The last week of Trailblazers was an easy one, with well-behaved campers, competent Leaders In Training, seasoned mentors, and the usual stellar staff. Following that, the final week of summer camp was full of the usual types of fun. About a quarter of my group of 23 had been already been Trailblazers this summer, although none of them had actually been in one of my groups. A bunch of the counselors for the final week had been involved with the Trailblazers as well, one as a staff member, and the rest through their roles as L.I.T. mentors, so it's safe to say the the last week of summer was an all-star week.
The week also coincided with the annual Perseid meteor shower, so the Thursday night sleepover was speckled with brilliant bits of detritus flashing through the upper layers of atmosphere. Some of them were quite bright. I saw the first one as we started the night hike. I was pointing out Mars and Saturn near the moon, when a meteor flashed toward the horizon past the moon and between the two planets. Perfect timing.
Here are a few photos. There are always photos, aren't there?
This Great Blue Heron lives up at Lake Ranch Reservoir, and only shows up when I don't have a zoom lens with me.
This is the final Trailblazers mandala.
At the beginning of last week, just as we were getting ready to put the campers on the bus at the end of the day, my coworker Superfly told me that there was a rattlesnake stretched across the trail that leads to the ropes course. I checked it out, and sure enough:
Nearby was a wood rat on its last legs, hobbling away from the snake. The flies were already starting to notice. I'm pretty sure that it had just been bitten by the snake, and was hobbling off to die as the snake bided its time, waiting for its meal to be ready to swallow. My photography interrupted this, but I have no doubt that the moment I left, the slow process resumed.
The last few weeks, the only snakes I've seen have been rattlesnakes. I have to laugh when I think about the mom who, at the beginning of the week, pulled me aside to voice her concerns about mountain lions. I told her that, although they live in the region, I hadn't seen one around camp in the entire 12 years I've worked there. It's a good thing that she didn't ask about rattlesnakes. I'm always honest, so I would have had to tell her that I see those nearly every day. Not that they're a big danger. You'd really have to do something stupid to get bitten by one, and then stupidly not seek medical attention for the bite to kill you.
Here's a few more pictures from last week.
This is a mandala made on Monday afternoon. Later in the week, a girl started a mandala with some pretty red leaves, not realizing they were poison oak leaves. So much for paying attention when poison oak is pointed out at the beginning of the week.
In the middle of the week, a counselor brought a baby opossum in a box. The poor little critter was found by the side of the road. There is this impression that I always know what to do with animals, but in this case, my advice was to take it to a wildlife rehabilitation center. The counselor had already tried several animal hospitals, only to find that they don't take wild animals, and she ended up calling her mom to drive the sad little marsupial to someplace that would take care of it. I hope it survived.
Speaking of wayward animals, this is the sight that greeted me on Thursday night. This time the culprit was Weasel's mom, who had collected some sand dollars unaware that one of them was alive and contained a passenger. The sand dollar died, leaving the living barnacle on its own, and Weasel brought it to work knowing that several staff members live near the beach. Long story short - it was returned to the ocean.
I also saw my first water scorpion down at the pond. One of the campers fished it out. Being insects, these aren't true scorpions. They get their named from a slight resemblance to scorpions. I don't really see it.
In closing, here's a photo of one of the two new vinegaroons I picked up at the San Jose reptile show. I was also tempted by a beautiful Baron's Racer and some cute little Beaded Lizards, but I resisted.
Willow just got home from Hawaii, where she had a good time and got sunburned. She and Eva both start school tomorrow, which is too early. It's only mid-August! I have slightly over two weeks off before I have to go back to work. I have no real plans beyond getting stuff done around the house. At least this year I don't have to adjust my sleep schedule when I go back to work.
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