where Tom and his family used to live in Chicago.

We have a lot of art in the house, but not all of it is Tom's. The pots you see above the painting are on a lighted shelf that runs the whole length of the room near the ceiling. The shelf was made for plants, but neither Tom nor I thought we wanted to climb up on ladders all the time to water plants. Tom's wife Helen had made the pots, and she gave them to him to put on the shelf.



These black and white paintings are of people from the neighborhood where Tom and I used to live. The paintings hang on the wall at the entry to the house, and they are big. The one just above Flat Matthew is three feet high and four feet wide. You can see how small Flat Matthew is in comparison.

Here Flat Matthew is standing in front of a painting in Tom's office, which he also uses as a studio. It is the front of an old pickup truck. Can you tell that that is what it is?




Here Flat Matthew is swinging on a panel of stained glass that hangs by the door from the library onto the deck. It was made by an artist who lives nearby. He also gives classes, and Tom has thought about learning how to do stained glass himself. This panel is called Autumn Solstice, and it uses fall colors and shapes that make us think of nature.

It is hard to see Flat Matthew in the picture because the light behind the window, that makes it easy to see the stained glass, makes it dark around Flat Matthew.

Do you have any hobbies like writing or painting?

Michael

Flat Matthew and Mad City

Flat Matthew went to Madison with Tom and Michael to see the Mad City Model Railroad Show this weekend.

The show is very big -- it is as big as about 60 houses -- and Flat Matthew saw many things.

Flat Matthew went to the Riverside & Great Northern exhibit first because he visited the railroad last week. He said "hello" to Dave, Mary, Dale, Reed and the others he met last week.


Flat Matthew met Eric and looked at Eric's trains. Eric volunteers at the railroad in the summer, doing many different kind of things. Round Matthew helps Eric. Meeting Eric was a special treat for Flat Matthew, because Round Matthew told him about the fun he had helping Eric at the railroad last summer. Round Matthew has driven this train. Do you think that Flat Matthew could learn how to drive it?


After talking to Eric, Flat Matthew went to see the rest of the show. Trains, trains and more trains. Big trains, little trains and really tiny trains. Flat Matthew thought that this train looked a little bit like Eric's train. Can you tell how it is the same and how it is different?


The show had toys, too. This is Flat Matthew looking at the "Oscar Meyer Wiener" trucks. Oscar Meyer wieners are made in Madison. Do you know the Oscar Meyer Wiener song?

I wish I was an Oscar Meyer wiener,
That is what I'd really like to be.
'Cause if I was an Oscar Meyer wiener,
Everyone would be in love with me!

Of course, if you were an Oscar Meyer wiener, someone would eat you. That wouldn't be so good.

When Flat Matthew wasn't looking around, he was helping Michael with the gift shop that the R&GN brought to the show. Round Matthew helps Michael in the gift shop during the summer, and Flat Matthew learned how to help, too.

Tom

Flat Matthew was impressed by many of the layouts he saw at the show, with models trains running through tunnels and around mountains and by cities and towns. When he got home, we showed him that Tom has been working on a model train layout in the basement. It is a model of the railroad crossing the Wisconsin River at Kilbourn City back in the late 1800s. That was the name of Wisconsin Dells back then. Here is a picture of Flat Matthew standing down in the River behind some of the buildings Tom is using to make his model. You can see how Tom has carved foam and painted it to look like the formations and bluffs along the river. He hasn't finished his model yet.

The railroads were very important to the development of the United States in the nineteenth century, and often towns and cities grew up because of where the railroad tracks were laid. Kilbourn City is such a place, and it was built because the new tracks crossed the river here. Before that, the nearest town had been Newport. When the railroad came through where the city of Wisconsin Dells now is, everyone moved to the new location and Newport became a ghost town.

Michael

Flat Matthew volunteers at the library

When I was about nine years old -- which was 50 years ago -- I was a student worker in the library in my elementary school. I continued to work in libraries in school and college. Now I volunteer at the Kilbourn Public Library in Wisconsin Dells. Today Flat Matthew went with me to help out. (You can tell I didn't take that photograph today, can't you?)

When I was in elementary school, libraries were places where you checked out books. Today people come to the library for books, music CDs, books on CDs and cassettes, movies on DVDs and videos, and they also come to use the computers. In Wisconsin Dells, where we have lots of college-age students from places like Russia and Poland in the summer, they come to the library to use the language lab and learn or improve their English. We have a whole section of books in Polish, as well as lots of books on how to speak and read English.


There are a lot of volunteers at the Kilbourn Public Library, and we do many things to help the regular librarians. Above is a picture of Stephanie, and today she showed Flat Matthew how she was sorting through the movies that had been returned. Stephanie helps find the library card for each movie and returns the movie to its proper place on the shelf. She and I joke that it is a never-ending task. Stephanie volunteers at the library almost every day.

What I usually do at the library is called The List. That is the list of books and other items that other libraries in south central Wisconsin want to borrow from us for one of their patrons. So I get the list from the computer --today there were 54 items, which is about normal -- and go around to locate everything I can. Not everyone likes doing The List, but for me it is like a treasure hunt. I am learning where everything is in the library, and I get to see books that I may want to read myself. Sometimes finding books is more difficult than others. Here is a picture of Flat Matthew slipping between books to see if he can find one I am missing.

Today the list included regular books, DVDs, CDs, videos and some books on tape and CD, too. It took me about an hour to find everything. While I was looking for something, Flat Matthew guarded the cart that had the books I had already found. After I found all that I could, I took them to the computer where I scanned the bar code on the book cover. The computer then told me where to send it, and I put a sticky-note on the cover and put the book into a red box so that it could be sent out to the library that was requesting it. We have two stacks of boxes because the books go to different parts of Wisconsin. Flat Matthew climbed up between the boxes to look at all the things that were going to other libraries today. By the time we finished, the stack of boxes was higher than when he climbed it.

When we were done with everything and ready to go home, I had a book to check out for myself, and Laura -- one of the regular librarians -- did that for me while Flat Matthew watched. If you look carefully, you can see Stephanie in the background keeping an eye on everything.

Most of the librarians knew the story about Flat Stanley, and they were happy to meet Flat Matthew. They wanted him to come back and volunteer every week, but I explained that he would only be with us for a few more weeks.

Round Matthew and his parents volunteer at the Riverside & Great Northern Railway in the Dells, which is where Tom and I met them. Volunteering is a great way to learn new things, meet new people and help your community while you are having fun. Maybe you would like to volunteer at your library or some other place near your home.

Michael

Flat Matthew makes the snow and the cat go away

Yesterday Flat Matthew went with Tom and our neighbor Rich to Madison to help deliver a car. They had planned to visit some things in Madison, which is the capital of Wisconsin, but they got too busy with other errands and did not have a chance to take pictures of an adventure to report.

Last night, however, we got a little snow. This morning while I worked on editing something I am writing for a friend, Tom and Flat Matthew shoveled the snow on the sidewalk. Here is Flat Matthew with his special snow shovel standing by the sidewalk by our garage. The snow shovel is very small and you may not be able to see the handle that Flat Matthew is holding, but the orange shovel itself is down by his foot. I think he looks like Charlie Brown in this picture. Maybe it's the little stocking cap he was wearing.

Afterward, Flat Matthew and Tom came into the house to warm up. Tom got a telephone call, and I gave Flat Matthew a cup of hot chocolate in my Cheshire Cat mug and an almond cookie that Tom got at an Asian market in Madison yesterday. So Flat Matthew did get a reward from his Madison trip after all.

Do you know who the Cheshire Cat is? He is a character in the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and he disappears into thin air, leaving only his smile behind. The cat on my Cheshire Cat mug disappears when the mug is hot, and all that is left to see is the smile. If you look at the close-up picture of the mug, you can see that cat is fading away, but the red smile is still there. That made Flat Matthew smile, too.

Michael

Flat Matthew, Forester

Flat Matthew went over to Jim and Debbie Kinder's house this morning to learn about forestry.

Forestry is the job of managing trees.

Jim and Debbie were inspecting the forest around their house to see if any trees needed to be taken down this winter to keep the forest healthy.


Flat Matthew spotted a poem about trees right away. Do you know the poet? It was Joyce Kilmer.


Next, Flat Matthew looked at a tree that was killed by beavers. The beavers ate the bark and into the tree. The tree is still standing up. If the tree was smaller, it might have fallen over into the pond.


Then Flat Matthew saw something very unusual -- a burl on a White Pine tree. Burls are very common on oak and maple trees, but not on pine trees. Someday someone might harvest the burl and make a bowl out of it.

The lady is Debbie Kinder. Flat Matthew didn't know Debbie, but she was a school teacher, and she was happy to meet Flat Matthew. She thought he was very smart.


After Flat Matthew had explored the burl, Jim Kinder showed him how to mark trees that need to be taken down. The trees that will be taken down are marked with paint.

This tree was struck by lightning and died, and Jim and Debbie want to take it down so that it will not fall on other trees.

The winter is a good time to take down trees because there is less danger of hurting other trees.

Flat Matthew liked his time in the forest, but he wished he had a sweatshirt to wear. It was cold today.

Flat Matthew rubs his fingers raw ...

Flat Matthew spent another day at the railroad. The railroad gave Flat Matthew an engineer's hat to wear.

Flat Matthew helped sand No. 82 to get it ready for painting. By the end of the day, Flat Matthew's fingers were very flat.

Everyone liked the cake Flat Matthew helped bake. "Thank you, Flat Matthew", said Dave, Mary, Dale, Reed, Jane, John, Tom and Jim.

Flat Matthew, the baking trainee

This morning Tom decided to bake a cake to take over to the guys who were working t the Riverside & Great Northern Railway. We decided that this would be a chance for Flat Matthew to get some baking training. Especially since the cake was going to look like a locomotive engine.

This is a picture of Tom holding the cake pan while Flat Matthew gets the box of cake mix out.

Bakers wear a chef's hat, so Flat Matthew put his hat on and helped mix the batter for the cake. Then he had to wait while the cake baked in the oven. After that it had to cool down before Tom and Flat Matthew decorated the train engine with colored sugar and frosting.


Finally the cake was done, and you can see how proud Tom and Flat Matthew are.

Michael (who just watched and took pictures -- and ate a bit of cake)

Flat Matthew Roams the Railroad

Flat Matthew wanted to get out of the house today, so he went for an adventure and the Riverside & Great Northern Railway. The R&GN is a living museum located a few miles north of Wisconsin Dells.


Flat Matthew knew that Round Matthew volunteered at the R&GN Gift Shop during the summer, so Flat Matthew wanted to visit the Gift Shop first. Flat Matthew saw the computer where Round Matthew plays computer games and helped Michael and Mary pack up for the Mad-City Model Railroad Show next weekend.


After Flat Matthew was done helping Michael and Mary, he went to the Locomotive Shop where Dave and his Dad were working on No. 82, a coal-fired steam engine. Dave gave Flat Matthew a screw driver and Flat Matthew checked each screw to make sure it was right. Flat Matthew is very good a checking things. He found one screw that was out of line. Can you find it?


When he was sure that all of the screws were right, Flat Matthew helped Dale repair a "truck". A "truck" holds the wheels under a train car. Repairing the "trucks" is one of the most important jobs at the railroad, because the train could fall off the rails if something weren't right. So Flat Matthew was very careful.


Dale taught Flat Matthew how to drive the diesel engine, No. 5. Round Matthew knows how to drive the diesel engine, and Flat Matthew really wanted to learn how, too. Maybe Flat Matthew can drive the diesel engine this summer on a work train. Flat Matthew can drive a work train, but he isn't old enough to drive a passenger train.


Flat Matthew saw that the R&GN had a new Bobcat. Dave put him in the Bobcat and showed him how it works. The Bobcat is used to haul heavy things around the railroad in the summer, and plows snow in the winter.


Flat Matthew finished up his day at the railroad by cleaning the boiler on No. 98, another coal-fired steam train. The boilers need to be cleaned each winter, and Flat Matthew was perfect for the job! Flat Matthew is small enough to fit right in the boiler, so he could really get it clean.

Flat Matthew was very happy to roam the railroad, because he knows that Round Matthew likes to be at the railroad, and all the men and women who know Round Matthew liked meeting Flat Matthew, too.

Flat Matthew visits the dragons

My (Michael's) family is originally from Wales, if you go back to about the twelfth century, but I also have some Cherokee blood from my father's grandmother. I am proud of both those parts of my heritage, and I have managed to combine them. The Welsh flag has a red dragon on it, as you can see in the picture, so some time ago I started collecting dragons. Since my room has over a dozen dragons, I decided that my Native American name would be Sleeps with Dragons. (You may have heard of a movie called Dances with Wolves.) The name combines the two elements of my ancestry.

This morning, Flat Matthew slipped under the door into my room because he wanted to see the dragons. I introduced him to all of them, including the two Asian dragons that look like snakes and don't have wings. There are several red dragons, of course, a couple of multicolored ones that are kept in cages, a wizard dragon, a gold dragon and the dragon who was in the movie Shrek.

Some of the dragons agreed to have their picture taken with Flat Matthew, and here it is.

Flat Matthew enjoyed meeting the dragons, but he said he did not think that was much of an adventure. He also noticed that all the dragons (except the Asian ones) had wings, but they just sat around on the ground. So I pointed overhead to the one red dragon that was flying in the middle of the room. Flat Matthew thought it would be a real adventure if he could ride on a dragon, but the red dragon does not like to have anyone sit on him. He did agree to pick Flat Matthew up gently in his claws, though, and fly around with him. So I took a picture of that.

And that was Flat Matthew's visit with my dragons.

Flat Matthew

Today Flat Matthew arrived at our house -- Tom and Michael's house, that is -- to begin a stay of a few weeks. We will be keeping a journal here of what Flat Matthew does while he is visiting us.

So far today his main adventure was having his eyes glued back on. They had come loose in the mail. As it turns out, Round Matthew's father, John, was up here to do some work at the Riverside & Great Northern Railway. Tom had gone over to help out, and John came home and had dinner with us. After dinner, Tom glued Flat Matthew's eyes back while we all visited. We discussed what places we might take Flat Matthew and what he could do while he is with us.

We (Tom and Michael) share a house with two cats, Sundance and Cassidy. Here is Flat Matthew sitting on the sofa with Cassidy and watching television. As you can see, Matthew may be flat, but Cassidy is fat!

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures!