THE WIND RIDERS

I've especially enjoyed reading Mrs. Trowbridge's journal pages that pertain to the history of her species, Sorex Trowbridgii. She wrote extensively about her Wind Rider ancestors and their amazing "wind ships" that sailed the skies of long ago. Their colorful silk sails, bearing bold clan symbols, strongly resemble our modern-day flexifoil kites, which also are capable of lifting a human aloft. I would know...I own such kites, and I have been lifted, and dragged many times. I was once dragged non-stop for 1 1/2 miles on the beach at Westport, Washington.

You'll note from Mrs. T's painting that the pitch of the sails is controlled from inside the basket. The baskets were carefully woven from sturdy dried grass, and sealed with pitch.

I will continue to occasionally slip in a page or two from what I call Mrs. T's Primer. These are pages, usually illustrated with her fir needle charcoal sticks, that discuss the creatures and culture of the rain forest. On this page she speaks of the beetles, and the segregated nature of their relationship with shrews.