We had our first Nature Studies (or maybe we should call it Botany?) class today. By "we" I mean Emma, Gabriel and I. We're working primarily on plant identification, classification, and application. It was so stinking great! We went to Muir Woods, the kids took notes, photographed specimens, and took in the fresh air and fine scenery. What relief!-- to breathe fresh air and look at beautiful things! We all wandered back to the car with easier hearts, clearer heads, and lighter steps. Gabriel said, "I didn't think I was going to like this plant-staring stuff very much, but it's pretty cool!" Emma concurred, "I thought I was going to be bored, but I wasn't." Stuff and nonsense. Don't these kids know me at all? A funny note: we found a plant with little berries all covered in spikes. (I think it's a currant relative.) Anyway, in Gabriel's field journal he noted the presence of fruit like this: "maroon colored spiky balls of death. small." I like that kid.
In other (SUPER EXCITING!!!) news: See that roof over there? That grassy-looking, hill-covered roof? That's
my roof now! I am now a roof-weeder at the California Academy of Science. Woo hoo! At least one Wednesday a month I'll drive myself to San Francisco to work atop that flora covered symbol of good ecology. Geeked. That's what I am. Geeked! And that's where the ostriches come in. Not the roof so much as the museum back lawn. They're part of the
Earthquakes! exhibit. (What ostriches have to do with earthquakes can be explained
here.) Have you ever seen an ostrich chick? They're remarkably adorable. They have funny little legs, covered in sort of dry, slightly scaly skin that makes them look like cranky old women who tanned too much in their youth. Their fat, football-shaped bodies are covered in short, poky quill bits, which look more like hedge-hog dress than bird dress; and their heads and necks sport a camouflage pattern I think I've only before seen on an ocelot. In short, they're fun, and I like 'em.
Well, friends, that's the story.
