Chapter 3

Julie Anne in her pretty blue dress skips down The Trail of Wisdom, through the Magical Forest of Whimsy, in search of her friends to invite to her party.

Not a mile down the road Julie Anne comes to several mounds of soil. She stops and turns towards them and then she calls out to one of her friends, "Hello, Jeremiah, are you home?"

Out comes a dirty nose, and then the rest of the mole comes out of his earthen home. "Hi, Julie Anne," says the brown mole with the pink nose.

"Guess what, Jeremiah?"

"What, Julie Anne."

"My mom and dad are throwing me a grand party for my birthday, and they said I can invite all of my friends. Do you want to come to my party, Jeremiah?"

"I would love to, Julie Anne, but right now I'm grounded because I haven't been keeping my room clean."

"How do you keep dirt clean?"

"Remember, Princess Julie Anne, if it has any life to it at all it is called soil, not dirt. Besides us moles, gophers and worms that call the Earth's soil our home, there are billions of microbial life forms that allows for the soil to support the life that it does."

"You mean like trees. I love trees."

"Yep, trees, bushes, flowers, the food you humans grow to survive. I figure soil is nearly the most important part of existence on this planet. It is the balance between air, soil and water that allows for this planet to flourish they way it does."

Julie Anne likes to learn new stuff, but she never got an answer to her original question, "Okay, how do you keep soil clean?"

"Well, Princess Julie Anne, that was my point exactly, so I quit trying."

Princess Julie Anne thinks about it for a minute, and she knows one day she will be asked to run the magical kingdom of Azure, so this very well could be an important thing to know. She starts off slowly and then it comes to her, "I guess we all have to make the best out of what we have. A while back, a certain area of the kingdom started getting run-down and it seemed the people stopped caring. Soon the area started being called the ghetto, but my father King David and my mother Queen Amy went to them and explained that it doesn't matter what the geography is, or what group of people or animals live there, or what the economy is, it is about taking pride in yourself and what is around you, and making the very best of what you have. You know, being grateful for what you do have, not whining about what you don't have."

Jeremiah looks at Princess Julie Anne with great pride. "I think I'm beginning to understand. It is about perception, about attitude. Even if I'm dirty or my room is made of soil, that doesn't mean it can't be beautiful. I wonder if it has anything to do with that saying of 'true beauty is inside and if you feel beautiful on the inside the world around you will be beautiful too'!"

"Of course, that doesn't mean you don't have to put in a hard day's work, but yes." smiles Julies Anne.

"Of course," agrees Jeremiah.

All this time Jeremiah's mom was listening, and she surprises them when she says, "Princess Julie Anne, you are very wise. My son most definitely may come to your birthday party. When is it?"

"It is on the thirtieth, ma'am."

"Thank you, mom, and don't worry, now I understand the importance of keeping my room clean and organized. I'll clean it today. I promise."

"That's my boy. Princess Julie Anne, it has been a pleasure, as always." and then Jeremiah's brown furry little mom waddles off back into their home made of wonderful soil.

"Thank you. Okay, so, Jeremiah, I will see you at my party?"

"Yes! Now I have to go clean my room like I promised my mom, because good people always keep their word."

As Julie Anne is walking away she remembers something and asks, "Jeremiah, have you seen Cindy?"

"Not since the last time you two were here together."

"Okay, thank you. See you at the party."

Julie Anne once again has a pretty smile on her delicate face as she is walking away. It is always a good day if you can learn something new, and that goes doubly so if you can help pass that wisdom on to another.