B12 Hood River News, Wednesday, July 15, 2015 SUMMER SCENES On a hot July evening, at left, swimmers enjoy the Hood River Waterfront Park (the Cool- umbia?) under what looks like moonlight, but look again: it’s the setting sun striking a White Salmon home’s large plate glass window and reflecting south back across the river. Above: burned area on the hike to Bird Creek Meadows, south side of Mt. Adams. Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea Photo by Diana Beterbide J ONATHAN Continued from Page B1 squirrely warren of one way, narrow streets. Apparently, we took someone else’s taxi. No problem. “One way” is a relative term. Our driver ex- pertly navigates us in re- verse, to the disdain and honking of other cars, back to our front door. Truly door to door service. Our taxi shows up two minutes later. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t mentioned our train to the driver. Yes Johnny, use your words. Nothing but time: It happens on Day 3. Day one on the Trans-Siberian is about settling in. You greet your new neighbors, ex- change pleasantries, make yourself a comfortable perch to watch the world go by. On Day 2, you find yourself in the dining car, choosing the table next to your new friends. Now everyone knows each other’s brief bio. But on Day 3, IT happens. The reason you left behind hot showers, WiFi and comfy beds. No, not just to watch the Russian countryside roll by. In the afternoon of Day 3, you find yourself in the neighbor’s cabin, a crowd of five or six has gathered. The vodka is flowing and stories are being shared. More vodka flows and the stories get better. As you stagger back to your cabin, of course only due to the lurching of the train, you know that you’ve just shared something unique and precious. Countryside calling: Stop calling them yurts. They’re gers. Though my traveling companion seems to favor gerts. The drive into the Mongolian countryside containes swiftly changing vistas. Some are like Eastern Oregon’s high desert, others with gers dotting winding rivers under rocky cliffs. Our destination is a ger campground run by a hard- working, gracious family. My son knows the f amily through an English club in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia’s capitol). We are settling down for bed on our first night there when we are vis- ited by the owner’s daughter, her nine month old baby girl and her friend. They come bearing an assortment of Mongolian beer. So fun to find oneself in a foreign countryside, in humble sur- roundings, sharing life in broken sentences. My fa- vorite moment is when the daughter leaves her baby asleep on a bed to go see if she can figure out why our one, bare bulb does not work. This is a gentle, relaxed, kindhearted people. Photos by Jonathan Maletz W R I T E R J O N AT H A N MALETZ expressed relief they traveled on Chinese sleeper cars, — “much more comfortable than the Russian version”. The camaraderie of the train journey cul- minated in the hos- pitality of their stay at a ger encamp- ment in Mongolia. ■ Jonathan Maletz and his wife, Ruth, are celebrating three years as owners of Daniel’s Health & Nutrition on the Heights in Hood River. © 2015 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 31, No. 32 rt of ts. All bugs are pa Nature needs insec . ce the ecological balan ow plants for food or When people gr ten eat these plants, and of decoration, insects think of insects as pests. that leads people to are pests. Some help But, not all bugs When they do that, rs. gardeners and farme eneficial insects.” people call them “b Ladybugs love aphids. Aphids are among the most common plant pests. Draw the other half of this ladybug. Have a seat and use the code in this menu to discover some delightful facts about insect eating habits. Bon appetit! Standards Link: Life Science: Understand that animals have structures and behaviors that help in growth and survival. The praying mantis is the only known insect that can turn its head and look over its shoulder. It waits for an insect to stray close, and then snaps it up with a lightning grab of its strong forelegs. It can move twice as fast as a housefly. When young, praying mantises eat aphids, leafhoppers, mosquitoes, caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects. Later they eat larger insects, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and other pest insects. These pirates are good guys. They don’t hurt plants, people or pets. They don’t eat grain. They eat insects that eat grain. Farmers put them into grain bins to eat the insect pests. Then they are easily removed before the grain is used. How many pirate bugs can you find on this page? Unscramble the title of this book. Then check it out at your local library this summer! Aphids damage plants by feeding on them and by carrying diseases from plant to plant. One farmer’s field can host millions of aphids. Ah, bonjour! Welcome to Café des Insectes. My name is Claude, and I will be your waiter today. Ladybugs sometimes roll over and play dead if they are disturbed. Many predators will not eat an insect that doesn’t move. Find the ladybug that is different. Something strange is going on in the garden, and Bug Muldoon, beetle private investigator, tries to figure out how the ants and the wasps are involved. A large praying mantis can eat a small The female praying mantis will eat its after reproduction. House spiders can survive without food or water for several Spiders first paralyze their insect victims and then suck out the What is the value for each bug in these equations? Each bug has a value from 1 to 5, and no two critters have the same value. Standards Link: Math: Solve problems using mathematical reasoning. Some insects help peeple by pollinating flours and blossoms. Without pollinators, Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Read age-appropriate text in a variety of genres. there wood be no apples, pears, cherrys, citrus fruit, nuts, LADYBUGS PRAYING MANTIS APHIDS DISEASES CHEMICAL PIRATE SPIDER GRAIN BALANCE CROP HURT PESTS DEAD HELP Find the words in the puzzle, then in this week’s Kid Scoop stories and activities. U S L A C I M E H C L E S D I H P A R S D A E D E R I F E E barries, coffee, melons, cucumbers, squash or many other food that depend upon U S D L A P R S D C the pollination of their N T I R B E T S P A blossoms to create froot. L I P Y O I A T I N S N C E S U E E S L G A N I A R G P C A T M D T R U H S S B Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognized identical words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns. Pollinating insekts are estimated to be wurth at least ate billion dollurs annually to Fact and Opinion Look through the newspaper and underline five facts. Next, find and circle five opinions. Where did you find most of the facts? Where did you find most of the opinions? Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Identify fact and opinion in text. Write Words Wonderfully Sta Vocabula ndards Link: use anto ry: Understand an nym d reading s in speaking, and writin g. Are you an eagle-eyed reader? Read the article below and correct the 12 spelling errors you find. The first one is done for you. Write a sentence in which most of the words start with the same letter. Example: Betty’s brother, Bill, bought big buckets of blue beetles. the farming and agriculture industrees. Standards Link: Editing: Edit drafts to correct spelling and grammar. Complete the grid by using all the letters in the word GROW in each vertical and horizontal row. Each letter should only be used once in each row. Some spaces have been filled in for you.