Bears & Ice Cream

Bear with me certainly not bare with me as I keep getting older. I found the following article interesting:

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/08/bear_warning_follow_tips_to_av.html

According to the article the cold wet spring here created a shortage of berries that bears live on and have driven them to find food closer to home. While that may or may not be true I think that with not only bear encounters but cougar, mountain lion, and deer sightings as well that urban growth may be part of the problem. We expand and take over the homes and restaurants of these wild animals and they have no where to go but into cities. I knew a lot of what to do and not to do if you encounter these creatures but I was surprised about ammonia. I will now put that on my garbage can. One thing the article didn't mention that I do, is when I go walking in the morning I take both a flashlight and a walking stick. Two questions. Are wild animal sightings in your city becoming more frequent? Have you changed your behavior because of it?

This being Friday and all I just thought we should relax a bit. What is more relaxing than sitting down and eating your favorite ice cream? Mine is double fudge. Yours? Maybe your should read the following article Today's USA Today where they select each State's best ice cream parlors. Read the article here:

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/greatamericanbites/ice-cream/39857952/1

California's best ice cream parlor is Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous in San Francisco which might be a bit of a drive for Pat and more doable for Bev. Maybe Dona should try Traders Point Creamery in Indianapolis. If you visit me or Red Whistle we might take you to Prince Puckler's Gourmet Ice Cream in Eugene. It might be a drive for DR to try the Berry Island Ice Cream Cafe in Beaufort or for Mary Z to try 1890's Ice Cream Parlor & Fudge Shoppe in Jackson. I think it is doable for Connie to go to Hank's Ice Cream in Houston or Mary to go to Mallard Ice Cream in Bellingham. I'm not sure how far it would be for Ellen to go Kelley Country Creamery, a 200-acre farmstead business a few miles south of Fond du Lac.

Are you suitably hungry now? What is your favorite ice cream? Your favorite ice cream parlor?

Have a cool day.

WHO AM I? Yesterday's answer was Virginia Foster Durr .

Because I died long before Bill was born it doesn't hurt that he hasn't heard of me. Being Friday and all he decided to make it easy on you so if you search the social situation where woman scientists inaccurately receive less credit for their scientific work than an objective examination of their actual effort would reveal, it is named after me. Take that Mr. Merton and thank you Margaret. I was born in 1826with a hatred of oppression and went on to be a suffragist, a Native American activist, an abolitionist, a freethinker, and a prolific author. I spent my childhood in a house which was a station of the underground railroad and faced prison for my actions. Even though I was beset by both financial and heart problems throughout my life my work for women's rights was extensive, practical, and often brilliantly executed. During the 1876 convention of the the National Woman Suffrage Association I successfully argued against a group of police who claimed the association was holding an illegal assembly. They left without pressing charges.
Many said I was more radical than either Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Rather than arguing that women deserved the vote because their feminine morality would then properly influence legislation I argued that we deserved suffrage as a 'natural right'. Frank, my son-in-law, said I the most well-educated and a prolific writer--the most gifted and educated woman of my age. He was proud when I bought The Ballot Box which I renamed The National Citizen and Ballot Box. I was its primary editor for the three years, producing and publishing essays on a wide range of issues. Each edition bore the words 'The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword', and included regular columns about prominent women in history and female inventors. I wrote clearly, logically, and often with a dry wit and a well-honed sense of irony. I once observed "It is sometimes better to be a dead man than a live woman." When women had the right to vote in my city I ensured that every woman there had the opportunity to vote by writing letters making them aware of their rights, and sitting at the polls making sure nobody was turned away. Due to some differences with other women's rights activist I established the Women's National Liberal Union. I strongly supported the separation of church and state. In addition to fight for women's rights I decried the brutal treatment of Native Americans. In one of my works I cited the Iroquois society, among others, as a 'Matriarchate' in which women had true power, noting that a system of descent through the female line and female property rights led to a more equal relationship between men and women. I spent time among the Iroquois and received the named that meant "she who holds the sky." I was admitted into the Iroquois Council of Matrons. In addition to my activities to bring equality to the world I was married to Henry and we had five children, one dying in infancy. On my grave is the quote "There is a word sweeter than Mother, Home or Heaven. That word is Liberty." If you haven't figured out my name by now you should know I fought for "ALL THE RIGHTS I WANT" until I died in 1898. Who Am I?