Working For Fun

After a week during which temperatures spiked in the low nineties, it's nice to look out the window and see that the sky is once again varied shades of gray. Liquid, aided and abetted by gravity, is forecast for later.

One of the standout moments of my work week was the fact that there were at least 15 campers who spent every recess pulling weeds in the garden. I've never seen so many young people gleefully working in ninety degree weather. Last week, when I offered this option at recess, I had around 3 solid workers and a bunch of boys who just wanted to look for lizards. This week, without even looking for it, one of the weeders spotted a small rattlesnake which was actually coiled around the base of a weed, making pulling that particular plant a hazardous proposition indeed. I coaxed the snake into a container and relocated it. The weeding continued...

In field class, the most unusual moment of the week was the number of scorpions encountered on the night hike. We found 30 of them!

Here are some photos from the week.

The one that saw us before we saw it:

After acting tough, it silently slithered away:

The butterflies were everywhere. A few of them even cooperated for photos, namely this West Coast Lady and a Checkerspot or two.

Once again, the rattlesnakes at the reservoir played hard to get, preferring to stay tucked away in their crevices. Thursday at the reservoir came with a welcome drop in temperature, from the nineties to the seventies.

The reservoir itself was very photogenic, as always.

The Thursday hike to the reservoir is the day that involves the greatest amount of walking. This Thursday, my Fitbit informs me that I walked 21,645 steps, which totaled 10.12 miles. Our elevation change was 840 feet, and my active minutes ended up being 190. The round trip hike itself is closer to 6 miles, which shows that I do a lot of back and forth walking at camp before and after the hike. Most of the campers make the journey with a minimum of complaining, although I noticed this week that a couple of them were hobbling as we got back to camp. For many of these kids, this is the farthest they've ever walked in their lives. I'm glad that I can help people push their envelopes. Despite this long walk, a couple of the campers in my group immediately joined me in the garden to pull weeds. This kind of thing energizes me.