Robins are Here & Green Spaghetti

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. I have to help him remember things. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? It's really warm outside. It's warm enough to be subtropical, James says. That's silly. We don't have palm trees in Windsor. James says this is the Canadian Banana Belt. You can't fool me. You can't make belts out of bananas! Now you know why I have to look after him.

The temperature is 18C. The thermometer tells us how warm or cold it is. Robins are here. That means spring is in the air. I don't see any springs but I see robins. Robins in the air. They are building a nest in the sugar maple that's in our back yard. They will be our neighbours. Robins are pretty but it's hard to play with them 'cuz they fly. I don't know how to fly. Chance doesn't know either. Maybe the robins will teach us! I know! James will show us how to fly and then we can play with the robins!

Know who else is here? St. Patrick. Lots of people are wearing something green today 'cuz that's St. Patrick's favourite colour. We're not wearing green; we're gonna eat something green. We're gonna cook green spaghetti for dinner. I l-o-v-e spaghetti! Chance will have to drink condensed owls' milk from his bottle. He's a newborn and doesn't have any teeth, yet.


Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario?" That's us!  Charles and Chance! We're handsome bear cubs! We're Sons of Windsor! We're Princes of Ontario! We gotta go see James. He will tickle our ears and kiss our noses. Then we will go outside for a flying lesson. We can dig some really big holes. No. Wait! We can climb the sugar maple and watch the robins build their nest. This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Watch for spring. It's everywhere! Over and out!"

Nurse Charles & the Steadyscope

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. We're a family. Now we're a family of three 'cuz I found a wee little cubby in a basket on our doorstep the other day. We can keep him. He's my baby brother. His name is Chance.

Know why his name is Chance? 'Cuz every time I would ask  James if we could get a baby brother, he'd say, "Fat chance, Charles. You're a handful, already." So, cubby's name is Chance.

I could be a nurse, you know. Nurses make us well. Nurse Blanche let me use her steadyscope to listen Chance's heart. I know what a steadyscope is. It's headphones but not for music. It's for listening to the noises our bodies make. I put them on my ears and then I hold the round part to Cubby's chest. I can hear his little heart beating! I say, "Take a deep breath, Chance" and he does. I can hear him breathe, too!

Nurse Blanche is nice. She gives us Band-Aids with Thomas the Tank Engine and Spiderman on them when we get boo-boos. She puts a thermometer in our mouths and takes our temperatures, too. She weighs us. Chance weighs two kilos. That's not very much but he's a newborn cubby. He doesn't even have a tail, yet. Know how much I weigh? I weigh 19 kilos. That's a lot!

Okay. I gotta go, now. Chance and me and  James are gonna make a tent in the living room and play 'cuz it's raining outside.  We get to eat lunch in the tent. We'll eat peanut butter and pineapple licorice sandwiches. We will drink apple juice right out of the box. I have to drink with two paws cuz I don't have thumbs. I hope I grow thumbs when I'm older.

Chance doesn't have any teeth. He drinks condensed owls' milk from his bottle but I will put peanut butter and pineapple licorice in there, too. Then he will grow up to be as big as me! Know what? If you come over to our house, you can help us build a tent and have lunch with us, too! Just tell Mr. Bus Driver to let you off at Mill and Sandwich Street. Yeah! Okay! See you, soon! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub, saying 'over and out!' Oh. Wait. I'm saying 'good-bye-for Chance cuz he can't talk. He just makes little squeaky noises when he's happy.