Jen and I got T.B. tests today so that we can work at Lexy's school. Let's hear it for parent participation! ...and not infecting the little ones with tuberculosis. After this, and a bit of whining, we made our way up to Almaden Quicksilver park, which covers a lot of acreage in the nearby foothills. We hiked up a fire trail. The day was clear and blue, with a few clouds here and there. It's been a little cooler this week, but it is by no means cold yet. Sophie was content to be carried for a portion of the hike, but spent a lot of time twisting around in my arms in an attempt to get down. She wanted to forge some new paths down the mountainside, so we had to keep a close eye on her.
We saw a Red-tailed hawk circling over a burned area off to our left as we climbed. It flew over our heads and disappeared up over the trees. The scent of sage, with an undercurrent of bay leaf, was strong in the air. Nathan delighted in kicking up dust. Lexy, after his initial worries about rattlesnakes abated, wanted to get to the top. We went far enough to discover a crossroads, from which several much longer trails branched off into the wilderness. Sophie got down and stumbled around happily. Jen and I breathed in the air and made plans to come back.
On the way down, we discovered a lone tarantula making his slow way across the trail. We knelt down and examined him. He did his best to walk around my hands and be about his business. Sophie tried to get down so she could play too. The tarantula finally made it to the other side of the trail and carefully picked his way into the brown grass. We carefully picked our way back to the van.
Earlier in the day, I had talked to Garth (from Hidden Villa) about spiders. He had found a website that debunked the popularly held notion that daddy longlegs (not really spiders anyway) were highly venomous but lacked sufficient jaw strength to deliver it. They're not venomous. He also said that there have been no confirmed reports of Brown Recluses in the Bay Area. This is good, but it means that the bites that have been attributed to Brown Recluses may be from something else equally nasty. I'm going back to Hidden Villa in a couple of weeks. It has always been a good place to find tarantulas. The small ones are a bit grouchy though. I remember once picking up a smallish tarantula after carefully calming it down. It had been standing on its back legs and showing off its fangs. I had just gotten it calmed down and was holding it in my hand when the school group I had been leading crowded around to get a better look. This scared the tarantula. It resumed it's aggressive posture and began lunging at my palm. This scared the kids. Curiously enough, its fangs never made contact with my skin. It was bluffing! Hell of a way to find out though.

cds that got me through the night: Ani DiFranco "So Much Shouting/So Much Laughter" (has a must-hear poem about 9/11), Elend "Lecons de Tenebres", and G-anx "Flashbacks"

Now, as I finish my tea and blow my nose: Goran Bregovic - dammit, the title is in Greek. Such is life. Note: I resisted saying "it's all Greek to me". oops. No I didn't.