The dust is still settling from the weekend.

Friday, we took all four kids and drove into the hills for Lexy's school camping trip. The campground had about one fifth the number of parking places it needed, and about five times the dust it needed, but the kids had fun rushing about with wild abandon. I went home briefly, to (among other things) find the coffee pot and brew more coffee. I found it, finally, in the cupboard where the mugs are normally placed. This is the kind of thing that happens when I get up too early. I brewed new coffee and took the pot back to camp with me so Jen could benefit as well. You can't camp without coffee. Especially if you have small children.

Saturday, I went to the museum for the first BioSITE meeting of the school year. The basic sorts of things that one expects to happen at meetings did indeed happen. A few things that one doesn't expect to happen at meetings happened as well. For instance, we got to play with snails for awhile. I also almost caught a large Bullfrog, and did catch a small, rather fiesty Crayfish.
That evening I went to Santa Cruz to witness a show called "Ancestors of Siberia", which included singers from Tuva (Chirlgilchin, to be precise), a children's choir who sang old Russian songs, some Etelman dancers (very cool and funny, even if two of them did sport mullets), a shaman (complete with feathered headdress and dangling bones) and a guy who seemed to be able to imitate just about any kind of animal he pleased (he could also bark like a dog while playing the mouthharp). I went to this all by myself, but ran into a guy who volunteers at Hidden Villa, his wife, and son, so I had people to sit with.
They ended the evening with a rousing rendition of "Aa-Shuu dekei-oo", complete with interpretive dance moves provided by the Etelmen and backing vocals by the choir. It doesn't get better than that.
On the way home I saw yet another SUV on its side in the middle of the road. They sure do seem to fall over easily.

Sunday, Jen, Willow, and I went to Santa Cruz in honor of Jen's birthday. Willow got to socialize briefly with another baby, and also got attention from a lot of adults. One woman, who worked in a clothing shop, ran out the door and chased down a balloon-selling clown so she could buy a balloon for Willow. The clown, looking rather wilted by the heat of the day, came into the shop with his selection of animal balloons. I picked out a parrot for Willow, leaving the long chain of Winnie the Pooh characters ("I call it Pooh corner" said the clown) for the shop woman to buy and attempt to place on the wall behind the registers.
Then we ran away because I'm scared of clowns. ...okay, well, not any more. I was when I was little. This clown wasn't scary. He just looked hot and tired. It's probably hard work being a clown. Especially if you have to make balloon animals as well.

cds I listened to while driving back and forth over the coastal range and then going to work because I always have to go to work: V/A "Voices", V/A "Land of the Rising Noise vol.2", V/A "King of the Witches - Black Widow tribute", V/A "Funeral Songs", V/A "Winged We Were - A tribute to The Incredible String Band", and Paul Roland "Masque"