I kicked off last week with some of the smartest 6th graders I've ever met. For example, when we were discussing the fact that all matter has mass, one of them began quizzing me on anti-matter. Yikes! Anti-matter aside, we had a great time. They were my first group of kiddos to be stealthy enough to spot deer on our night hike, which they thought was pretty darn cool.
This weekend, I had some of the funniest 5th graders on the planet. When prompted to name a famous physicist, one blurted out, "Einstein! He had that thing about families." I couldn't help chiming in, "Oh yeah! The Theory of Relatives!" There was a beat of silence and then the class erupted in giggles. (Sadly, we were looking for Newton and his laws of motion.)
The weather has been pretty crazy....everything from sunshine to Portland-worthy downpours to more snow. (Do I sound like I'm tired of snow yet? Well, I am.)
Earlier last week, I finished the "bling" for our Reno bowling team. Here are the starfish pendants, peridot (green), howlite (aqua), carnelian (orange), garnet (burgundy) and amethyst (purple) before....
And after...
Last Sunday, I was able to take a hike along the Ernie Maxwell trail with my buddy Geo. After finishing the trail proper, we wended our way to town and enjoyed dinner at Aroma's Cafe, where we were chatted up by the owner. Hubert is a retired math professor turned restauranteur, and quite a character.
Along our hike, we came across a stand of young cedars. I just love the chartreuse of their needles...leaves? Fronds? What the heck do you call it? Whatever...I love it.
Here's an ant's eye-view of a fallen log...
There are huge boulders all along the trail. It's a good thing someone came along and propped them up with sticks so they don't go rolling over unsuspecting hikers! :)
I really liked the woven texture of these jumbled sticks...
...and of this whorled root.
These pines get so tall. Does anyone else's neck ache from looking up?
Caught a lovely pine silhouetted against the sun.
As we hiked past Humbert Park and into town, we passed Suicide Rock.
I had Thursday off this week, and in light of the approaching storm, a couple of us decided it would be good to get off the mountain for a day while we could. Josh and I headed down to Oceanside for some fish tacos, wading, and surfer-watching.
One patch of the beach was covered with these little shells. At first glance, I thought it was a tooth or urchin spine, but nope, it's definitely some kind of clam-type critter.
The locals, checking out the scene on the pier...
We noticed that there were a lot of surfers in the water, but only a few of them actually surfing. It appears that the biggest portion of surfing is actually spent waiting for that perfect wave.
Waiting/surfing isn't the only water sport to enjoy in Oceanside.
Whatever this week brings you, I hope you take time to enjoy the spring bulbs for me (the poor daffodils were just starting to bloom, and now they're buried under about a foot of snow).
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