The Journey Journal

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The mail brought a package with a notebook and a request from my friend Fred, better known as Natalie's grandpa."Please help Natalie get her Journey Journal around the world," he wrote. "It would make her smile a lot."I don't know Natalie, but I've known her grandpa for years, long enough to remember when he still had most of his hair. He will gladly do anything to make his granddaughter smile, even if it means strong-arming a friend for a geography project.Natalie is 7 years old, a second-grader at Oakhurst Elementary in Oakhurst, Calif., near Yosemite National Park.When I was 7, the only geography I studied was how to find my way out of the woods. I can't say I ever mastered it.Natalie and her classmates are aiming a bit higher:"Please help our class learn more about geography by writing in my journal ... a short note about yourself, your town, your local environment and any special facts about your area. (Then) mail my journal to another friend in a different area. Thank you for your help in our study of geography. As the song goes, it's a small world after all! P.S. If you have my journal on May 1, 2009, please mail it to the school address for the completion of my project."OK, so I was hooked. The first entry belonged to Natalie's grandpa. He included color photos and map of California's Monterey Peninsula."Pacific Grove," he wrote, "is a beautiful town on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. We live near the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and near beaches where Natalie and her family like to come and find seashells and beach rocks."He wrote about his "rascally dog, L.B. (short for Little Buddy)" and about monarch butterflies that winter in the forest near his house. Oh, and he shamelessly divulged his pet name for Natalie, which is guaranteed to be a hit with her classmates; for the rest of her life, she'll be "Petunia."After Gramps' entry, the pages were blank, waiting to be filled with fascinating stories of faraway places with strange-sounding names -- like "Las Vegas of All Places."I will write in Natalie's journal as best I can of life in the desert, mountains, sunsets, rocks and sand, blistering heat, blow-dryer winds and coyotes that howl at the moon.I'll describe the neon lights on the world-famous Strip, and explain that it's sort of like a Disneyland for grown-ups.I'll tell her that life here is a lot like life in Oakhurst; we have schools and churches, hopes and dreams, and little girls who love their grandpas.The Journey Journal is similar to "Flat Simone," a project I wrote about some years ago.Simone and her classmates were third-graders at Jordahl Elementary in Fountain, Colo., who traced their silhouettes on paper and mailed them around the country, asking recipients to write back about the "adventures" they shared.Recently I spoke with Simone's grandmother and learned to my delight that "Flat Simone" is now in high school, in love with music, and looking forward to a very "full" life.I could send Natalie's journal to Simone (it's only fair), but maybe I will send it to you?If you'd like to help with the Journey Journal, send a note about yourself and where you live, of all places, to me: Sharon Randall, P.O. Box 777394, Henderson NV 89077 or randallbay(at)earthlink.net.I'll look forward to reading about your life. And I promise to pass it along to Petunia.I mean Natalie.(Sharon Randall can be contacted as noted above.)