This blog feature amusing and heartwarming stories about our late Leonberger dog Bronco, as well as other Leonbergers. It also has a lot of information about the Leonberger breed, the history, care, training, Leonberger organizations, etc. I also wrote a Leonberger book, which I am featuring in the sidebar.
Category: Non-Leonberger Topics
Other topics not necessarily related to Bronco, Leonbergers or dogs.
This post is about Lego blocks and Legoland. Lego blocks in their current interlocking form were invented in Billund, Denmark, in 1949. However, the history of Lego blocks started already in 1932 (in Denmark). You can read more about it here.
When I was a kid, growing up in northern Sweden, I loved building with Lego blocks, or if you call them Lego bricks (either way is fine). I’ve always wanted to visit Lego land in Denmark, but I never got the opportunity to do so. However, about 20 years ago me and my daughter (she was a young child at the time) visited Legoland in Carlsbad, California, a 128 acre theme park. Do you know how many Lego blocks there are in Legoland California? There are 60 million Lego blocks. Below are some photos from that trip. I should add that since this was 20 years ago, a lot has been added to Legoland.
A model of Manhattan made from Lego blocks. The Lego Empire State building is close to 30 feet tall.A model of Manhattan made from Lego blocks.San Francisco built with Lego blocks.My daughter is in front of Lego Capital building.A Lego block cityLego Albert Einstein. Mindstorm is a Lego Science center.Sydney Opera House made from Lego blocks.This Taj Mahal model is made from Lego blocks.A large Lego Octopus playing music.This model of the White House is made from Lego blocks.This is a Lego model of Washington DC.City made from Lego blocks.Sleeping beauty and the prince, all made from Lego blocks.Lego model of Hans and Gretel.Lego model of Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
Grizzly bear 399 was a long lived female Grizzy bear who lived in Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park near Snake River. She was called Grizzly bear 399 because of her tag number. She was arguably the most famous grizzly bear in the United States and likely in the World. Unlike the typical female grizzly bear, Grizzly 399 regularly gave birth to triplets rather than twins. She was seen and admired by thousands of visitors. Her Instagram account has 55,000 followers, books were written about her and documentaries were made. She had 22 cubs throughout her life. Unfortunately, she was hit and killed by a car on Tuesday October 22, 2024, at the age of 28. You can read my post about the accident here. Luckily, her one remaining cub was not hurt in the accident, and he was old enough to survive on his own.
She was also special to me because we had a close encounter with her and three of her cubs during our visit to Grand Teton national park in 2007. It was a school trip organized by the math teacher, Frank Jordan, and each kid was accompanied by at least one parent to give the math teacher a break. Grizzly 399 gave us a very memorable experience.
My photo of the Teton mountain range taken from Snake River.Jackson Lake, an island and the Teton Mountain range in the background. The photo was taken in June 2007 by a fellow trip participant Gabriel Goncalves.
Grizzly 399 frequently sought human company. She came down to the roads with her cubs and stayed with the passersby for hours. She did not beg for food. She just wanted to stay with people. This article describes her as a gentle soul. Grizzly bears seeking human company is normally a dangerous situation and grizzly bears seeking human company are therefore often shot to protect the public. Grizzlies can kill people both out of aggression and for food. However, the park rangers left Grizzly 399 and her cubs alone because they deemed her harmless. She frequently interacted with people without ever showing any aggression towards people.
A photo of Grizzly 399 and a couple of her cubs taken in June 2007 by fellow trip participant Gabriel Goncalves.
Her behavior was somewhat strange, but I was told by a ranger that male grizzlies sometimes kill cubs, and this was her way of protecting the cubs. Grizzlies tend to stay away from people except for her. She used people as a shield to protect her cubs.
We had a somewhat scary experience with Grizzly 399, but as it turned out, we were never in any danger. As we were driving through Grand Teton National Park, Grizzly 399 came down to the road, so we stopped to watch her, and so did many other people. She let her cubs visit the cars and interact with people and we went outside to get closer. This is normally not recommended.
One of the visitors, with a big car and a trailer, decided that he had seen enough and began to leave. He drove his car between Grizzly 399 and her cubs. Someone rightly thought this was really dumb and decided to improve the situation by honking angrily. As a result, 399 started running towards us, the large group of tourists standing outside taking pictures. We were about 100 feet from Grizzly 399, which is indeed a very close encounter with a grizzly bear. As Grizzly 399 ran toward us, people started screaming and running, and unfortunately the math teacher who had organized the trip fell and got trampled by the panicking people.
A photo of two of 399’s cubs. The photo was taken in June 2007 by a fellow trip participant Gabriel Goncalves.
A lot of other things happened during the panic. People ran back to their cars or to any car. A couple of my fellow trip participants found themselves blocked from entering their own car (on the side facing away from the bear) because a plus sized lady was stuck in the door of their smaller car. Not a comfortable situation with a grizzly on the loose. By pushing her from behind they were able to get her inside and could then enter the car themselves. The kids were standing on top of the SUVs that we had rented and crawled back into the car through the sunroof. My son entered the car last by his own choice.
As it turned out the panic was completely unnecessary. 399 was not chasing anyone and was not really running towards us. She was running to the end of the car with the trailer to get around it to get to her cubs on the other side.
Grizzly 399 is crossing the road with her cubs. The photo was taken in June 2007 by a fellow trip participant Gary Weinstein.
One ranger told us a story about 399 that sounded a bit scary. A hiker, hiking alone (which you should not do) stumbled upon 399 and her cubs as they were in the middle of eating an Elk carcass. He had come out of a thicket and had not seen them until he essentially bumped into them. He screamed on top of his lungs because he was shocked and then he started running. That is a very bad reaction by the way.
Grizzly 399, who was equally startled, pursued him. He laid down on the ground as he had read that you should do when pursued by a grizzly. Grizzly 399 sniffed him but did not touch him. Her two cubs bit his behind but not hard. After the grizzlies had left, he stood up, walked away and went to a hospital to check out the bites on his bum, which allegedly were not bad. Well I guess he had a closer grizzly encounter than we did.
The math teacher, Frank Jordan, took this photo of Grizzly 399.Grizzly 399 and her cubs amongst the cars. The photo was taken in June 2007 by a fellow trip participant Carl Ondracek.
Please visit the Smorgasbord Blog Magazine post above. Smorgasbord Blog Magazine is sharing my super fact post Accents are very difficult to lose, as well as showcasing my Leonberger dog book.
Flag of Sweden in sunny rays high on the flagpole. Shutterstock asset id: 2344367957 by GenOMart.The flag of the United States of America Shutterstock asset id: 2566207745 by Ashley Grise.Flag of France. Shutterstock asset id: 2457252007 by Kyrylash Stanislav.
I typically don’t ask for Guest blogs, but I certainly don’t mind if someone wants to do a guest blog here. It is great to get quality content for free. I just came home from visiting our 8 months old grandson Jack. We had a good time. We went to the zoo, I went fishing with my son, and Jack wrote a blog post which is shown below.
Me, my wife Claudia, and our grandson Jack.Jack is using my laptop to make a blog post. He provided the text, which I am posting below.
Congrats, we love your writing and want to share it with the world.
Hi thomasstigwikman,
We’ve selected your post (We Can See What Stars Are Made of) for Freshly Pressed, a showcase where we feature editors’ picks and community favorites on WordPress.com.
We are thrilled to share your post with our wider audience.
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The focus of this blog is Leonbergers. However, sometimes I post about other things and today I am making a lighthearted post about an English idiom that I find interesting. An idiom that is not used in my native language Swedish. The idiom is “When all is said and done”, and it is used to introduce a conclusion, or the most important fact to remember in a specific situation.
The one minute youTube video below is in regard to a demon possessed toaster. This poor lady is in a truly horrifying and nightmarish situation. The question is. What is the most important fact to remember in this specific situation? By watching the video, you will find out.
Last week I was reading a blog post in which one of the characters ordered Voodoo Rangers IPAs using door dash. I asked the author, John Howell, if you really can order Voodoo Rangers using door dash. He reminded me that his story was a work of fiction. However, I wanted to try whether it was possible to do that, and John encouraged me to try. So, I ordered a 12 pack of Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA using door dash (which they picked up from a store here in Dallas called Tom Thumb). As it turned out, I got my Voodoo Rangers from door dash. So, when all is said and done, you can order Voodoo Rangers from door dash. Below are a few of photos.
When all is said and done, you can order Voodoo Rangers using door dash.In my backyard drinking New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA, ABV 9.0%, IBU 85. The aroma is floral and citrusy. The flavor is white bread, caramel, citrus, grapefruit rind and moderate pine resin. When all is said and done, this is good beer.A lizard is climbing up the patio table leg in my backyard. Maybe he wants a sip of beer. When all is said and done, lizards like beer too.
Finally, a 3 minute of ABBA’s somewhat sad song “When all is said and done”. It is a reflection on the end of a relationship.
“I’ll Be Waiting for You at the Rainbow Bridge” is a very heartwarming and touching story about loosing a pet written by Luisa Zambrotta. It really touched my heart and I want you all to read it.
Today is my birthday and we are spending it in Baltimore (don’t worry we have people watching house and dog etc.). Our son, his wife and their son Jack (our first grandchild) lives in Baltimore. Jack just turned six months. That is why I have not been very active in the blogosphere lately. Below are a few Leonberger Happy birthday photos.
This is a Leonberger Happy Birthday photo that Jen O’Keefe sent me. I am using it with her permission. On the left is Digory and on the right is Aslan.Debbie Ireland, a Leonberger community friend send me this picture today and gave me permission to use it.Leonbergers are celebrating. Caspian (Obi’s nephew), Austin (Obi’s son), Delfi, Obi (now 7 and a veteran), Digory, and Rilian (Obi’s son). Photo by Jen O’Keefe and Ira Van Order, prominent members of the Leonberger Club of America who allowed me to use this photo.
Today we visited the Cherry Blossom at Fort McHenry National Monument. Fun fact: “The Star-Spangled Banner” was born as a poem written by Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. Below are some Baltimore photos.
Cherry trees blossoming.Cherry trees blossoming.Cherry trees blossoming up close.Baby Jack is now six months old.Jack is sitting in his new highchair. He is no longer a baby.Baby Jack in the stroller.Baby Jack with us (my wife and I).My son with his son, baby Jack, six months old.
Voodoo shaman, african wizard man conjure, 3D illustration. Shutterstock Asset id: 2048753030 by artshock
We just came home from a trip to New Orleans, which is truly a magical city. New Orleans is not very far from Dallas, where we live, and we’ve been to New Orleans several times. However, it was a fun family trip with a theme. The theme we chose for our trip was Magic, including Vampires, Voodoo/Hoodoo, ghosts, pirates and St. Patrick’s Day. We also went on a ghost tour. Below are some photos from the Voodoo Museum, and miscellaneous voodoo, witches, vampire and pirate stores.
From the Voodoo Museum.I used an automated fortune teller who told me to watch out for stepping on people’s toes. That is kind of strange since we hardly ever go dancing.
Photo Tile with photos from the Voodoo Museum, a Hoodoo Queen, vampire art, pirate, and witch store.
We also ate at a restaurant that has a ghost. The Muriel’s Jackson Square restaurant is allegedly haunted by a ghost that sits in the chair. The ghost is a former owner by name of Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan.
The ghost is sitting between my daughter (right) and my son’s girlfriend (left).
What is Voodoo ?
Voodoo is a religion blending African traditions with Catholicism. It is originating from enslaved people in Haiti and Louisiana. It focuses on serving spirits and honoring ancestors and connecting with nature. It is not black magic. However, I admit I’ve made fun of the so called voodoo dolls. Marie Catherine Laveau was one the most prominent practitioners of voodoo. She was born a free woman of color in New Orleans’s French Quarter, Louisiana, on September 10, 1801. We saw her house. Below are photos from the Voodoo Museum.
Photo Tile from the Voodoo Museum
Vampire Café
We also did some vampire related things. New Orleans is often called the Transylvania of America. Author’s such as Anne Rice have brought attention to New Orleans and its vampire legends. I read a book with 40 short stories about vampires while we visited New Orleans. The book was Vermillion Highways by David Lee Summers and Lee Clark Zumpe. I will make a post about that book in a couple of days. We visited vampire stores and the famous Vampire Café. See the photos below.
Vampire CaféMe drinking (pretend blood) from a blood bag at the Vampire Café.Me drinking a glass of Pinot Noir. The name of the wine is Vampire, and it says so on the glass.
Photo Tile from Vampire Café.
I should say that we did other things as well. We visited the aquarium, rainforest, and insectarium, which is quite impressive. We celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day, and we made a couple of visits to the famous Pat O’Brien’s Pub. We all had a good time.
Leonberger Life 