* I didn't know that The Champ would actually be helpful with a dust broom and pan.

* That the word QUIP would be on a first-grade spelling list.

* I didn't know where the new representative-elect from the 20th Congressional District lived in my hometown.

* I didn't know (but I should have guessed) I would have felt depressed the day after the election.

* Or that penguins had barbed skin on their tongues and in their throats.

* That penguins are able to drink fresh water by filtering the salt from seawater.

* That polar bears' fur isn't white, it's transparent (and hollow).

* That all polar bears are all left handed.

* I didn't know butterflies taste with their feet.

* Or that Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico and usually migrate twice in their lifetime.

* I had no idea that a Monarch's lifespan is two years.

* I didn't know that pumpkin carving in America originated with the Irish, who found pumpkins in greater abundance and easier to work with than the turnips they carved in Ireland.

* Or that pumpkin flowers were edible.

* And sadly, I also had no idea Ittybit had a sensitivity to pumpkin guts.



* Nor did I realize the resulting itchy rash would last for three days.