I had forgotten how fast plaster hardens. We had only gotten through filling about half of the rubber animal footprint molds when the remaining plaster became to hard to use. The kids waiting for their turn looked downcast, so we made more plaster. Tomorrow, we'll make animal tracks all over the place. I wonder if I could use the big hunk of leftover plaster to make bucket tracks? If I placed it alongside human footprints it could look like somebody had gotten their foot stuck in a bucket.
I took the kids up to an area that I knew would be muddy, and one of the boys actually spotted deer hoof prints there. There were also a couple of banana slugs, which never cease to fascinate. After that, I took them up the stream a bit, to a point where we could see a thin waterfall trickling over the edge of the leafy slope looming up in front of us. We had a couple moments of (almost) silence as we listened to the sounds around us. It's very hard to get thirteen 2nd and 3rd graders to all stop talking simultaneously.

At home, Nathan has come up with his own definition of God: "The King of all ghosts." Sure, why not? Everybody should have a unique idea about what "God" means anyway. Who's to say if any of them are right? If I want to think that "God" is the oil stain on the neighbor's driveway, then that's my business. I don't want some bozo telling me that God is actually the third pigeon from the left on the telephone wire two blocks over. Maybe God is that spider dangling in your face. Better watch out. Don't make him/her/it angry.

The weather continues to be pleasant. I can hear the trees rustling outside. It has been in the seventies all week too. Can we make it into autumn without any more excessive heat? Stay tuned.

cds I listened to while contemplating theology: John Murphy, et al "28 Days Later" soundtrack, Thule "Frostbrent" and "Graks" and Unto Ashes "Empty Into White"