A couple weeks ago in the Methow Valley of Washington, people gathered for the ninth annual Fairy and Human Relations Congress. The festival was held outdoors in a mountain meadow to “encourage communication and cooperation of the fairy realm.” Attendees of the three day event participated in workshops such as “Opening Your Telepathic Senses” and a parade.

Major Nicole Malachowski flew combat missions in Iraq and was the first woman selected to fly with the Air Force’s elite Thunderbirds. She was well aware of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft. Over a thousand WASP flew as test pilots, instructors, and took on other non-combat duties during World War II. They trained the male pilots who went into combat. 38 were killed on duty or in training, with none receiving military recognition or honors. The entire program was classified in 1944 and the WASP were denied veterans status, military benefits, and effectively erased from history. In 1977 they finally received military status and in 1984 they were given World War II Victory Medals. That wasn’t enough for Maj. Malachowski, and she helped draft the bill that President Obama signed last week which granted the Congressional Gold Medal to her personal heroes.

It’s a morbid topic but a necessary business. People do die and their loved ones buy tombstones. And Colma, California, where a significant portion of the deceased population of the Bay Area is laid to rest, is home also to long-time family stone-carving businesses. Bocci & Sons, founded 113 years ago, closed up shop four years ago only to be purchased recently by Russian immigrants who have taken up the chisels. While not related to the family, they are carrying on a name that has been in business for almost 1,000 years, starting when the Bocci family mined marble in the Italian alps.

Perhaps the children of today will do all their reading on an electronic device when they grow up, but I hope they’ll still keep books to treasure as their very own, especially ones given to them by special people in their lives. The woman who gave me one of my favorite books also gave me a set of bookplates. They weren’t personalized but I added my signature and put them inside only my most precious books. Nowadays you can order lovely personalized (or not) bookplates from crafters selling their art online such as on Etsy (some examples: art nouveau, rose, apples) or even print them yourself. Bonus link: Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie weblog.

Cherry season has arrived. I got an early start during our recent visit to California where the yummy fruit ripens earlier, and now Washington cherries are ready to peak and it’s a bumper crop this year. 78,000 tons were harvested last year and 150,000 tons are expected for 2009. 30% of it goes overseas, mostly to Asia. Growers take all necessary precautions to keep their cherries in good shape, even bringing in helicopters to blow harmful rainwater off of the fruit.

from the past: White Glove Tracking. “On May 4th, 2007, we asked internet users to help isolate Michael Jackson’s white glove in all 10,060 frames of his nationally televised landmark performance of Billy Jean. 72 hours later 125,000 gloves had been located.”

Somehow I managed to completely forget about Dutch Crunch, the bread with the crackly top that was just a part of everyday life in Northern California, but dropped out of existence in Washington. Serious Eats brought it back to my attention and now I’m remembered how I used to often order albacore tuna salad on a Dutch Crunch roll at Le Boulanger. There were inferior Dutch Crunch versions, usually at the supermarket, that had little crunch so I always took the chance of damage to the roof of my mouth and got the good stuff. Now don’t get me started about wine-walnut bread which I used to eat in vast quantities all by itself.

These tiger pup photos are very cute. The pups, born at the Safari Zoological Park in Kansas, were featured on NBC’s Today Show on September 19, 2008. Abandoned by their mom, they were brought home by zookeepers and raised with the help of a golden retriever.

“The oldest handcrafted musical instrument yet discovered” is a flute around 35,000 years old and made out of griffon vulture bone. It was found in southern Germany and 22 centimeters long with 5 holes.

Here are two local critter stories of note. In Olympia, Washington a colony of several thousand bats takes wing every night to feed on insects. All females, they’re nesting with their young underneath a pier. Volunteers have been tallying the number of bats who leave their manmade home at night. In late summer the bats will scatter to locations unknown. Over in Cheney, a little east of Spokane, four trumpeter swans hatched over Father’s Day weekend at the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. Their dad, a seasoned veteran of the lake, was thought to be too old to become a father as he’s estimated to be 33-46 years old. His last batch of cygnets was in 1987 and after his original mate was killed his subsequent companions did not produce. But he and his latest mate are swimming happily with their new brood.