Adventures of Fauna and Scotty
Ambassadors from Cedar Grove
Their Story
Up in the high Sierras is a remarkable place called Zumwalt Meadows. It is a lovely meadow surrounded by majestic cliffs that has the Kings River meandering through. Many animals live around this meadow or migrate through.
Photo of Zumwalt Meadows in Cedar Grove (Kings Canyon National Park) by Cheryl Vitali
Up until July, 1998, two animals did live there, a deer called Fauna, and a squirrel named Scotty. They were two young animals born in the springtime of 1998 and the meadow was a special magical place they loved to meet at, discover tender plants or nuts to eat, admire the flowers, play with the butterflies, or just enjoy the music of the river.
Early in July their peace was disturbed when a lively group of children walked through the meadow. Little did they know it was Girl Scout Troop 170 from Reedley, California. What did they know of Girl Scouts? They hid in the tall grasses and watched. There was this strange lady, who kept stopping and looking at the plants, flowers and butterflies, and using a camera (they had seen these before). She really seemed to see the magic they did. They became curious about her and this group of children. So they decided to follow and spy on this group of people. They watched them at a campfire and listened to stories about Indians and the stars, and their curiosity grew. The next day when the group left and went on the road leading out of Cedar Grove, they decided that they wanted to follow this story teller and hear more about the Indian legends and stories she told about the plants and areas they had grown up in. But where had she gone?
Fauna and Scotty set off along route 180 being careful to stay out of sight and away from cars. The road led up and over the mountains and then began to head down into the valley. Along the way they saw other sights and people and were surprised at all the things they saw along the way. It was a long journey, and they realized that except for the road, they really were lost. How would they find this lady and the girls? Tired and weary they heard some songs and chanting and saw the smoke of a campfire. They followed the sounds and smells until they came into the camp of Four Winds Lodge where OneHawk was meeting with some of his friends. Here was another interesting stranger, he was walking slowly burning some incense and quietly chanting. Somehow he felt familiar and the two friends felt they could trust him and talk with him.
OneHawk greeted them warmly and welcomed them to come into his teepee. He told them stories about the mountains and people elsewhere, about the Cherokee Nation and other tribes and how all living things were connected in a circle. The two friends told about the lady they had seen and how they were trying to find her. Could he help? OneHawk wasn't sure, but he had an idea. He was having a PowWow with many people of the Indian Nations in Reedley, California on August 9. Perhaps they would like to come, and maybe this mysterious lady would be there.
The friends were excited about this and helped in the planning and activities. The weekend of the PowWow came and people came and went, but nowhere did they see the lady, they were getting discouraged. Then on Saturday afternoon, they could hardly believe it. There she was attending the PowWow and visiting at the many booths! Scotty and Fauna could hardly contain their excitement and introduced themselves. The lady's name was Mrs. Vitali and with her was her daughter, Mary. They recognized her as well. Mrs. Vitali said she would be delighted to take them home, but she was planning something really special and perhaps they would be interested in these plans.
Mrs. Vitali told them about this special group of teachers she chatted with on something called the Internet and how they shared projects about plants, animals, and stories about their lands and culture. Would the two friends be interested in going on an adventure and traveling to another country? Fauna and Scotty thought this sounded like great fun. Not only could they hear Mrs. Vitali's stories, but those of children all over the world. They had found the stories of the Indians and other places just too wonderful, they couldn't get enough. Would they mind staying in another country and would they be willing to share about the place they had come from? Not at all if they could still get lots of stories to listen to and share. They had decided this was as magical as the valley they had left, they wanted to share about the special beauty of Cedar Grove and discover what other special places and people this world held.
So Fauna and Scotty are off on their adventure. Neither of them know how it will end, but they know they are only beginning to discover many new and wonderful things.
This site in under development some links below may not work yet.
Hear about Fauna and Scotty's trip to DeWadden School in Haarlem, Netherlands where they visited Rene de Vries first grade class.
Share in their travels to Hornbaek, Denmark where Fauna and Scotty visited Lone Nielson's fifth grade class.
Read the story of Webster who is joining them in their travels in 1999-2000.
Read about the Travel Buddies Labor Day weekend (Sept. 4-6, 1999).
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