Would You Trust These People?, originally uploaded by Corbie.

On Monday evening, a bunch of us got together at the Berkeley City Club for some spoken-word fun. Greg, who regularly haunts the club in his role as sound designer for Central Works, put the whole thing together. The Club itself is a very elegant place, designed by architect Julia Morgan, and feeling like one of those places one would expect to find old men sitting in overstuffed chairs in front of the fire, discussing past exploits as they chew on their pipes. In fact, the upstairs room we occupied was called the men's lounge. Nearby was a sign that for the men's room, and we all hoped nobody would end up standing expectantly in front of the toilets, waiting for them to read stories or spout poetry.
As it turned out, being a Monday night, only a handful of people showed up. I read an old OAC story which I had extended over the course of the last week. Greg improvised some sound underneath it. The whole thing culminated in Matthias and Greg throwing a dirty garbage bag over my head and hauling me out of the room (pre-planned, of course - not a reaction to my story). Matt read a couple of short pieces (one OAC story, and an essay he had submitted elsewhere) accompanied by a backing cd. Greg read an OAC story, accompanied by Dean on guitar and Jim on bicycle wheel. Dean read/performed a very touching story about a corpse. Matthias very effectively read a section from an old John Cheever novel, involving the unfortunate demise of a dog.
Afterwards, a bunch of us went out for coffee and discussed silly names of teachers we'd had growing up. There are plans to do this sort of thing more often, schedules allowing. The next time a bunch of us get together will be on July 13th in Oakland. Expect improvised weirdness. More on that as the date draws near. Of course, Matthias won't be participating because one of his bands, The Book of Knots, is having their debut performance on the opposite coast.

At home, we've had some good news on the income front. Jen is going from being a contractor to being an employee, with an increase in salary and benefits to come. I can already feel some of that financial stress dissipating.

The kids have taken to staying up way to late, cutting in to any adult time the grownups might have. whenever kids are involved, summer is always so different from the rest of the year. Since I both live and work with kids, that means my whole routine changes.

This week, I did my first week of summer camp at my primary job. We have the option of spending Thursday night camping out with the kids (their one overnight stay during the week) or working on Friday. I opted to spend the night and have Friday off. Camp, in some ways, is like outdoor school, in that each staff member gets a group of kids to be in charge of. The differences are that we don't have to teach them the science standards, their ages vary more, and we only have them in the mornings. In the afternoon, we get to do whatever we want (within reason, of course) and whoever wants to do that particular activity shows up at the appointed time.
In the mornings, this week, I had a group of 7 and 8 year olds (much like I did last week at YSI), and in the afternoon I led a bunch of "critter hunts", during which we looked for snakes. The only snake I caught was actually during the morning (which makes sense, because that's when they're more likely to be out basking), but we did find some Alligator lizards and scorpions in the afternoon. I had an average of 20 kids on each of the hunts. On Wednesday, I did some "pond saving," during which a bunch of us went into pond to scoop out duckweed and catch non-native Bullfrog tadpoles. Afterwards, we fed the tadpoles to my Water Monitor lizard. He ate about 15 of them while the kids watched with rapt attention. I think I'll do this every week, since it proved to be popular and it's a good way to feed my Monitor for free.

That's it for now. It's getting late and pizza must be ordered.

Board Removed to Show More Snake

Board Removed to Show More Snake, originally uploaded by Corbie.

My reptile camp came to a close in fine style today, with the discovery of the largest Rattlesnake I have yet seen on the trails of Sanborn park. One of the kids spotted it first. It was resting under and between some boards piled up in the chaparral. The boards themselves form part of a large pile of wooden detritus which also includes some old doors, pallets, and various signs and bits of wire mesh. Rather unsightly, but, like the nearby panels of corrugated metal, great cover for any number of reptiles. The corrugated metal tends to become too hot during the summer though, so the wood becomes one of my favorite places to look. This particular Rattlesnake was content to sit still while I moved a board to get better photos. The one kid in my group with a camera also started clicking away. I wouldn't let him get too close, but I did take his camera and get him some close-ups. He was thrilled. I made certain that he mentioned to his mom later that the close-ups were taken by me. It wouldn't do to have parents thinking that I let their 7 and 8 year olds get within a foot or two of potentially lethal wildlife.
The section of snake I could see was nearly as big around as my forearm. And when it finally slithered back under one of the boards, I think I counted at least 12 buttons on its rattle.

And here I was afraid that the reptile camp kids wouldn't get to see any snakes! If I remember right, last year we found a Rattlesnake during the bug camp, but nothing of note during the reptile camp. I'm glad that trend was broken.

I'm glad that I continue to be excited by this kind of thing.

Solstice Sunset, originally uploaded by Corbie.

Yesterday, Jen had this brilliant idea of just dropping everything, piling a bunch of towels and snacks into a bag, and going to the beach to watch the solstice sun set over the water.

We ended up at Natural Bridges just north of downtown Santa Cruz, barely out of sight of the pier and the boardwalk. Since Santa Cruz is slightly set back in a bay, we weren't sure if we would be able to see the sun actually sinking beyond the ocean. Of course, once we got to the beach we discovered that the sun was fixing to sink beyond some trees and houses above the far end of the beach. Curse the unevenness of the coast! It ended up being just fine though. The kids all ran and giggled as they splashed in the surf, drew things in the sand with sticks, and practiced their acrobat skills. Pelicans lined the remaining natural bridge and occasionally peeled off in groups like fighter squadrons. I'll bet that's how the fish view them, at any rate. There was a fair amount of other activity on the beach. A photographer was busy taking portraits. A couple was attempting to do yoga on a sandy slope. Pagans were burning sage... the list goes on. I took pictures of Jen and the kids and then wandered off to get some shots of crabs.
After awhile, we bundled back into the van and went to eat at Saturn cafe, where Alex was dismayed to learn there was no meat on the menu. That said, the kids were pretty happy to discover a cache of anti meat stickers mixed in amongst the papers on the free paper rack. Stickers, apparently, are cool, even if they espouse ideologies antithetical to one's own.
As for me, I ate too much dessert. Longest day, biggest dessert.

Okay, things have settled down now, despite the fact that the boys have not one, but two, friends spending the night tonight. I can still hear them talking and bumping against the walls in the next room, but it's nothing like the mayhem earlier today.

I must admit that I added to the mayhem a bit. When the girls decided they wanted to play musical chairs, I put on a Dead Kennedys record to accompany the game. Initially, the boys refused to join the game, holding out for some Black Sabbath. I finally caved in and pulled out a Black Sabbath record (yes, I said "record" - the turntable still gets some use around here). You can imagine that 5 kids charging around a circle of chairs listening to Black Sabbath might get a little out of hand.

You'd be right.

But now all is relatively calm. I think I'll go to bed now.

Encore

Encore, originally uploaded by Corbie.

Shit.

I finally sit down to post something after weeks of being busy with other things, and the girls get into a fight over Sophie's near life-sized stuffed lion, which ends with Willow sitting in my lap. Of course, she kicks the computer's "off" button and shuts the computer down, causing my post to un-write itself.

Anyway, this is a cicada, who unlike most cicadas who know when to shut up, is singing happily away while clinging to my finger. The kids in my reptile camp were fascinated by it, and didn't care that it wasn't actually a reptile. We'd just found a couple of snakes anyway - a baby Rattlesnake and a young Gopher snake, both with lumps in their bellies from recent meals. Some poor mouse or vole is probably missing a couple of offspring.

This is the only week I'm working for Youth Science Institute, then it's over to the summer camp at my outdoor school...

Oh, by the way, we got a small pool, and there's another sort of altercation brewing concerning the whereabouts of various bathing suits. Silly me thinking I could sit down and write something. Bye for now.

During the night hike this week we found some glow worms. They're kind of reddish, with little bio-luminescent dots underneath. From a distance they're mere pinpoints of light standing out against the barely seen trail. We found them right after I'd told my usual night hike story about freeze dried glow worms, during which I feed the kids Wint-o-green lifesavers, which spark between your teeth when bitten (due to a phenomena called triboluminescence). Seeing the real thing helped convince some of the skeptics.

Sophie turns six tomorrow. We're going to the usual birthday place - the one with the guy in the rat costume and the imposing banks of video games. I'm sure she'll have a great time. Lots of her friends are coming. She got her ears pierced too.

Oh, I don't think I mentioned that our TV died. It's been peaceful around here. The kids still have their little portable dvd players, and there's a crappy old TV in the girls' room for watching videos, but I think they've been spending more time doing other things. If Jen and I want to watch a movie, we do it on her laptop.

One more week of science camp to go before summer descends upon us.

I'm in the middle of a four-day camp week, which just seems too short. I've given up on trying to cram five days worth of instruction into four days of camp. The kids have already had their Star testing anyway, and I don't think those happen again until the 8th grade or so. We are finding lots of snakes, salamanders, and other creatures that start with "s", and I think the kids will remember that more than lessons on photosynthesis or energy flow. Today I found, in quick succession, a Rattlesnake, a Ringneck snake, and a Gopher snake. I managed to get covered in ticks while doing it, so every minute or so a kid would point to me and say, "there's another tick!" At least now they all know what ticks look like. I think I got them all off me but I still have the phantom crawling sensation one associates with small arachnids pushing their way through a forest of body hair. Too bad they don't hurt when they bite. Of course, if they did hurt when they bit, they wouldn't ever live to breed.

Today is Memorial Day. One would think that with all of the advances (admittedly more technological than social) that the human race has made we would have found a better way to settle our differences than killing each other. Sadly this is still not the case, and people continue to die. Our governments are quite adept at rolling out tired old justifications for the ongoing violence, but it really boils down to squabbling over the basic animal needs of food, water, shelter, and space. Everything is linked to these four little needs. People will continue to die for them, especially now as the global population continues to rise and resources are squandered and just plain used up. That said, we're all in this together and my heart goes out to anybody who has lost a loved one through the impersonal violence of war, no matter what cause or country they think they are fighting for. Here are the lyrics to a song by a now defunct band called Amebix that I think appropriate for the occasion:

Coming Home

I just buried a friend
He had come to an end
But I can't help feeling that it needn't have been
Caught in the flak
There was no turning back
So he gave up his life for some psychopath's dream

So we're leaving the front
Having taken the brunt
Now we're tired of the slaughter in some foreign land
So the leaders of war
They fight alone on the shore
Our mutiny over they are left on the sand

We stand as one
We are an army now of many thousand strong
They stand alone
To fight for ravaged land to gain their worthless throne

[Chorus]
The boys are coming home

[Voiceover}
I see within my mind
A vast and lonely plain
Great armies meet in no man's land
To clench their hands in friendship
For the first time
The dark tide is ebbing
A mass of tired humanity drifting toward the dawn

We are coming home

Willow Eclipse, Part Two

Willow Eclipse, Part Two, originally uploaded by Corbie.

Willow and I headed for the hills yesterday so Jen could enjoy the novelty of being home alone (and so Willow didn't have to be stuck at home all day). I think if I had just had my appendix out I would want a little time away from small people with dependence issues too.
At Hidden Villa, Willow depended on me to carry her for the entire duration of our hour plus hike along the creek, up through the hot, aromatic chaparral, and down through the sun-dappled forest. We rested in the shade every so often to watch the butterflies and Fence lizards. I had hoped to see some Coast Horned lizards, but once again no luck. Nonetheless, we had a great time. Willow had an enormous amount of fun playing peek-a-boo with the chickens.

Today, I'm at work supervising the hapless Weekend Work Program inmates - people who at some time in the near past made some bad decisions that ended with them being arrested. I'm getting paid overtime to supervise them as they clean dorms and bathrooms. They're actually paying to be here.

There are only two more weeks of outdoor school left before summer sets in. Where does the time go? Speaking of time, its time to get back to work...

Appendix removed. Jen still in hospital. Home soon we hope.

So, Jen has to spend the night in the hospital. She had a scan done and was told to go over to the ER for admittance. I guess they think her appendix needs to come out. Some variation of this seems to happen every time she goes to have something checked out - the visit becomes an overnight stay, which becomes a stay of days and days. The kids are taking it surprisingly well so far, and we have friends willing to watch them after school tomorrow until I get home from work. I have to work the evening astronomy program tomorrow, but I plan to bring the kids back to work with me for it. Maybe they can get in some telescope time. Hopefully they'll all behave. Hopefully Jen will be home soon.

Sunrise

Sunrise, originally uploaded by Corbie.

Jen is sick with some sort of stomach pain, and I took the afternoon off work so she could have it checked out. We're hoping it has nothing to do with her appendix.

As for me, I'm just tired. Greg and I went to the wedding of Dan and Nieves up in Petrolia this weekend. We left after work on Friday and got home around mid-day yesterday, sleeping very little in between. The wedding itself was beautiful, with beautiful people and stunning surroundings. Attendance was divided between the mountain folk of Petrolia and Salmon River, and the smoky venue-dwelling creative types of the San Francisco bay area, with a few people coming in from even farther afield. Greg and I got there after midnight, just missing a set by Faun Fables (who, coincidentally enough, played for us when Jen and I got married). We slept on the floor of a converted barn, which also served as the band stage and dancing area. It was probably the best sleep I've ever gotten while on bare, plank flooring. The next day held the ceremony itself, some wandering around down to the nearby Mattole river, lots of marvelous food, a multitude of conversations, a short hike, and a rousing, nearly 3 hour set by Rube Waddell. Afterwards, Greg and I slept in the car. My plan to have the cold wake me up in time for the drive home worked perfectly. At 5 AM I turned the key in the ignition and we set out for home, stopping briefly in the Humboldt County Redwoods to ogle the "Tall Tree" (359 feet) and the "Giant Tree" (of impressive, but momentarily forgotten circumference), as well as the "Flat Iron Tree" which, having been laying on its side for 12 years or so, was sort of flat, I guess. Photos can't do justice to these trees. I took pictures anyway, of course. The Redwood forests up in Northern California make the one around my work look pretty tiny. Driving through them at night on the way there was amazing. We even saw some critters which I thought were Ringtails or Martens. After doing a bit of online research, I'm still not sure what they were. They could even have been young Foxes. The only definite Fox we saw was on the way back. It was a Grey Fox (which, just to be confusing, have some red on them). I can now cross them off my list of animals I have yet to see in the wild. At the wedding itself, one of the children there found a cluster of Coast Garter snakes. This excited me almost as much as it excited the kids, and I took lots of pictures. They've got a lot more orange than the local Santa Cruz Aquatic Garter snakes do. I also found a small Gopher snake dying on the road, making it the second dying Gopher snake I've come across in the last week (the first being at work, discovered by a co-worker in the process of expiring after obviously being run over by car). This Gopher snake was little more than 6 inches long, and seemed to have no life in the front half of its body. It did wind its tail around my finger when I picked it up though. Strange and sad.
On the wedding night the crescent moon smiled down on Venus, the Goddess of Love. The photo accompanying this post was taking the morning after as we drove home.
I wish that Jen and the kids could have come. Our lives these days seem to be all about taking turns doing things rather than doing them together.

On the subject of kids, I recently got a mother Emperor scorpion with a back full of babies. This resulted from me asking about them at the pet store when I went to get food for the other animals, and being told I could have them for $20 because the guy who runs the store didn't want the extra work of caring for them. It should be interesting to watch them grow up.

I should really post more often here. Things happen and, being nearly 40, I forget them. The kids at science camp are done with their testing for the year, and they're obviously ready for summer. We've been finding lots of snakes and such, and generally having a good time. Still waiting on word of when they're hiring for the next position with benefits. Soon, I hope.

More later.

I've been fooling around with the "map" option on my Flickr page - and it's really interesting. It allows you to "geo-tag" your photos so that if you click on the "map" link next to the photo you can see exactly where the photo was taken. Try it. I can zoom right in and actually see a satellite image of my work and some of the trails I hike on.

A Snake in the Hand...

A Snake in the Hand..., originally uploaded by Corbie.

I managed to get the kids to school on time (or almost on time, at least) this morning. The girls have been a chore to wake up lately, and Willow never wants to eat breakfast at breakfast time. I think her internal food clock needs batteries or something. She seems to get hungry a couple of hours after meal time. I ended up having to throw away most of the string cheese I gave her to eat on the way to school. It's funny how we're all wired differently when it comes to things like eating and sleeping.

Later, after I picked up Willow from school, I took her up to my work to get my paycheck. We got there at noon, which on a Thursday is very quiet because all of the kids are in the middle of their so-called "all day hike," during which they eat lunch on the trail somewhere. The kitchen staff cooks up a "teacher's lunch" for the classroom teachers, and since it is geared towards the adult palate, it's always much better than the kid food. We joined the teachers. Willow had some cake. Then we went to the garden where Willow got to hold a small Ringneck snake, followed by a little hang-out time at the pool with some of the teachers. It was actually kind of nice just to relax for a bit. I love my job, but the occasional break is good too.

Now we're all home. Time to go do some laundry or something.

In Flight?

In Flight?, originally uploaded by Corbie.

At work, we have a stuffed Barn Owl hanging from a wire on the ceiling of our nature lab. The owl, long dead, has recently begun to support a population of insects. It fell to me to do something about it, so I took a closer look at the problem today and found that it was crawling with little beetles. So, with my class watching, I took it down and we marched it up to the freezer. Once there, we bagged it and stuffed it inside. Unless the beetles have little parkas this should solve the problem.
One of my Flickr contacts thought the beetles looked like Carpet beetles. After doing a little research, I agree with her diagnosis. It's funny that the carpet beneath the owl shows no sign of infestation. I'll bet they're in there somewhere though.

I found a big Gopher snake in the chaparral area as well. The last one I came across was in the meadow last summer, so this was an unexpected treat. One of the other instructors spotted one in the meadow near camp too. Oh, and I found another baby Rattlesnake near our hillside amphitheater, mere minutes before the area was to be inundated with kids.

As for the kids this week at camp, they're bright and full of good questions. I like that.

Jen is on her way to Texas for a wedding right now, and will be there until Sunday. I'm taking the rest of the week off work to juggle the kids. Right now the younger ones need milk and stuff. Bye for now.

Jumping Spider

Jumping Spider, originally uploaded by Corbie.

One of my co-workers found this little critter in a box (or at least used a box to transport it over for the rest of us to see it), so I figured I'd take some pictures of it. Of course, being a Jumping spider it jumped off my hand and right through the hole in the knee of my pants. It took me about ten minutes to get it back out of my pants. In fact, I finally had to take my pants off and gently shake them to make the spider reappear.

Later, a Calisoga spider left my hand and disappeared somewhere. I don't think it's in my pants. Calisoga spiders don't mess about. They bite.

Anyway, I got a good photo out of the experience. Now that I've figured out how to crop things I can increase the macro effect too.

Jen recently picked up some new wind chimes (for "W" sharing day at sophie's class), which now grace the space under the eaves outside the north wall of our house. Right now they're chiming and it's a peaceful sound, serving as a counterpoint to the occasional howl of the wind. It's a sunny day though. Willow and I went to the park for awhile. The guy running the ticket window for the carousel was a past volunteer at my work, so he let us have a couple of tickets for free. At the end of the ride, Willow hugged her horse goodbye. Now, Jen is out seeing Spiderman 3 with Nate. The girls are playing in the other room. Alex is at a friend's house. Perhaps I should be doing something more productive.

Speaking of productive, they're going to have to add on to the war memorial wall in Washington D.C. I read a report that they've run out of space to add more names - names of people who would still be living if not for... war. It has been said that the insane don't know they're insane. But surely the sane should know not to vote for them. And surely the sane should have figured out a few hundred better ways to settle differences between opposing factions. Or maybe there just isn't enough sanity left...

Staring Contest

Staring Contest, originally uploaded by Corbie.

As a child, I used to spend an inordinate amount of time catching toads. In those days, most neighborhood parks had large rocks as part of their landscaping scheme, and there was usually just enough space underneath to comfortably fit a toad or two. I was too small to overturn the rocks, so I would flush the toads out by dumping water into the holes. I was very patient, and my patience was usually rewarded with the appearance of an irked amphibian or two. I would then take them home and keep them, which unfortunately often resulted in their premature demise. I had the enthusiasm but not always the knowledge needed to provide for them.

These days, despite spending most of my working hours on hiking trails, I don't see as many toads. I'm pretty sure that local populations have declined greatly, probably in part due to kids like me who remove them from their habitats. That said, I'm sure habitat destruction and pollution also must take a share of the blame. It really is too bad. I admire the zen-like expression of the toad. They're very placid little creatures, and their jewel-like eyes seem to contain hidden depths. In the case of this photo, it is possible to see the reflections of my camera lens and a couple of kids. We found this little guy on a hike along the shores of Lake Ranch reservoir. He was inside a hole, with just the tip of his nose showing. Right after this discovery, we also found a mother Killdeer who loudly defended her eggs from us. The silly bird didn't even have a nest, and the little speckled eggs lay on the ground underneath her, almost invisible.

I often reflect on how part of my job includes doing the same kind of thing I loved doing as a kid - finding animals. The main difference, of course, is that now I just take pictures and leave the animals where I found them. I find comfort in knowing that these animals are out there, and I find comfort in their simplicity.

Human beings make things too complicated for their own good sometimes. Why is that? When can we stop?

Greg has linked to this on the OAC site, but I'll link to it here as well. This is the Neighborhood Public Radio performance we did some months back, featuring backing music improvised by Greg, Matt, and I. Greg then tweaked it a bit so it would unobtrusively rumble along under our story reading antics. Fun times. Apparently we're going to do another live reading in Berkeley next month. More details possibly forthcoming.

Hiding Behind Flowers

Hiding Behind Flowers, originally uploaded by Corbie.

I've just been informed that this is a Variable Checkerspot. Good enough for me. But does it really think it can hide behind those flowers?

On Monday night, my inaugural voyage as our camp's night supervisor hit some rough seas. None of it was my fault, fortunately. First of all, our volunteer cabin leader coverage was lacking. A couple of cabins, for various reasons, didn't have cabin leaders in them at bedtime. One was at some sort of play practice somewhere, and one was just not where she was supposed to be. During this time, the hub (camp office) was packed to the brim with kids, some of whom were homesick, and some who had headaches of varying severity. The most severe cases of homesickness and headacheness ended up going home. One girl with a sinus headache fell asleep on the lower bunk of the hub's bunk bed. After an hour and a half of this, things quieted down a bit... until around 1:30 AM when a boy covered in vomit staggered in. Some general cleaning followed. After he had cleaned up and changed, he fell asleep on the top bunk, above the girl with the sinus headache. I finally got to sleep around 2:30, and woke up to my alarm at 6 AM. At that point, you could see a number of bats flitting around outside the hub window, coming home to their hiding spots in the crevices and crannies in the roof of the building. Getting to watch the bats and helping kids fight feelings of homesickness were the high-points of the night.

After I left, I picked up Willow, dropped her off at school, and went back to work at our other site. It was kind of funny greeting kids on their first day of camp two days in a row - like having two Mondays in a week. I got to stick with this second batch of kids though.
Our second site also had a dearth of volunteers. My cabin leader, instead of being the usual 14-17 year old high school kid, was a classroom teacher. She was definitely more effective than a high school kid would have been.

Now it's the weekend all of a sudden. I was going to write more, but Willow needs me. I'll end by saying that it's too damn hot.