Birds and Military Kids - the Split S Acrobatics and "Winged Adventures"

"... the tiny bird executed a perfect "Split S" acrobatic maneuver and dove between the railing posts."

Our military kids are located all over this great nation thanks to their parents service in the National Guard, Reserves or Recruiting Services. Some have parents that are retired with 20+ years of service or are disabled medical retirees that settled down in a new area for employment or returned to their roots.  Others have a parent or parents that are deployed and they headed out to be near grandparents, etc.

They come in all sizes and shapes; backgrounds and dispositions but all know when they are loved.  Military kids are so vulnerable and yet so tough!  They deserve support and appreciation from all of us and many organizations do just that with special programs for the military community!

Many organizations have discounted or free access to entertainment, educational or other types of programs.  So when I saw that Michigan State University was offering a "Winged Adventures" for military kids, I had to share with military folks who live near our retirement residence.  Maybe it will highlight other programs or inspire another to take root in your community? 

Red Breasted Nuthatch  See Below for Credits

As I sat reading on our front deck I saw a fellow "airman" land on one of our bird feeders.  The nuthatch is just like military kids > very flexible and can be found anywhere in the world.  The red breasted nuthatch that is in our area tends to eat upside down for some crazy reason. Maybe they show a bit of our military community's genetic material that often is challenged by the upside down world we live in.


On that day something startled the nuthatch as he ate from our feeder that hangs about four feet off the deck and three from the edge with railing posts.  I laughed out loud as the tiny bird executed a perfect "Split S" acrobatic maneuver and dove between the railing posts.  It was impossible not to compare his performance to that of my students in the T-38 years ago as Deb and I cheered out loud at his agile efforts.

So here is the story of Winged Adventures and a link to registration!  Hope it helps a military child learn something about nature and the original airmen.  Clicking on the poster will take you to the registration page which closes on the 28th of June.  Remember it is free and share it with anyone you know that may be interested.   

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Photo Credits: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuthatch#mediaviewer/File:Red-breasted_Nuthatch_%28Sitta_canadensis%2910-4c.jpg