A favorite book from my childhood is Go, Dog. Go!, by P.D. Eastman. It features dogs in all colors, utilizing all sorts of vehicles to get around. We didn’t have a car in Hannover, but we never needed to own one. In moving to Fort Collins from Germany we had to make a big adjustment. When we first arrived it was really important to me that we choose a place to live that allows for accessibility with a bicycle, or on foot. So we rented a house in Old Town, and finally bought one two years later. We only had one car for a few years, and with the trailer on the bike I was able to manage pretty well.
We are fortunate that Fort Collins has a great bike culture, and many of the city’s streets are marked with bike paths. If you are looking to get somewhere via bike, the city has a Bike Coordinator to help you find the best route, bicycle safety resources and classes, route maps, a bike-and-ride program( buses that can carry up to two buses on the front at a time), status updates on bike trail conditions, bike cage access in one of the parking houses, bike-to-work-day and bike-to-school-day events, and more.
The bus system cannot be compared to any in Europe, but the city puts a lot of effort into promoting it’s use, including offering free bus fare for all students under 17, and all university students with a RamCard. They also work with neighboring communities to establish affordable regional transit services, for we may have train tracks, but no passenger trains. Unbelievable to us at first, but true. And at this point, with our barely stable economy, I only hope to see that happen. I’ll be sharing the story of our trolley in another ADVENTure post!
It’s Wednesday, and time for another idiom (WIX). I’ll keep ‘in motion’ with the thread of today’s post: on the home stretch: approaching something such as a task, race or journey. And I am! It’s the 12th day of the 12th month in 2012, a perfect day to celebrate! I have almost (19 days left!) successfully completed Julie Hedlund’s 12x12in’12 Challenge: 12 rough picture book drafts in 12 months in 2012! I am finding it too hard to express my gratitude to Julie and all my fellow participants – I am overflowing. So here is another Mr.Poppenfuss illustration, for IF: Explore, which expresses how I feel:
Oh lovely that you included Beth’s birthday too! Good luck with your draft. I haven’t finished my December one, but I was trying to finish another final project…Have a great day.
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Good luck Stacey – keep me posted!
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Great job on including Beth’s birthday. *sigh* I did not. But I do wish her a beautiful day. I live on a farm so. But I Could ride one of my horses. 🙂
How do you like my hat?
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It would be something if you could take a horse on the bus! Where is said hat?
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If anyone can finish 12 x 12, I know you can, Julie. Good luck!
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Thanks Kirsten, it has been an amazing year. Are you close too?
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Um, no. But that’s nonfiction for you.
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NF: quality, not quantity!
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Thank you, Julie!!! Great post — I am SO impressed with Fort Collins’ bikes and buses. And thank you for participating in the you-know-what. It is incredibly fun!
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Pssst! We don’t have to keep it a secret anymore – IT’S PARTY-TIME!!!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH! (was that loud enough?)
How I love bike-friendly cities (Nice was NOT! Amsterdam was!)
So happy to have connected mit Dir, Julie!
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Gleichfalls, liebe Joanna! Amsterdam – great place! The airport had great diaper changing rooms – you could even take a nap there!
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What? It’s Beth’s birthday? Darn I was just on her blog. I guess I’ll have to head back over. And good job on a great 12×12 year! So glad to have “met” you Julie. I wish I still lived in CO so we could meet up for real.
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If you are ever passing through, Hannah, stop in!
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So many reasons to celebrate. I love Mr. Poppenfuss — out climbing his mountain. He looks ready to meet any challenge. I, too, have one manuscript left before I can really say “success” with this challenge, but I know we can do it!
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Mr.P. has reached the top, and enjoys the view – so many other peaks to climb in the future! Yes, we’ll make it, yes, we can!
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Pretty sure Mr. Poppenfuss can be seen during the end credits of The Sound of Music, traipsing along behind the vonTrapps. He’s adorable! Congrats on all that you have achieved in 2012 Julie!
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Your comment may have given me the ‘thing’ I was looking for concerning Mr.P., Cathy! I’ll let you know if it pans out!
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I LOVE Mr. Poppenfuss, and I think we need to add him as a mascot for 12 x 12!! You will get to the top of that mountain, and then the next one, and the next one!
It’s been an honor and a pleasure to have you this year in 2012, and to meet you in person! Hope to see more of both you and your writing next year. THANK YOU for all you’ve contributed. And cheers to 2013!
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Mr. Poppenfuss is adorable and so is his name. Good luck with your draft this month.
P.s. I love what you did to your blog – very easy to navigate too!
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Thanks Jen, but I’m getting bored! I like to see new stuff, but I’ll try and keep it just as simple.
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I know what you mean about bored!
Simple yet attractive
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Probably because I’ve been posting everyday for the last 6 weeks – never looked forward to January quite so much!
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You are so awesome Julie! Beautiful illo ❤
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If I can give you a smile like you give me a smile, then life IS good!
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Julie, Poppenfuss is a delightful character! Yes, that fuzzy mountain climber would make a great mascot (as the other Julie suggested). Also, happy birthday Beth!
Cheers to all! (Wow…this party is kinda like a rehearsal for New Year’s Eve…)
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Thanks! I even got a clue to his own story from Cathy’s comment!
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Congratulations, Julie! I love your illustration for “Explore”. Great job and here’s to 2013 being just as creative for us.
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Yes, yes, yes! SkADaMo really put me on a roll! So grateful to all the participants for the encouragement through solidarity!
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A bike friendly community — how nice. Gives one a sense of community. Congratulations for completing 12 drafts. See your word. I had FOR. Looked at those codes and couldn’t figure them out.
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Your comment made me go back and count, and I’m a little shocked – I actually managed 44 rough drafts, and I still have one to go before the end of the month. I think I need to focus on revision and submission next year!
Susanna sure made us work for the clues – I think they gave me a little indigestion too!
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Wow! I didn’t even attempt that many drafts. Just chose a few I really wanted to work on. Sounds like you should begin a search for an agent. Yes, Susanna, did make us work. I gave up and haven’t a clue was the message was.
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My ‘problem’ is that I want to illustrate – it’s one thing to have an ms, another to have a complete dummy! But Now that I’ve submitted my illo for the scbwi contest, I can get back to them!
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That’s great!
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I LOVE Go Dog Go! How often do I say, “Go around again!” and “Do you like my hat?” 🙂 Your biking community sounds idyllic! And congrats on all your 12×12 mss! And thanks for taking part in Beth’s Birthday Bash 🙂
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It was an honor (and thanks for the word that reminded me of the book!)
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There’s an intricate bus system here as well. And people even bike and ride motorcycles in the snow! Congratulations on all your accomplishments!
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Tina – I would so look forward to a series on your experiences in Korea! Or have you already done one?
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I’m starting to think you like bunnies… 😉 I think you guys also like to bike 🙂 We love “Go, Dog, GO!” too (what a wonderfully colored word 😉 )!
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I have been drawing Mr. P in hope that his story might pop into my head – I think I’ve got it now! We have about 14 bicycles in the garage – though 2 are too small now (but my son won’t give the up!).
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HAHAHA! Just get him 2 more bikes and get rid of the other 2! 😉 I’m guessing Mr. P. is the bunny? He’s (very) cute!
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I love Mr.Poppenfuss! What a great 12 x 12 party post! And you remembered Beth’s birthday! Bravo!
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Thanks Rebecca!
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Love the name, Julie: Mr. Poppenfuss…how cute! And your drawing is sweet, too. I wish our city had a well laid out bike path. Chicago has a path along the lake, but none farther out towards the suburbs. You are very fortunate! I, too, find it hard to describe all that 12×12 means to me. I’m so thankful it will continue in 2013. See you then!
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🙂
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Yay Julie! you’ll make it girl. I on the other hand have 2 ms to get done and finding time is running out on me…*sigh*. Here’s to 2013, aye girl! See ya there.
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Cheers!
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Can I just say I love Mr. Poppenfuss? 🙂 Congrats on your 12 x 12 success!
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Thanks for popping over Cathy!
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I’m so thrilled to have connected with you, Julie! Congrats on all you have accomplished this year…I look forward to hopefully meeting you in person in 2013…perhaps at one of the SCBWI conferences. 🙂
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I certainly hope so!
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Hey lady, congratulations on everything you’ve accomplished this year. You’re amazing! I love Mr. P by the way!
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I need to finish ‘making the rounds’ too. You are one of the stars in my 12×12 sky this year!
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