Wild America!!

When our kids were young, we used to spend part of Sunday afternoons watching Marty Stouffer's Wild America. (Our kids still talk about it.) Well, today I had my own Wild America experience.

I was driving out to visit my dad in Mulberry, and was going through some wilder areas of Tippecanoe County along the three forks of the Wildcat River. I'd just crossed a bridge over the north fork when I noticed a large bird on the ground in the harvested soybean field next to me.

A bald eagle!! About 30 feet from the road!

I stopped and just watched it for a while. It hopped a couple of times, then flew about 30 feet and landed again. Finally, it swept up into the sky and circled overhead before disappearing over the woods. What a breathtaking sight! I felt both humbled and privileged to have had such a close encounter.

But, wait! There's more! (As they say on TV...)

As I drove off, stepping out into the field from the surrounding woods was a stag. He had lovely antlers and seemed pretty confident as he came into view. I see a lot of deer, but not often are they stags with antlers.

And yet another wildlife encounter in the last 36 hours...

Yesterday, despite it being Fall Break, I was at Hershey around 8 AM to get some planning done. As I arrived at the deserted school, I noticed a large flock of birds circling over the woods to the south of the school. As I looked closer, I realized they were turkey vultures - I counted 33+! They circled over the woods, then drifted over Hershey, still circling. Finally they moved to the field west of the school where they continued to lazily fly in circles. I have been told there is actually a turkey vulture sanctuary near Hershey, and I have seen as many as 8 of the birds together, but never have I seen so many at once. I have to admit, it felt a little creepy; certainly appropriate for the Halloween season, that's for sure!

Regional Soccer Champs!

Go, Urbana High School Tigers! Not only are they Twin City Champs and Big Twelve Champs, they are now The Regional Champs as well (and undefeated, whoo hoo!) Seven of the members of the team are former students of mine. Craig and I made a quick run over there yesterday to have lunch with dear friends, Pat and VerLynn Atchley, and then go to the game with them.We shut out Centennial 1-0! 

Fam I Am

With a nod to Dr. Seuss and his book, Green Eggs and Ham, I share my thoughts about my recent camping experience. And to my FAMily, no more poking fun about your mom's refusal to camp!

I am Fam.

Fam I am.

Do you camp?

I do not camp, Fam I Am.

Would you camp with lotsa kids?

I would not camp with lotsa kids.

Would you sleep in a heated cabin?

I would not sleep in a heated cabin. 

I do not camp, Fam I Am.

How do you know you do not camp?

Try it, try it; you will see!

That Fam I Am, that Fam I Am!

I DO NOT camp, Fam I am,

Now let me be!

Would you camp in cold weather?

I would not, could not in cold weather.

Not in a cabin!

Not with kids,

I do not camp, Fam, let me be!

::sigh::

 Fam, if you will let me be,

I will try it; you will see.

I do not camp, Fam I Am.

I do not camp.

::pause::

SAAAAAAAY!

I do like to camp, Fam!

And I would camp in cold weather!

And I would camp in a cabin.

It is so fun, so fun, you see!

And I will go with kiddos,

Yesiree!!

Thank you, Fam!

It is so fun, so fun, you see!

::

Off to the Hinterlands (and Grumbling)

I DO NOT CAMP.

My family learned that a long time ago. When Craig was Bishop and in the Stake Presidency, he nixed any callings for me related to Young Women and Girls Camp.

I DO NOT CAMP.

Well...

Wish me luck; Tuesday through Wednesday I will be at Camp Tecumseh with 120 4th graders and 12 5th graders. As you might imagine, I can hardly wait to spend 48 hours camping in the hinterlands of White County with all those kids. 

I don't even have a sleeping bag, nor am I going to buy one for this event.

Kyle asked me when the last time was that I went camping, and I replied it was when he was 6. May I point out that he is now a strapping 27 year old with a family of his own??

On the bright side, a friend from Church is going as a chaperone. I used teacher perogative and assigned myself to her cabin. And, since I teach multiage and alternate curriculum every year, I only need to go on this trip every other year, not annually. I can hardly contain my excitement.

Wednesday evening cannot come fast enough.

Year of the Turtle

This seems to have been my year of the turtle. This summer I saw Turtlezilla - the biggest turtle I've ever seen on our creek (see earlier blog entry). I also rescued a large snapping turtle in late summer who was up in the neighbor's yard. 

Then there's today....

Around 10 this morning, Angie, the day custodian at Hershey, came into my room. "Sorry to interrupt," she said, "but I found this and knew you of all the teachers would want to see it." And she held up a small wiggling something. "I found it out on the parking lot and thought I'd let you and your class see it."

A tiny baby snapping turtle!! Its shell was about the size of a half dollar, and it had sand built up on part of the shell. The color was a dark grey, almost black. It had a tail that was as long as its neck/head/shell! The baby crawled up my hand, onto my shirt, and all over the place.

I let the kiddos look at it, and then had my para, Mrs. Anderson, and Madeline (a turtle afficianado; she's written essays in class about turtles) take it outside and turn it loose near the woods.

It seemed awfully small for this late in the season, but then, I don't know a whole lot about turtles. Have to google it and find out when they hatch and see how big snappers are at birth. My guess is that this was a very young turtle. Sure hope it survives!

Only in Indiana!

Friday Night Frenzy in Indiana! Everyone, including the sportscasters on TV, are hyped up over the high school football games on Fridays. Craig has settled (resettled?) back into being a Hoosier, and he gets into the frenzy every Friday. I am pretty much the only person in Indiana who isn't excited and would rather watch soccer.

Nevertheless, when Craig suggested we drive out to Americus and have dinner at Roberts (a typical Indiana village restaurant: good food and quaint decor in an out of the way spot that all the locals know) and then go up to Monticello (home of Indiana Beach) to watch his alma mater, West Side, play Twin Lakes, I was agreeable. It was a lovely evening, and the drive along the river up to the lakes sounded like fun. Plus, I have two Roberts sisters in my classroom.

Dinner was good, the drive fun, and the game okay. West Side won for the first time at Twin Lakes in 9-10 years or so (Craig was VERY happy.) But what about the "Only in Indiana" title, you ask? Get this....

After we arrived, paid our admission and walked to the bleachers, I noticed a white fence set up behind one of the goalposts. Horsewoman that I am, I recognized it right away - a portable stock pen. And sure enough, during the half time show, a farmer appeared ON THE FIELD with an enormous brown and white cow! The announcer clued us in: time to play Cow Plop Bingo!

Yep, you read that right, Cow Plop Bingo. The cow, Elsie, goes into the stock pen which has been marked as a bingo grid with white paint. She stays in there during the second half of the game. The farmer keeps checking to see if she's "plopped", and when she does, he takes note of the Bingo square the manure is on and relays it to the announcer.

The announcer then breaks into the game to gleefully announce that someone has won Cow Plop Bingo! Last night's winner was a heating repair service company, and they magnanimously donated their $500 win to the Twin Lakes Junior Achievement program (another "only in Indiana" program; I do Junior Achievement in my classroom.)

But wait, there's more! Since the stock pen is right behind the goal posts, guess what happens? Any time a ball is kicked through the goal posts, PLOP!! Right into poor Elsie's pen. And possibly in the you know what.  (West Side "gave her the ball" twice last night, and she was pretty startled each time. )

Then, of course, someone has to retrieve the ball. Think about it. Would YOU want to use a ball that rolled in some cow plop?? Didn't seem to phase anyone - they wiped the ball off and resumed play.

Only in Indiana!!