February is feeling more like April at the moment. The days have been clear and cloudless this week, and the nights relatively mild. As much as I love storms, this is a welcome break from all of the slogging through mud that we usually have to endure during this season. Of course, we do occasionally find a bit of mud to dip our feet in. We even found a patch right near the recess area (poetically known as the "sport court" ) and discovered that a Mountain Lion had already dipped its feet there. In fact, there was a whole line of large, feline paw prints coming down off the hill. Smallish for a Mountain Lion, but largish for a Bobcat. No claw marks present, meaning that they didn't come from anything canine. Of course there is a large stray dog wandering around, but we've found dog prints as well. The dog even came down and hung out around camp today. It had been described to me as looking somewhat like a Hyena, and it's an apt description. It left when we noticed it.

Last night a couple of us went for a walk at nightfall, and saw a lone bat flying through the oak branches underneath the moon. There are a couple of owls (most likely Great Horned Owls - I'll have to verify this though) living in the giant Eucalyptus trees bordering the road. They hoot incessantly. Very calming.

The night hike tonight kept getting interrupted by bats, which is okay by me. They flitted around mere feet above the heads of the children who, to their credit, weren't too freaked out. We met a couple of hikers too, foolishly walking around without jackets. I wouldn't let them pass me until all of the kids had finished their solo hike. There's nothing freakier for a fifth grader than running into a stranger while walking alone in the dark. Hell, kids freak out during the day if this happens. These particular strangers seemed okay - just a couple out for a moonlit walk.

Today was also the day that the sociopath camper got sent home. The night before he kept two cabins full of kids awake until 3 or 4 in the morning by claiming he'd seen a man with a knife out the window. In addition to the tall tales, he was full of petty nastiness and blatant lies. His teacher pointed out that he had a habit of constantly scanning the room for adults to see if he was being watched. I watched him, and sure enough, he was watching me. I'll probably see his face again someday in the paper after he's done something particularly heinous.

I think I'm on the verge of getting a cold. I've managed to fight it off so far, but poor Willow is feeling pretty miserable with an ear infection and a face full of snot. She's sleeping under a fuzzy blanket on the couch right now. She'll be better soon