Once again, it's time for "What I Learned", a link-up with Emily @ Chatting at the Sky, where we look back on the past month and share the little treasures we gathered along the way. Sometimes silly, always fun. If you want to join in, link up here .

1. Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet has the highest per capita ballet attendance in the country. Other than the obvious (PNB has some amazingly talented artists), I'm not sure why that is. It's accessible here- not elitist (you're likely to see patrons wearing jeans at any performance). Is that why? Or is it something else?

I have a great love for ballet, (particularly PNB) so this is mixed news for me. I know a lot of people who have never been to a ballet (and I live near Seattle). If ballet attendance in Seattle is as good as it gets- that's not very good. I want to see this art form continue and thrive for years to come. So I have questions. Lots of them. What draws people to attend professional ballets? What keeps them away? I want to know these things. I want to play a part in keeping ballet alive for generations to come.

2. There's no crying in space. In space, astronauts cannot cry, because there is no gravity, so the tears can't flow.

My son has had a lot of space and physics questions after watching Interstellar. Thank goodness for Google.

3. The fall of the Berlin wall happened by mistake. It was mostly due a factor of miscommunication and the frustration of one border crossing guard. It was never intended that the wall would come down. East Germans were to have eased travel restrictions- but the intention was that they would still be required to go through a lengthy visa process. You can read more about it here. I was in junior high when this happened. I remember the day clearly, but I never knew what immediately precipitated that event.

It was another good movie that had me researching facts about the Berlin wall- Bridge of Spies.

4. People shampoo should not be used on dogs I learned this the hard way. My dog had dry skin, so I figured my own "moisturizing" shampoo would help her. It made things far worse. After it was too late, I found out the dogs have a very different ph level for their skin than people- thus, the reason for dog shampoo. Poor dog. She's feeling better now.

5. Shared unpleasant circumstances can bring people together in a way that is quite pleasant, sometimes. As I've mentioned before, my husband and I spend a lot of our weekends sitting on bleachers, watching our son play football. We hadn't gotten to know the other parents very well- as everyone kept to themselves. That all changed on one stormy Saturday this October. A couple of thoughtful families brought canopies to set up in the bleachers, and invited everyone else to sit and crowd close under them, to stay out of the rain. That's when everyone finally got to know each other- and it ended up being a lot of fun. I enjoyed that rainy game more than any other of the season.

That's all I've got for now. What have you been learning?

If you'd like to see past month's from this series of posts, you can go here.

What I Learned in October