Viva Valley of the Dinosaurs
Chapter 1: Through the Snow
Light brown eyes watch heavy white snow outside a clear window, and a young woman sighs. Katie Butler has seen much of the wide world in her limited years. Her explorer family and she have been all over the lower forty-eight, Hawaii, and Alaska. They have witnessed life from Liechtenstein to Laos to the Marianas' lower depths. One could almost claim that, heck, the Quest family has nothing on them. However, the Butlers' most notable sojourn will always be the Valley of the Dinosaurs, somewhere in South America. For all of her experiences, Dr. Kate Butler will never quite have another like that one. Its memory permanently shapes her perception—such as of the snow outside. She cannot but think that there is no snow in the tropical Valley. She cannot picture her shirtless constant companion Lok, caveboy, in it nor his family father Gorak, mother Gara, sister Tana, and their cute little dino Glump. To Katie's memory, the Valley doesn't even have snow up where Neebra the sabretooth and the mastodons live.
Young Prof. Butler will always experience some dissonance with anything that is not the dell of the dinosaurs. Since about 1974, the life incident defines her, and it has directed her subsequent development over the last two decades. In her late teens, her family's raft explored an uncharted river canyon deep in the heart of the Amazon. Suddenly, a violent whirlpool caught them and propelled them through an underground cavern. The Butlers were flung into a hostile world of giant prehistoric creatures, a world that time forgot. Fortunately, a family of cave-dwellers befriended them, for each passing day was a lesson in survival in the Valley of the Dinosaurs.
That lost land was home for a while. And, Gorak and Gara's gang were some of the finest cavepeople that you could hope to meet. But, the Butlers missed Brooklyn and the rest of what they knew. So, Katie and her kin were happy the day that they escaped the Valley of the Dinosaurs—much as it meant leaving good mates and fine memories. Once back in modern times, ever-intrepid Katie studied biology and paleontology intensely through her twenties. She was even quite capable of writing the book on those subjects. Kind of a wunderkind, the young woman whiz lectured at many a conference and educated many an experienced scholar. Today, Dr. Kate is an admired professor here at the University of Minnesota.
Mostly, Ms. Butler is admired for her brilliance. But, often enough, she is admired for her comeliness and cute quips, to which she has always been prone. Male staff members like her. This is the early 1990s. And, much progress has been made for smart, professional women. For example, men no longer address them as even dad John episodically did in the early '70s, but Kate intends to keep progressing her male colleagues. Perhaps, someday, before the turn of the century, she might be just another respected scientist in the department, and no one will subtly seek a date. A girl has dreams.
For now, Dr. Butler had best progress herself back to her office. She pivots from the window in Coffey Hall's corridor. Outside, strong wind continues to carry dense snow to Eckles Avenue and the adjacent park, The Lawn. Beneath her feet, the linoleum floor feels frigid. So, Katie must surely fetch and fit thick sox and heavy boots before venturing to her car—packed for a much farther journey. Kate is going to see Greg in Tennessee.
And, forsooth, the excursionist must fetch and pack one other thing. On her desk, an airmail letter from Brazil sits. Jana wrote from Pará state along the Amazon. What the woman of the jungle conveyed makes the academic adventurer wonder if she may again see something extraordinary from the Valley of the Dinosaurs. The actual one. Not the known one in Paraìba state along the Peixe River that readers may visit and of which Hanna-Barbera cartoonists may have once read.
In the Valley of the Dinosaurs, light brown eyes behold russet waters beat a primordial lake's shore beneath the setting sultry summer sun. Tanned Katie Butler pivots on the soft soil under her unshod foot, and she clasps one end of the reed basket beside her. Brawny, bare-chested Lok grabs the other side. Within the vessel, various fish, most extinct in Minnesota, flop or lie still before their fate as dinner fixings. The caveperson couple proceed back toward camp where Lok's family and tribe await around this evening's fire.
In her mind, Katie wonders whether everyone needs a fire tonight. It is so hot. (Of course, she knows that the wise human never lets the fire go out in the Valley of the Dinosaurs). The fur frock bakes a bit on Katie's body, although she jocularly acknowledges, to herself, that she is like one of those National Geographic women beneath it. Perhaps, a smart girl should have went with the lighter leather frock today, for fur or leather were her two choices. Butler's old blouse, britches, and undergarments wore-out long ago in these last two decades. But, she is okay with present circumstance. As she would quip: "when in Rome—or the Valley of the Dinosaurs".
Behind Lok and Katie, gleeful Glump shambles at their shoulders. He sure has grown over the years.