A flat-out rewarding trip

CATHARINE COOPER

Flat Stanley had to leave this week. His journey into the world had

come to an end. Colton, the second grade originator of Stanley’s flat

body and traveling journal, had requested his return around the first

of May.

“Flat Stanley?” What/who is a Flat Stanley? About 30 years ago,

Jeff Brown wrote a book titled, “Flat Stanley.” In the story, Stanley

Lambchop is squashed by a falling bulletin board. When he asks to

visit his friends in California, his family folds him up and mails

him. Mrs. Johnson, a second grade instructor at McDory Elementary

School in McCalla, Ala. decided to use Stanley’s journey as a way to

teach her students a bit of geography and introduce them to friends

in far-away places.

Each student created a Flat Stanley, colored his flat art-board

body and sent him on to a friend, with instructions to write down the

things that “he” did in each location. When Stanley arrived in Laguna

Beach, he had already journeyed through Georgia, Pennsylvania,

England, Germany, Norway and Florida.

In Georgia, he visited an army camp in Ft. Benning, the

Confederate Museum, the Riverwalk Trade Center and a botanical

garden. He saw the Little White House and Roosevelt State Park in

Warm Springs. When he arrived in Spring Mills, Pennsylvania, he

visited a Mennonite store and witnessed several Amish families in

their brown and black outfits, traveling by buggies drawn by horses.

He also went on campus at Penn State, before heading out to Christmas

shop in 12 inches of fresh snow.

A long journey across the sea deposited Stanley in England just

before Christmas. He was able to help decorate a tree, and shopped in

Windsor, near Queen Elizabeth’s beautiful stone castle. He walked

into Eton, crossing the Thames River. After all the festive holidays,

there was yet another English tradition to celebrate: Boxing Day.

During the long year, people put money into a box for the poor. The

day after Christmas, the boxes are opened and the money delivered.

From England it was on to Aidlingen, Germany, which is about 20

miles southwest of Stuttgard, the capital of Baden-Wuerttemberg, and

about 10 kilometers from the birthplace of Mercedes Benz. He was now

traveling with Ellen, a fourth-grade teacher, and met many of the

students in the German classroom. He learned the song, “Mary had a

little lamb,” and of course, he was noted as the best singer!

Next stop: Oslo, Norway, in the midst of a winter filled with

heavy snow. Stanley donned cross-country skis with his caretakers and

off he went to the tall tree-filled woods. His keeper at this point

worked in a hospital, so Stanley was visited with many ill or injured

Norwegians, and shared some of his American charm. He toured most of

Oslo, learning about King Harold and Queen Sonja, and their two

children Maratha Louise and Haakon Magnus, who were both married last

year. Princess Ingrid Alexandra was born on Jan. 21, 2004, and is to

be the next Queen. Such new names for a body from Alabama!

After Oslo, Stanley flew back across the great Atlantic, arriving

in Ormond by the Sea, Fla. And what an arrival! Right in the middle

of Daytona Beach’s Bike Week. The vrrmm-vrrmm noise was a bit much

after the quiet forests of Norway. But the beach! Stanley walked

endless miles along the Atlantic seashore, meeting different birds,

dolphins, kids and waves. He picked up a T-shirt and learned to build

a sand castle. The day before he left, he made his way to St.

Augustine where he saw a lighthouse, a fort, the Fountain of Youth

and the oldest wooden schoolhouse in America.

And finally, to Laguna, where he arrived at the seashore on the

opposite coast. He was curious about the dolphins swimming near Main

Beach. He didn’t remember seeing them on the airplane, and he knew

something about the distance between Florida and California. How had

they swum so fast? Oh, different dolphin!

What Stanley hadn’t considered, was that he’d make it to Laguna,

but also journey to Baja California and the bottom of the Grand

Canyon. In Baja he was able to see a whale and learn a bit of

Spanish, such as “Hola” and “Como esta usted?” He decided that he

liked guacamole and chips and that there were very special birds --

cactus wren, frigate birds and osprey -- that he didn’t have back

home.

When he got to the Grand Canyon his jaw fell open. Such a huge

place and what a beautiful rolling river! He was lucky to be on a

Guide Training trip, so he observed, and likely absorbed, a great

deal of swift water rescue techniques and wilderness first responder.

You never know when these skills and talents could come in handy.

Well, Stanley was really pretty exhausted, and just a tad homesick

when he finally took off for his return journey. By now, he’s safely

pressed in the hands of Colton, and his class is enjoying the travel

journal kept by his caretakers. For more information, there is a

website devoted to the project: https://www.flatstanleyproject.net.

What a great way to learn about our world!

* CATHARINE COOPER loves wild places. She can be reached at

[email protected] and (949) 497-5081.