Punky Brewster?

 I loved the Punky Brewster show on T.V.  I was a faithful viewer!  And, sometimes I even dressed up like her!  Now she reminds me of Pippi Longstocking!  Part of what I liked about the show was the adorable golden lab. puppy.  Wow- I wanted a puppy just like that.  His name was Brandon.  He was loveable and sweet and so perfect!  So, I got my own Brandon!  I don't even remember where the stuffed puppy came from, I just remember how much I loved that dog.  Grandpa Alber came to visit and made me a doghouse for Brandon.  He let me help.  I used the saw and cut the   

boards for the roof.  I painted the paneling walls red.  I pounded in the nails.  Grandpa put in carpeting and did all the hard stuff.  Mom made the cardboard sign and wrote "Brandon" in her perfect handwriting.  Later, Patty made me a pillow that she had sown.  She had put "B.I. loves J.I." on it too!  I would play with Brandon for hours.  I found a nightgown that fit him perfectly so I dressed him in that at night.  I found flashcards of the Presidents, so I would put them in his house for him to study.  
     Brandon was the closest thing I ever got to a pet puppy.  But, some wonderful memories were made.  The picture of Brandon and his doghouse was taken just last week on our porch where he has a seat of honor in our home.   

Speeding tickets!

How many speeding tickets have you gotten?  I must admit, I have not gotten any, but I do have some crazy good stories to tell about some warnings I've gotten!  But, the best story is not about me at all - it's about my big sister, Patty!  You see her in the first picture.  Patty was driving on the freeway and was speeding.  The policeman turned on his lights and instead of pulling over immediately, Patty drove into the rest area.  She jumped out of her car, ran over to the policeman's window and said, "I PROMISE I'll be right back!  I just really have to go to the bathroom!"  You see, she had been speeding because of her need to use the bathroom!  He gave her a warning.  I wonder if he told that story to his buddies back at the station!

I've had trouble with locking my keys in my car (as you can see from my photo with the Bonneville).  I've gotten a ticket for parking my car in the wrong place in Moorhead.  I was so mad as I sent that ticket in the mail with my hard-earned moola!  But, I've never had a speeding ticket.  I've been pulled over FOUR times and been given warnings.  Let me tell you about them....

     The first warning was given to me when I was in high school.  I was driving along Nokomis Street in Alexandria and I was going 33 in a 30 mile zone.  I was on my way to one of my early morning activities (Carolers, Jazz Band, Rainbow Strings, Yearbook) and the grumpy cop was there waiting for me!  It all turned out okay and I wasn't even late for my activity!
    The next two times were in my blue Oldsmobile (Tiara) that you see in the photo.  Both times were along highway 71 going north from Mountain Lake up to Alexandria.  There is this crazy slow area before you get to Redwood Falls and it often caught me offguard.  Thankfully the policeman was understanding the first time.  The second time I had balloons in the car and a birthday cake on the front seat and a backseat full of luggage.  I was going home for the weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday.  He seemed touched by that and told me that even though I was excited, I needed to obey the speed limit.  Yes sir!  Thank you, sir!
     And, my last story involves the infamous Angie Arthur and Sarah Olsen and a certain birthday party we were rushing to.  But, I'm ahead of myself.  Let me start at the beginning....
     Sarah and I had worked hard to plan a special birthday for Angie.  We had written our own version of "My Favorite Things" about Angie.  We had planned that the youth group kids would all be at Tim and Lynel's house with gifts of fun socks for Angie.  Sarah and I would drive her over after having lunch at Grady and Carolyn's house.  The picture you see is at the lunch before the fateful drive to

Tim and Lynel's house.  You see, someone suggested that we call Pastor Pavel in Ukraine about the possibility of David and Natasha coming to visit Becker.  We were all quite excited, so we all drove to church and listened to the conversation on speaker phone.  Unfortunately, this made us quite late for Tim and Lynel's gathering.  We jumped in the car, filled it with leftover balloons, put a blindfold around Angie so she wouldn't know where we were going and hit the road.  I was imagining all those dear youth kids with their hearts pumping waiting for us to arrive.... and here we were..... VERY late!  So, I sped.  I went like 70 in a 55!  Yup, I did.  Sarah and I were trying to communicate about a new way to get to our destination to throw Angie off (complete with a stop in the middle of Highway 16 to make her think we had a stopsign - pretty tricky, eh?)!  Sarah was using her arms to motion for me to "KEEP GOING" and I was lifting my arms saying, "WHAT?"  Angie was sitting in the back with her blindfold on.  And, the policeman was seeing the three of us.  It was only moments before we were being pulled over.  I felt sick.  Instantly sick.
    The policeman rushed up to my window and urgently asked, "Is there some kind of kid-napping going on here?"  My response?  "Um, only in fun.... it's her birthday!"  He wanted to see my license.  I thought it was in my trunk, so I got out to look.  My hands were shaking.  I was so upset!  It wasn't in the trunk, so I went to look in the glove compartment.  It was there!  Uff-dah!  The policeman wanted to know if I realized how fast I was going.  My guess?  "65?"  Wrong!  I was going 70!  I felt green.  I felt ill.  Then all at once he was saying we would just get a warning.  Sarah was saying thank you.  Angie was smiling - perhaps to assure him that she really was not being kid-napped!  I managed to gulp out a thanks and we were on our way again.
    We drove a little ways and Angie declared, "That was awsome!  This is the best birthday ever!"  My response?  "I feel ill.  I'm shaking.  That was awful!"  Two very different ways to respond.  We got to the party and everyone loved our story.  I let Angie tell it!  Angie loved her socks and her song.  The day was a success after all!   
   And, here is the song Sarah and I created:

An Ode to Angie (to the tune of "My Favorite Things"

Ice cream and movies
A snort and a giggle
A chicken that screeches
And knuckle toes that wiggle
A truck that is bright red
A chalet full of moose
These are a few of her favorite things

Youth group on Monday
Middle school on Wednesday
Sunday school on Sunday
And Bible study on Tuesday
Worship team on Thursday 
And small group Sunday night
What a great leader
She's really out of sight!

Chorus:
Worms and Spiders
Cleaning toilets
When all her socks have holes.
She simply remembers her purpose in life
And how God can use her to save souls!

Trombone and guitar
And lots of big words
"Blessed Be The Name"
Can often be heard
Missionary stories
And a cell phone with many tunes
A goldfish named Specks
Are there SPAM-eating baboons?

Chorus!

Coupons for Christmas

Jennifer and David

 I grew up with three siblings.  Patty was six years older, Kim was three years older and David was three years younger.  Figuring out Christmas presents for each other was not always an easy task.  Kim and David soon figured out the magic of making coupons!  Here are a few I found recently:

From David:  

•  I will do anything.
• I will help you with math, gym, or any homework.
• I will let you watch T.V.
• I will leave you alone for one hour
• I will eat nicely
• I will do anything you want

 Those crack me up!!!!  And here are some from Kim:

• I will play with you for an hour
• I will let you play with my china doll
• I will play in general
• I will play Miss Hannigan
• I will play Cabb. Patch with you!

   Those crack me up too!  Very creative, David and Kim!  As I continued going through old papers, I came across something David had created.  It is 30 things that he and I liked to do together.  I am going to type them up with HIS spelling!  Enjoy!

Wata Jen and I do.

• Strabery Shortcakes
• barbeies
• rainbow bright
• Dolly pops
• Dolls useing only two
• Dolls useing just about all of our dolls
• Dolls useing a miedem amont
• cars

•  barinstain bers
• pinch dolls
• conect for
• sory
• monopoly
• candy land
• getalong gang useing the monopoly bord and money
• play outside
• play computer
• watch T.V.
• getalong gang

•  candeland bingo
• oporation
• checkers
• chines chckers
• coler
• faintisetie forst
• happy little train game
• cards
• puzzels
• go to the head of the class
• cars without the hotrod center

 One of my favorite stories to tell is about how I made David play dolls with me all the time when we were growing up.  I would promise him that if he played dolls with me, I would play cars with him.  The only trouble was that my form of playing cars sounded something like this:

"Hi, Shiny Car, want to get a car wash?"

"Sure.  Let's drive together!"

"Have you seen Speedy today?"

"No, perhaps he's at the race track."

And so on.  Basically playing with cars was playing with dolls.  They all had their own personalities.  I thought it was great!  Poor David probably didn't get to play with cars the way most boys did unless he went to visit a friend!

Patty, Kim, David, Jennifer

Learning To Be The Light

 This is one of my new favorite songs.  I haven't had a song have such an impact on me in a long time.  The lyrics to this song dig deep into my soul.  It tells my story.  It tells the story of so many of us.  I'm going to type out the lyrics and make comments as the song goes along.  May it help you think about your life too.   

 

Learning To Be The Light

Lyrics by NEWWORLDSON

When the stars came crashing down

In tiny pieces to the ground

I was all alone down here

Trapped beneath the atmosphere

Then I thought somebody called my name

I spun around and caught a flame

I gave into a God I didn't know

And now everything is falling into place

A brand new life is calling and I owe it all to grace

 Anyone who has ever dealt with depression or anxiety knows what it feels like to have it seem as though everything is crashing down around you.  You feel trapped and like you are suffocating.  You search for anything that will help lift this heavy burden you carry.  You long to feel hope again.  Then something holds out a "candle flame" of hope and somehow deep inside you know it is from God.  I was there.  I was deep in "there."  I remember when I found hope again.  I remember thinking that everything COULD fall into place again.  I remember one day hardly being able to fathom grace and then later being so overwhelmed with thankfulness for God's grace.  It was fresh and new and good. 

It's so much brighter living in Your world

Savior, what you did for me

You gave me something I want everyone to see

When we struggle and it all goes wrong

Only You can make it right

So I say, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I'm learning to be the light."

Whoa, Whoa, I'm learning to be the light, Whoa, Whoa

Even if a person is taking medication because of a chemical imbalance in the brain causing depression, anxiety, or fear, a person can still choose to continue living "in the depths of despair" or a person can choose to SEE that God's world is bright and beautiful and He is taking care of us and giving us strength.  Jesus died on the cross for ME.  He took MY sins upon his shoulders and felt the weight of them.  He gave me peace and freedom.  He gave me hope and ambition.  He gave me a purpose.  I still struggle and sometimes it seems that I am falling back into the pit, but then somehow God reminds me that He can fix things.  He can make things right.  He is good.  He wants to use me to be a light to others.  I'm learning how to shine for Him.  I want to be a reflection of His goodness and love to others.  I am so grateful for His grace that is new every morning! 

When a heart is cold as ice

You can't melt it with advice

No one wants to listen to

A list of things they shouldn't do

So I build a city on a hill

And I light a candle on the sill

Knowing You'll be always knocking at the door

Oh God, I just want to love on everyone

All I have is Yours to give, so let the people come!

There are people in my life who don't know Jesus.  They don't want to.  They don't want to hear about Him from me.  As the song says, "No one wants to listen to a list of things they shouldn't do."  Some of those people I love dearly.  All I can do is pray that God will make Himself real to them.  God knows that I am willing to be a light for Him - a "little light on the window sill" welcoming others in..... or a "city of light up on a hill" trying to shine out even when dark clouds surround my world.  What a relief it is to know that God doesn't NEED me to make His kingdom bigger.  He is mighty and wise and good.  He can accomplish His will with or without me.  He'll be the one knocking on the door of my loved one's hearts.  My job is to "love on" everyone.  He is good.    

It's so much brighter living in Your world

Savior what you did for me

You gave me something I want everyone to see

When we struggle and it all goes wrong

Only You can make it right

So I say, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I'm learning to be the light."

Whoa, Whoa, I'm learning to be the light, Whoa, Whoa

I want everyone to see that Jesus has given me hope, joy, peace, purpose, freedom and unconditional love.  I want everyone to see that even when I struggle with depression or anxiety or fears, that He can make things right again.  He is the bright light that pulls me up when I'm down.  I want to be a bright light for Him.  But, I don't have to be perfect.  I'm LEARNING to be the light to those around me.  Sometimes I'm just a small flicker, but that's still a light. 

That makes the shadows hide

The light that breaks the curse of pride

The light that takes the weary in its arms

Pride, most of us struggle with it.  Weariness, we all collapse there sometimes.  Jesus understands.  We are not alone.  He can help us be humble.  He can give us strength.  He holds us tight. 

When it all came crashing down

There was only darkness all around

But in the distance I could see a flame!

I need to daily choose to SEE the flame of Jesus' love in my life.  I can learn from my past hurts.

It's so much brighter living in Your world

Savior what you did for me

You gave me something I want everyone, I mean EVERYONE to see

When we struggle and it all goes wrong

Only You can make it right

So I say, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I'm learning to be the light."

Whoa, Whoa, I'm learning to be the light.

Whoa, Whoa, I'm learning to be the light.

I'm learning to be the light.  I want EVERYONE to see this light - even those people that the author of The Purpose Driven Life (Rick Warren) called EGRs (Extra Grace Required).  Loving others gives my life a purpose.  My light comes from Jesus.  My job is to love and let Him shine through me.  I love living in His world - a world full of grace and acceptance and love.  I want everyone to see that Jesus is there with compassionate open arms - ready to take us in and give us His freedom and joy and love and purpose. 

Sentimental Accessories

Allow me to introduce you to my Grandpa Iverson..... or at least one of his passions!  My grandpa loved rocks!  He loved to go on trips and find rocks and bring them home where he would cut them, tumble them, polish them, and turn them into necklaces for his granddaughters.  He loved to do this for us.  Just look at the varieties.  Look at the art.  Grandpa and Grandma had one of their rocks put in a display case at the Dickinson Dinosaur Museum.  Man, were they proud of that!  Now I get to remember my grandparents each time I wear one of the necklaces they made for me.  

   Those rocks are just one of the highlights of my sentimental accessories collection found in my antique dresser in my home.  Everything has a story, right?  RIGHT!
    The colorful necklace to the left belonged to my Grandma Alber.  After she passed away, my siblings and cousins and I divided up some of her jewelry and I was delighted to get this colorful piece of art.  Beside it is a necklace from the 1960s that my mom wore with a particular dress.  I think it's SUPER COOL!  I enjoy wearing it.

   Next you'll see four necklaces that have stories of their own.  My grandpa and grandma Iverson loved to teach their grandchildren about the beauty of the Native American culture.  Considering the fact that they lived in North Dakota, there was a lot of Native American history to be learned.  I adored the "papoose" necklace I was given as a girl.  It's carved from bone and strung on a leather strap.  Next you'll see my newest purchase from Amazon.  I bought it for myself the day that one of my best friends moved to Spain.  The necklace has some of the Spanish Bible printed on it.  I reminds me to pray that the Spanish people my friend meets would come to know the Lord.  Next you'll see a cord with two coins on it - these coins are from Japan.  I was so fascinated the first time I learned that some countries have coins with holes in them!  Patty gave me these coins to enjoy wearing after she came back from Japan.  I think of her when I wear it.  Lastly is a necklace from my sister Kimberly.  She got this for me in Papua New Guinea when she was a missionary there.  I love the little shells on it!

 My dear friend Amy got this black, red, and yellow necklace for me in Jamaica when she was there on a mission trip and my friend Angie got this green one from India.  The brown one is from Venezuela.  I bought it myself in 1996 from a street vendor little boy.  You are supposed to barter for things you buy on the street, but I simply couldn't do it!  He told me an amount and I handed him the money - no bartering.  He was thrilled and I loved helping him survive!  I probably paid $5 for that little string with wooden beads, but it made my day. 

     When my husband and I had only been dating for a week, he had to leave for a vacation with his boys to Wyoming for some trout fishing.  While there he bought me a bracelet made of horse hair.  He thought I would like it because the bow hair on the violin is made of horse hair and he liked that I play violin.  I adore that bracelet.  After being married for two years we went to that same spot in Wyoming and bought a necklace to match the bracelet.  The green bear is from our honeymoon to Banff, Canada.  It's made of jade.  The beautiful silver necklace and bracelet are gifts Todd

 gave me when we were dating.  They are simply elegant and I treasure them!
     Anyone remember those colorful stretchy bracelets on my blue jewelry box?  They were all the rage when I was a girl in the eighties.  I still have mine and my students enjoy when I wear them to school.  I also have some of the plastic bracelets that are all the rage NOW.  They all have some word or message on them that inspire me.  One is for the organization Feed My Starving Children and one is to remind me to pray for a little girl named Cassidy who had Leukemia.  One is for school to remind us to "Be Your Bulldog Best" and the others say "Courage," "Hope," and "Faith."  Great one word reminders of what is important in my life.  The silver and pink one on the top of the pile belonged to Todd's Mom who died of cancer about 15 years ago.  I will forever be disappointed that I never got to know her. 
     My friend Christin went to Kenya while we were in college.  She brought me back the two brown bracelets you see in the next picture.  I love

 knowing they are from Africa.  The colorful green and blue one is from Africa too.  I got it at one of my favorite stores:  Ten Thousand Villages!  The colorful one on the lower right is from Haiti.  It's made from coconut shells.  Cool!  And the upper right two are from my students Emily and Jazlyn.  They both knew I loved blue. 
    In the next picture you'll see a pretty pink bracelet.  I bought this bracelet with Sheryl shortly after she found out she had cancer.  I wear it often and it reminds me to pray for her.  Underneath it is a bracelet made locally here in Becker.  But, it

 reminds me of bracelets and necklaces being made by women in Uganda.  Katie Davis who wrote "Kisses From Katie" started a ministry in which people in America can buy these pieces of jewelry to help support these women in Africa.  This bracelet reminds me to pray for Katie and her ministry in Uganda.  In the upper right hand corner you'll see a bracelet that tells "The Lord's Prayer" through each bead.  I adore this bracelet.  When I wear it, I say the Lord's Prayer over and over and over throughout my day - standing in line at the grocery store, waiting at a stoplight, waiting for my students to be finished with gym - so many opportunities to pray.  The last bracelet is one I received from my dear husband.  It has a heart on it and colorful beads.  I love doing life with him!
    Lastly I have displayed my pins.  It seems that no one wears pins anymore!  But, these pins I wear on a regular basis.  My students at school love these pins.  The two violins belonged to my Mom.  The Matrushka Dolls and round pin with the red roses on it come from Ukraine.  The heart and three gals made of wire come from Africa.  The rose inside the glass case from Beauty and the Beast is from my friend Rebecca.  The children playing Ring Around the Rosey pin is from Cobber Kids Corner Preschool where I worked for my college years.  The covered wagon pin is from Walnut Grove, Minnesota from one of my road trip with Mom to see one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's homes.  So many pins and necklaces and bracelets - so few days to wear them all.  May this blog inspire you to dig in your drawers and wear your sentimental accessories!  They make for great story starters!   

Surgeries #1 - #11

Gifts from my students after my "cyst surgery"

Most people at 35 years of age have not had eleven surgeries to write a blog about.  Strangely enough, I have!  Quite a few of them (#1 - #5) happened before I was ten years old.  I was one of those children who had tubes put into her ears over and over again.  I remember absolutely despising the smell of "happy gas" as they put me to sleep as a child.  That has got to be the worst smell I have ever experienced!  The trouble with all those tubes in my ears was that they kept falling out and they would have to be surgically put back in again and again and again.  The trouble with THAT was that it wore away my ear drum and I now only have half an ear drum in one of my ears.  Thankfully, when I was about fifteen I had reconstructive surgery (#6) on my ear.  They took tissue from behind my ear and recreated half of my ear drum!  I think that is pretty amazing!  But, the surgery was pretty awful!  I am thankful that Mom and Dad took such good care of me.  And, I had an excellent doctor.  Thank you, Dr. Jones!  My hearing was still damaged, but I have learned to cope.
     Most high school kids have to get their wisdom teeth out at some point.  Me included!  Out of all my surgeries, that one (#7) was the easiest for me.  I didn't get black and blue or swelling.  I had the surgery on a Thursday and was back to school by Monday.  Ice packs were my friend.  The pain meds. made me loopy! 
     Later I had to have another surgery (#8) to remove one of my teeth for upcoming braces that I had for a year.  As they were putting me to sleep, I was reminding them it was tooth #12 (or whatever it was) and I guess I kept saying "Tooth #12" over and over.  When the nurse woke me up, she asked, "Now, was it Tooth #12 you wanted out?"  She thought it was quite funny.  I had been so worried they would take out the wrong tooth!  Maybe that surgery tied for easiest one with my wisdom teeth!
     The next surgery (#9) was on my eye!  Somehow I developed a bump on my eye ball!  They gave me steroid drops and I drove to Alexandria from Becker about six times for appointments with Dr. Gess.  The day of the surgery I had to be awake for the whole thing.  I had to stare at a corner of the ceiling and not move my eye as they did surgery.  I remember that I sort of freaked out and started my deep breathing to calm myself.  Dr. Gess was afraid I would either pass out or injest too many fumes, so he asked me to breathe with my mouth shut.  Thankfully he took care of the bump and it was not cancerous.  My eye looked terrible for a long time.  Mom and Dad took care of me again.  I didn't open my eye for about three days.  I remember sitting in Dad's special chair downstairs with his special speakers facing the chair perfectly for the best sound.  I mostly listened to "The Swingle Singers."  They're the best!
    The most major surgery (#10) I had was when I had a cyst on my ovary removed.  I had been having lots of tests done for my high blood pressure.  During the ultra sound they found the cyst.  It was the size of a grapefruit!  My roomate, Angie named it Spike because when I would laugh I would grab my tummy where Spike was located.  Spike consisted of fat, fingernails, hair, and teeth!  Gross!!!!!  Even though it was an "emergency surgery" I had to wait two weeks before having it removed.  My last day of teaching school was on my birthday, and my students gave me cards and presents.  I felt so loved.  My second grade team gave me a bathrobe and new p.j.s.  So sweet!  I was out of school for five weeks!  I missed my kiddos!  I was very nervous for this surgery because it was so major.  I mean they were going to cut into me!
    I remember that before surgery I asked my surgeon (Dr. Nash) if she could "scoop out some fat" while she was in there.  Anything to lose a few pounds, right?  She laughed and said she definitely could NOT do that. 
   Before and after surgery, I was visited by my pastor.  That meant a lot to me.  My church family was praying for me.  My roommate Angie visited me as well as some friends from school (Kristi, Jenny, and Corrie).  I was so touched by that.  One of my nurses was my friend Stephanie G.  That was neat.  Mom was there with me every step of the way.  She slept at my house in Becker each night and spent her days with me.  I had to stay in the hospital for about three nights.  I remember pushing myself to walk a little each day.  I remember that the nights were lonely, but my Dad had sent a CD player/boombox for me to listen to music on.  Angie had made three CDs of great music for me to listen to.  I felt very loved and cared for.        

Flowers from friends and staff after surgery

After my days in the hospital, Mom brought me home to Alexandria for some of my recovery time.  Some of my recovery time was in Becker too.  I read lots of books and watched lots of movies.  I remember getting to attend the  Tuesday morning Bible Study at church. 
     My most recent surgery (#11) was in July.  I had my tonsils removed.  I had been having trouble with irritating tonsil stones and numerous sore throats.  My ENT specialist (Dr. Craigle) that I regularly see for my ears took a look at my tonsils and confirmed that they needed to come out.  The recovery time was to be about 10 days.  But, I really didn't feel good again for about three weeks.  Out of all my surgeries, getting my tonsils out was my most painful!  There was simply no relief.  I was in constant pain!  I barely slept.  It hurt to move my tongue or to talk.  It hurt like crazy to swallow!  My jaw and my ears radiated pain.  The pain meds didn't help the pain much, but made my body do weird things.  Thankfully, after about two weeks I started improving and I improved more each day after that.  Getting my energy back took a long time too.  Todd is sure I will get less sore throats because of having surgery.  I hope he is right.  Those were two of the longest weeks of my life!
     Despite having had these eleven surgeries, I consider myself a very healthy gal.  I have friends who have had surgery for cancer.  I know that there are people who have regular surgeries numerous times a year for health reasons.  I am so thankful for the good doctors I've had and the excellent care I've received.  I'm so thankful I can exercise and be active.  God has taken care of me through it all and provided loved ones to look after me.  Strangely enough, when I look back on my surgeries, what I think about is the people who helped me through.  Mom, Dad, Angie, Todd, friends, nurses, doctors, my church family, my students..... I am so blessed.  God has always been faithful to me.     
         

Meeting Winnie the Pooh!

 This is a photograph of Harry Colebourn with Winnie in 1914. A.A. Milne named his Winnie the Pooh character after this bear. Harry Colebourn bought this adorable black bear for only $20 while he was in White River, Ontario, Canada. He named the bear Winnie after his adopted hometown in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Once Lieutenant Colebourn was in London with Winnie, he decided to leave Winnie at the London Zoo as he and his unit had to go to France. Colebourn later donated the bear to the zoo. Winnie was a very popular bear in London. A.A. Milne enjoyed visiting him at the zoo with his son, Christopher. Sometimes Milne's Winnie the Pooh character is simply called Pooh.  Here is the explanation Milne gave:  "But his arms were so stiff... they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off.  And I think - but am not sure- that THAT is why he is always called Pooh."  I was delighted to learn this information while visiting the Winnipeg Zoo last summer while on vacation with my husband. 

Me with Winnie and Lieutenant Colebourn in Winnipeg