Late Summer Already

What did I do with my week off? A little bit of this, and a little bit of that, I suppose. In between attending live music events and writing about them, I made a dentist appointment (it has been far too long), got ready for my upcoming trip to Lava Beds National Monument, and got a few minor things done around the house.

I rarely do as much as I plan to do. Instead, I spend too much time on the computer. After this post, I'm going to step away from here and go do something else. My dentist appointment is in a few hours, and tonight Greg is doing a performance up in Berkeley. I guess I do manage to keep relatively busy.

Here's a photo I took yesterday evening, as the sun filtered through the curtains over the kitchen sink. The smell of smoke was in the air, probably due to the plume of smoke visible to the north earlier in the day.

Summer Ends, At Least In Spirit

The final week of summer camp is always a bit sad, with people standing around in confusion, wondering where the summer has gone. Now that it's over, I've seen at least a couple of people on Facebook already starting the countdown until next summer. Ha. As for me, it was a pretty easy week. I had a younger group than I usually do, but along with the 21 3rd graders there came 7 counselors, which is 3 more than I think I've ever had before. Alex and Nathan were both up at camp as counselors too, and Willow, Jeanine, and Eva all made it up for the final campfire program of the season.

I led my usual activities in the afternoons. 35 kids followed me down to the pond, and around 15 of them followed me into the pond. Since they County Park people are slowly draining the water out so they can make repairs, it was shallow enough for the kids to get to parts of the pond that were once too deep for them to wade in. Two counselors even came in, which is something counselors rarely do. It's often hard to get teenage girls to do things like that, but these two did it with smiles on their faces. On the last critter hunt of the season, around 30 kids ended up going. We didn't find any snakes (the snakes have been keeping a low profile this summer, and I only saw one the whole week - it escaped into a thorn bush and when I grabbed for it, and I ended up with around a half inch of thorn in my palm instead of a snake), but we did find a Northern Alligator Lizard and some good invertebrates, including a freshly molted Calisoga Spider, a Praying Mantis, a Forest Scorpion, and a Jerusalem Cricket.

On Thursday, in the middle of the campfire program, I got a haircut. Early in the week, I'd challenged my group to achieve a blackout on the nature bingo game we were playing, telling them that if they succeeded, I'd cut off my ponytail and donate it to Locks of Love. The succeeded, and one of the kids came up with an idea for a barber shop skit, to be performed during the campfire. We went with it. They had trouble cutting through my ponytail with the trimmers I'd provided, so scissors were retrieved to finish the job. Below are some before and after photos. At least two people (one of them was Willow) got the event on video as well. Yes, it looks like my hair was cut by an eight year old. I'm not sure if I'll finish the job properly or just leave it the way it is. One counselor said I looked like Brad Pitt, and another said I looked like Ned Stark (actually Sean Bean, I guess). They're too kind.

On Willow's last weekend before school started (her first day was today), we did some back-to-school shopping and went to San Francisco with Jeannine, Eva, and Eva's friend Alonzo. At the end of the day, on a whim, we drove west until we hit the beach. It was nice. There was even a raven on the sand, looking cold.

Yesterday, when it seemed like most people were back in school already, I took her and a friend to a movie. Now, the school year has truly begun. I still have nearly two weeks off before the green gears of science camp start turning. What to do? Some work and some play, or that's the plan, anyway.

Through the Dust and Heat of Summer, We Emerge Sweaty and Grimy

The inevitable summer slump has happened. It's funny how my summer camp weeks are often more mind-consuming than my science camp weeks. Then again, science camp is more of a set routine and summer camp encourages more of an "anything goes" mentality. Add to that the fact that for the past month, I've been part of the Trailblazers team. Trailblazers is a summer program that was offered for the first time last year. This year, it was expanded from three weeks to four. Last year, I think I worked one Trailblazers week, but this year I worked all four. Two kinds of kids get signed up for the program: Kids who are really into natural science and related subjects, or kids who couldn't get into our main summer camp program because it was full. It's always pretty easy to tell who is who too. That said, we had a great month of hiking and playing. Everything ran more smoothly this year, and it's pretty obvious we've left last year's growing pains in the dust, although we're constantly improving things. Counselors for the Trailblazers program are provided by yet another summer camp program, Leaders In Training. Leaders In Training are mostly 13 year old campers who are being trained to be counselors. Both of my stepdaughters, Sophie and Eva, came up on different weeks to take part in the program, and they both had a good time and learned things. Willow came up at the end of July for the regular camp and had a fun week too, although she elected to not camp overnight on Thursday (although, come to think of it, Eva opted out of the L.I.T. campout too).

The wildlife around camp has been in short supply. For some reason, I haven't been finding as many snakes this year. I did get a cool infrared motion-sensor trail camera though, and I've got a few pictures of nocturnal and crepuscular happenings. I'm looking forward to using it again next week when I'm back at camp for the final week of the season.

Three Films

I don't get to the movies as much as I used to. I don't even watch movies at home as much as I used to, and I've got a pretty big stack of dvds that I need to watch sometime soon. A number of factors are responsible, including the internet, life, music that needs listening to, and books that need reading. That said, I've seen a few films lately that I feel are worth noting.

Today, Jeanine and I went to go see Bong Joon Ho's new film, "Snowpiercer". Yes, it's another film set in a dystopian near-future - in this case an attempt to reverse climate change literally freezes the world - but I sure do love depictions of dystopia. Tilda Swinton's character is particularly bizarre, in a good way, of course. Check out the trailer here. Bong Joon Ho's "The Host" is also worth checking out.

"Cold In July", based on a novel by the marvelous Joe R. Lansdale, is an excellent film as well. More Lansdale adaptations are in the works, with "The Bottoms" on the horizon. It's about time. Trailer here. The film features Michael C. Hall of "Dexter" fame and a great, haunting score by Jeff Grace.

Finally, Jim Jarmusch's newest film, "Only Lovers Left Alive", nearly slipped by me. I'm glad that we managed to catch it because, not only was it a great film (with Tilda Swinton again - come to think of it, John Hurt is also in both films), but the soundtrack is absolutely amazing. Trailer here.

Also of recent note is an oddball short film by David Cronenberg, called "The Nest". Watch the whole thing here (warning, breasts).

Explosives, Encounters, and Changes

The constant, thundering assault of illegal fireworks explosions last night shook the ground enough to set off my car alarm a couple of times. The cat looked bothered, but never slipped into full panic mode. I was irritated because I had to put my book down to turn off the car alarm. Yeah, you can keep your holiday. It's just another opportunity for people to get drunk and make noise. I've never really gotten the concept of national pride. A lot of people who claim to be patriots have never done a damn thing to justify the claim, at least on a national scale, unless you count things like drinking American beer and buying American fireworks (although I think a lot of the big, illegal ones come from elsewhere). Be proud of the things you accomplish. I guess it's easier for some people to jump on the bandwagon of the whole touchy-feely group belongingness thing, especially if they've never done anything to warrant any feelings of personal pride.

Last night, I was grumpy enough about the explosions that I found myself wishing somebody would hold onto one just a bit too long. This morning, predictably, there was this news story. I didn't see any news about fires though. That's a good thing. I would have expected idiocy + drought to equal fires.

This all happened at the tail end of the third week of summer camp. The week went well, with a couple of my all time favorite campers attending (and being in my group). The water level in the pond has dipped some more, and the snakes were scarce. We saw a couple of rattlesnakes on Monday, but that was it. The chaparral area has been pretty much obliterated by heavy equipment. I'm not sure what the County Parks people have planned for it, but so far all they've done is kill a bunch of Coyote Brush and Scotch Broom. The Scotch Broom is invasive, so maybe they're trying to wipe out invasives. This has more or less wiped out one of the places we visit to find snakes, so I don't like it.

On our first afternoon critter hunt, one of the counselors had to answer a call of nature behind some of the remaining bushes in the chaparral, and in doing so dropped his keys. The next day, he went up to find them, and when he came back, he had a story. A pair of eyes was watching him up there. They belonged to a mother Mountain Lion who was in the process of carrying her cubs into the forest where it abuts the chaparral. My theory is she was disturbed by all of the noise the park rangers were making as they cleared out brush, and was heading deeper into the forest with her young. The drought seems to have enticed the larger wild animals closer to the water sources, although now that one of those is being drained, options become even more limited. What a thing to see while looking for your keys!

Here's a female Southern Alligator Lizard, being photographed by a camper in the upper chaparral area.

Next week, I shift gears and work for our Trailblazers camp, which has a narrower focus, delving more into natural history, ecology, and stewardship. It should be fun, although I'm not excited to have to get up earlier.

Draining

As I led a group of kids past the pond at work yesterday, I was surprised to see a couple of people hip-deep in the water (at exactly the same time that a kid toward the back of the line was surprised by a Garter snake). It always surprises me when somebody other than me gets in the pond. It turned out that they were employed by the County and were doing a pond survey to make sure that there were no species of concern living there. The plan is to drain the pond to do some repairs. This will also wipe out the various aquatic plants and animals. Most of the pond life is invasive (duckweed, bullfrogs, etc.), but lots of other creatures will be inadvertently eradicated, including California Newt larvae and countless insects. I think that next week I'll scoop some out and move them. I'm sure I'll be able to find some kids to help.

An now, a lament for the pond, played on the trombone:

Forked

This Fence Lizard wasn't born with a forked tail. At some point, a narrow escape or accident caused the tip of its tail to break halfway off, which caused the lizard's regenerative powers to kick into gear. The end result: bifurcation.

I caught this lizard last week. Today, a kid caught the same lizard. It doesn't learn from its mistakes.

Summer Camp, Summer Solstice

Happy belated Summer Solstice to all. The days stretch a little long for my liking this time of year, so I'm glad that daylight time will once again be shaved off the mornings and evenings.

The first week of camp came and went with a minimum of hiccups. We all slipped right back into our Summer grooves without having to think about it. Midweek, as I stood half-immersed in the pond while singing a made-up song and holding a turtle, I had another one of those frequent moments where I suddenly stopped and said aloud, "I'm getting paid to do this right now!" It is indeed never too late to have a happy childhood.

My favorite camper quote of the week comes courtesy of a little boy named Fox, who said (and I paraphrase here), "you guys always fix my problems. That's why I sign up for this camp!"

In the yard, the unharvested artichokes are blooming, and so is pretty much everything else.

Here are some photos from the first week of camp.

Crows

The neighborhood resounds with incessant chirping and twittering as birds do their springtime stuff. Our yard sees more birds now because of the chicken food. The chickens are pretty efficient eaters, but there is always some left over for the other avians. The lawn is usually hopping with feathery little bodies. It's also dry and covered in avocado leaves at the moment. Drought conditions still prevail.

My favorite visitors are the crows. They never land in the yard, but they often perch nearby. These two visited yesterday:

The trick to photographing crows is to pretend you don't see them while you get into position, and then shoot quickly. Crows don't like being looked at. These two were no exception, flying away over the roof almost immediately.

Transition

Willow is no longer an elementary school student. Today, along with over a hundred of her classmates, she graduated. Each student got a chance to step up to the mic and make a promise to his or her parents. Willow's promise was that she would always be true to herself and be kind to others. Very nice. I'll hold her to it. Many of the boys (as well as a few of the girls) made weak promises about trying to be nice to their younger siblings. A few of the promises were funny, some were poignant, and some of them had loopholes you could shove Rush Limbaugh through (the ones that had words like "try" and "attempt" in them, for starters...).

They grow up so quickly. It really is true.

They also played a slideshow of pictures taken while the kids were at science camp. One of the photos was of me making a dirt angel, which is sort of like making a snow angel, except in the dirt. I'd forgotten I'd been photographed doing that. Some of Willow's classmates, perhaps forgetting that Willow was my daughter, asked me what I was doing at their school. My celebrity status is amusing sometimes.

Crows Crush Squirrels

I often see crows eating roadkill. They seem to prefer the flat squirrels to the other types of two dimensional animals. Based on the lack of dead crows in the road, they also seem to be pretty good at avoiding cars.

A couple of days ago, as I watched a crow chase a squirrel into the road, it occurred to me that crows probably take a more active role in the roadkill process that I previously thought. This was the second time in less than a month that I'd witnessed this particular type of interaction. I think this is how crows prepare lunch, using cars as huge, rolling meat tenderizers. After all, crows are known tool users, and their use of vehicles to crush acorns and other nuts is pretty well documented. Crows have long been witnessed dropping acorns and other hard nuts into crosswalks at intersections, waiting for traffic lights to turn green so the wall of traffic will roll forward and shatter the shells, and then walking out into the crosswalk to obtain their prizes.

Our avian overlords await.

Check out a short clip of a crow preparing lunch here.

Endings and Beginnings

The school year is over for me now. I had originally expected to go back to working nights for the last couple of weeks but I ended up staying in the field instead, which is fine by me because working nights in late Spring is kind of a pain in the butt because the sun wakes the campers up nearly an hour before their official wake-up time. The problem with that is they're supposed to be quiet and I'm supposed to enforce this. It's very hard for fifth and sixth graders to stay in bed and be quiet for any amount of time. Most of them can't handle 5 minutes, let alone an hour.

My two final weeks in the field for the season went by in a blaze of sunshine and dust. The first week, I was impressed by the kid who chose to carry a car tire all the way back from the reservoir so he could throw it away (he carried it for probably around a mile), and the last week was notable for the number of bats we saw on the night hike (not really a night hike, but more of a crepuscular crawl, since it stays light so late this time of year) and the fact that Lake Ranch Reservoir is so low that we could walk all the way around it (usually, the far side is more or less impassable due to the water level and the lack of a trail). It was the first time I've done that. Several of the kids sunk in the mud near the shore, but they all managed to get out again. We found Killdeer eggs too, as the mom pretended to be injured so she could lure us away. At one point, I turned around and one of the boys was holding a Killdeer egg. At first, I was upset with him because I thought he'd taken it from the "nest" (in quotes because Killdeer don't build nests, they just lay their eggs on the ground), but he claimed he'd found it by itself in a shallow depression nearby. I put it down close to the other eggs, and the Killdeer looked confused as she returned to sit on the other ones.

Before these two weeks, I spent a few days in Baltimore for Maryland Deathfest, a 4-day music festival. I'm working on a report/review for my other blog, and I'll add a link here when it's up.

Tomorrow, we start summer camp set-up week. Thursday, Willow graduates from the fifth grade, and next week summer camp begins.

Of Ghosts and Coincidences

Willow had a turbulent camp week, starting with one of her friends mentioning seeing a ghost in their cabin at night (Willow is not a fan of ghosts), followed by her teddy bear somehow ending up on top of the ceiling fan (the teachers from the other school sharing the week are known pranksters), and culminating with her getting a fever on Wednesday evening. She skipped Thursday, staying home and recuperating, and was back again for the last morning of camp on Friday. The thermometers were full and red most of the week, with the temperatures reaching nearly 100 degrees in the afternoons. When this is coupled with the fact that there are a lot of sunny, uphill hikes, the week wasn't for the faint of heart.

My week went well though. I had a few of Willow's friends in my field class, including Ghost-girl. The night hike was particularly good. I once again did a long one, walking my group uphill for around half a mile so we could take in the view. As if the twilight view of slowly appearing stars and the wavery sparkle of distant city lights wasn't profound enough, we were treated to the spectacular sight of full moon cresting the East Bay hills, turned dirty orange by the intervening layers of particulate matter in the atmosphere. The only snake we saw was a very irritable Rattlesnake that went into full defensive mode when we encountered in alongside the trail. The kids were impressed. I pioneered a new loop for the so-called epic journey too, taking a new stretch of trail down from the dry pond to the almost dry (97% empty, the last I checked) Steven's Creek Reservoir and following the little trickle of Steven's Creek back uphill toward camp.

Coming back from this particular hike, Ghost-girl mentioned that she'd lost her digital camera but was pretty sure she'd left it at the creek near camp. She looked for it, but to no avail.

The missing camera was pushed to the back of my mind until, last night, I got a Facebook message from one of my old friends (one who I hadn't seen in person for around 6 years), saying that her niece had found a camera in the hills. They'd looked at the pictures on the camera and found photos of fifth graders, cabins, and a scorpion. My friend, of course, knows what I do for a living and knows my affinity for arachnids, so I had popped into her mind when she saw the photos. She said they had found it near her favorite tree (you've got to love people who have favorite trees), a huge sycamore that leans over Steven's Creek near the camp. I remembered Ghost-girl entering the water there on Wednesday while trying to catch a crayfish. I also knew that Ghost-girl had taken a picture of a scorpion I'd found. The final confirmation was my friend posting an image from the camera into the Facebook message. It's a good thing that Ghost-girl takes selfies.

To my mind, it is a stunning coincidence that an old friend would stumble across the camera in the hills the same day a kid in my field class lost it, and then have the presence of mind to check in with me to see if I knew anything about it. Add that to the fact that I don't often work at our Cupertino site where the camera was lost. My friend does claim to be psychic though, so I guess anything is possible...

My friend and her niece found it just in time too, because a nearby family had also seen it and wanted to keep it. The camera is currently sitting next to me as I type. I'll send Willow to school with it on Monday. It was nice to catch up with my friend too. We sent her home with some fresh eggs.

Dove

We did a general cleanup in the backyard yesterday, and Jeanine startled a fledgling dove doing its best to blend in with the ground over by the compost. I took a break from scraping up chicken shit and brought out my camera. I like the little trifurcated branch in the first photo. It makes it look like the dove just ejected a leg.

Inside, Dexter let his contempt for all things with feathers be known.

Spring Frenzy

Time has passed. Once again, I find that having a daytime schedule interferes with the life of the mind. Two weeks of camp have passed since I last updated this blog. Both weeks were good ones. I led a total of 41 kids up and down various trails, hopefully instilling within them a new respect for natural processes and new determination to become stewards of our planet rather than the parasites so many people appear to be. I also learned a bit more about the reservoir that I often choose as a destination on Thursday, a day when we have around 5 and a half hours to play with. Lake Ranch Reservoir was built by hand in the late 1800s, and at one point was the property of a family named Bernard. The elder Bernard accidentally killed his son (or stepson, depending on whose story I believe - the online source or what one of the park rangers told me) while hunting. Bernard, overcome with grief, later took his life on the property. I don't plan on sharing that part with the kids. Even the cabin leaders, who are usually in their mid teens, see ghosts behind every tree if given the slightest mental nudge in that direction. Elementary school students are even more susceptible to suggestion.

Here are some photos taken this week.

...And a few from last week.

The water level in the reservoir is at about 20% of capacity, not because of the drought but because seismic testing has never been done. The other local reservoirs, built much more recently, have all been seismically tested.

Our trip down south to see Black Sabbath was a success. Read about it here.

As for my trip to Yosemite, which I mentioned in the last post but didn't elaborate on. I'm ecstatic that I finally got to go there, and filled with disbelief that it took me so long to do it. It definitely lives up to its internationally renowned status. See my photo set here. As for the park being lousy with tourists, it sure was, although as is usually the case, the further up the trails one goes, the fewer fellow tourists there are. Most people stick to the valley. There was a wide range of humanity there alongside us. On the good side, our campground neighbors thoughtfully staked our tent down after it blew away during our absence. On the bad side, some sloppy excuse for humanity decided that stuffing a dirty diaper under a rock counted as throwing it away. I briefly thought about finding the person responsible and making him (or her) eat the damn thing. It was nice to hang out and relax with my co-workers too. We'll have to do something like this again.

Willow is going to be at camp this coming week. She's excited, but oddly enough worried about being homesick. Not only will I be there, but she knows the majority of the staff. She's funny sometimes.

Trails Full of Flowers and Snakes

Working during the day cuts into my time spent in front of the computer, which is a good thing but it also means fewer posts here. I've worked a few weeks at our Cupertino site now, and I'm currently in the middle of a week off. I spent the first part of the week at Yosemite National Park with my co-workers Jellyfish, Pelican, and Papa Bear. Everybody I work with was amazed to discover that I hadn't been there previously (because I'm a naturalist and grew up in California), and now that I'm back, I must say that I too am amazed that I hadn't been there before. More on Yosemite later though. For once, I'm actually doing something with a week off other than sleeping in and staying close to home, so in a few hours, Eva and I are heading for L.A. to stay at my old friend Chris' house, along with another old friend, Jack, who is heading north from San Diego to meet us there. Then, we're all going to see Black Sabbath. Unfortunately, Jeanine has to work, so won't be joining us. I had initially invited Willow along too, but she balked at the long car ride.

Right now, it is cloudy and drizzly out, although the last couple of weeks have been mostly sunny and warm. The reptiles and birds have been out too. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. I'll save the Yosemite pictures for another post.

Most of these photos taken at work, while I was on the clock, so to speak. The two Kingsnakes were found on the same trail, but on different weeks. One of them was missing an eye and had several other partially healed wounds. It looked like it had been captured and dropped by a hawk. The other one had only one wound. Something must find Kingsnakes yummy, either that or they're going after prey that takes serious exception to being eaten. When I found the second snake, our group was accompanied by a teacher and a parent who was doubling as the school yearbook photographer, meaning that the snake has a chance of being in a school yearbook. Like it cares.

The napkin dispenser photo was taken after Papa Bear, who is currently the night supervisor at our Cupertino site, pointed out the face to me. I even mentioned it to the students when I was running the astronomy program because there is a picture of the "face" on Mars in our powerpoint presentation. Faces pop up in the strangest places.

The Canada Geese and the Softshell Turtle photos were taken along the Los Gatos Creek Trail. The turtle is an invasive species, but I'm always excited to photograph reptiles. They pose so nicely.

I went out and watched the full lunar eclipse earlier this month too. If I had been working nights that week, I would have gotten paid for that as well. As it was, I ventured out into the backyard a few times between 11:00 PM and midnight. The clouds more or less cooperated too.