SciNatured

⚡What’s Up at Niagara Falls?⚡

“Greetings from Corfu!”

As usual, one morning May opened the mailbox and pulled out a rather strange postcard.

On the front was a picture of a boy, a stamp — and the words: “Greetings from Corfu!”

On the back, a message read:

Once, this boy brought a scorpion with its babies to a family dinner — in a matchbox. (It was a family dinner, after all, so the scorpion came with its family.)

The boy did poorly at school. So poorly, in fact, that he was diagnosed with “school sickness.” But that is not what made him famous.

You will find his book on the bookshelf, on the top shelf to the left — at least, that’s where I left it the last time I came to visit. Today was his birthday.

With regards, O.T. & Lëliy

🐌📬 “A postcard from O.T.!” May exclaimed.

“A postcard from O.T.!” May exclaimed.

“Do you remember him? He lives in the forest — with his pet raccoon, Lëliy! And he loves sending riddles the old-fashioned way.”

“And I love solving them,” Al added.
“Last time he left us a whole message drawn on a rock — remember? We found it when we went to Muskoka!”

“Yes! And I think he can understand the language of animals,” Sofay said thoughtfully.
“As if he has some kind of magic powder — like in The Flying House by Durrell!
By the way… I think the boy in this photo could really be him.”

“You mean O.T.?” Al asked.

“No — Durrell,” Sofay replied.
“The postcard looks old, and Corfu is an island in Greece where he grew up!”

“I didn’t know there were scorpions in Greece,” Al said.

“Well, I do know that scorpions glow under ultraviolet light,” May smiled.
“But that’s a whole different story. Come on — let’s run to the library!”

Just as O.T. had written, on the top shelf to the left, the children found the book:
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.

What's Up?

“Let’s send him a reply,” May suggested.
“A riddle too!”

“Greetings from Niagara Falls!” Al laughed.
“And I know exactly which one — look at the date.”

January 9 — Word Nerd Day… and...
May read from a list of unofficial holidays.

They looked at each other.
A greeting.
A word.
A clue.

Perfect.

On the back of the postcard, they wrote just one question:

What’s up?

So—can you guess what other day you can celebrate on January 9, in addition to Word Nerd Day?
(Hint: it’s connected to waterfalls… and their power.)

Clue: look at the kids (below) — and the question they wrote.