they gave me the honor pin, which is kind of a big deal.
i dunno, it sort of felt like too much. i'll be the first one to tell you that my work is good and that i do a lot of it, but it doesn't seem that, uh, -elevated- to me?
still, it's gratifying to be noticed for my work, and a little terrifying to feel i have to live up to the honor. i sort of like flying under the radar better. maybe i can turn it into opportunity. if people have heard of your program, they're more likely to sign up for it.
that's the thing, you know- i've been honored for basically playing around and doing the stuff i wanted to do, not because anybody said they needed it but because it pleased me and it just happened to be useful.
right place, right time.
in related news, they also made me a torchbearer, which is an honor i had hoped to someday qualify for, and i'm surprised to be given it this soon. it is an award for adults who are instrumental in providing outdoor education and that is a thing about which i am passionate.
funny story: somebody way higher on the food chain was also honored with this award (which comes with an actual honkin' TORCH), and they'd tasked her with the job of getting me to the ceremony, because i'm way too likely to skip an evening session to go to bed early, and they called her name and she said "what, ME?" which earned delighted chuckles from the assembled crowd.
when they called my name, i let out an involuntary yelp and may have cried a little.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Sunday, September 08, 2019
2019 venture vermont: Find a cave and take a picture with it
the venture vermont scorcard helpfully mentions that there are caves to be found at both smuggler's notch state park and branbury state park, and i've been to the smuggler's cave, so we headed off to lake dunmore to visit branbury state park.
Saturday, September 07, 2019
CPR
this summer more than once i had to stop children from playing pretend CPR. while i applaud the intention of children playing at lifesaving, that's a thing you really have to step in and stop.
kids have a hard time grasping the concept that doing CPR on a beating heart may damage or actually stop it. they also do not get the part where if you're doing CPR on a person, it's going to hurt. it's probably going to break ribs.
but then WHY DO WE DO IT? is a reasonable question.
equally reasonable but not necessarily evident is that if your heart has stopped beating, some broken ribs are way better than dying.
that's why we practice on dummies, kids.
kids have a hard time grasping the concept that doing CPR on a beating heart may damage or actually stop it. they also do not get the part where if you're doing CPR on a person, it's going to hurt. it's probably going to break ribs.
but then WHY DO WE DO IT? is a reasonable question.
equally reasonable but not necessarily evident is that if your heart has stopped beating, some broken ribs are way better than dying.
that's why we practice on dummies, kids.
Friday, September 06, 2019
2019 venture vermont: ID 2 different types of caterpillars
caterpillars can be hard, because there are so may variations and here's a thing you maybe did not know about them: many species of caterpillar molt five times before they pupate, and each instar (that state between molts) can look very, very different.
i got a couple of good ones this year, though.
this is an abbott's sphinx, which will become an abbott's sphinx moth (sphecodina abbottii). when i saw it, it was a little green guy but in a later instar it will have become some fantastic yellow and brown with more or less triangular dazzle camo.
this is a pine imperial moth (eacles imperialis, spp. pini). it has reached its fifth instar and has now climbed down out of the trees to find a suitable burrow in which to pupate. in this stage of life it's known as a prepupa, and this unfortunate fellow appeared to have been in the process of being eaten by wasps.
i got a couple of good ones this year, though.
this is an abbott's sphinx, which will become an abbott's sphinx moth (sphecodina abbottii). when i saw it, it was a little green guy but in a later instar it will have become some fantastic yellow and brown with more or less triangular dazzle camo.
Thursday, September 05, 2019
2019 venture vermont: Create a secret handshake
here's my secret handshake: it's for people who have done the secret work of forest fairies, which is a pretty broad definition.
it is executed in this fashion: both people make the letter "f" (for both fairies and forests) and you interlock them, flying them up.
it is executed in this fashion: both people make the letter "f" (for both fairies and forests) and you interlock them, flying them up.
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
2019 venture vermont: Attend a state park interpretive program
TIME SENSITIVE!!!
if you leave your venture vermonting go all summer and wait until labor day weekend to get serious, you're going to have to go to heroic measures in order to do the Vermont State Park thingies, like going to an interpretive program, because not all parks have interpretive programs, and by labor day most of the programs are shutting down.
my local park (little river state park) has interpretive programs still running, but i needed to go to a park i've never been to before (tell you later), so i had to find one that wasn't too far away from a park i'd never been to before.
anyway, we ended up at Button Bay State Park for the flora and fauna hike led by Stefan who is a very nice young man who has a nice way of leading a nature walk for a mixed audience.
if you leave your venture vermonting go all summer and wait until labor day weekend to get serious, you're going to have to go to heroic measures in order to do the Vermont State Park thingies, like going to an interpretive program, because not all parks have interpretive programs, and by labor day most of the programs are shutting down.
my local park (little river state park) has interpretive programs still running, but i needed to go to a park i've never been to before (tell you later), so i had to find one that wasn't too far away from a park i'd never been to before.
anyway, we ended up at Button Bay State Park for the flora and fauna hike led by Stefan who is a very nice young man who has a nice way of leading a nature walk for a mixed audience.
Tuesday, September 03, 2019
2019 venture vermont: identify a painted turtle and a snapping turtle
booyah!
sometimes i go more than a year without a bona fide photographable turltle sighting, let alone one each of painted turtle and snapping turtle in one season. but i saw them this year.
actually i saw two snappers and a painted turtle, but one of each is good enough.
and here they are:
sometimes i go more than a year without a bona fide photographable turltle sighting, let alone one each of painted turtle and snapping turtle in one season. but i saw them this year.
actually i saw two snappers and a painted turtle, but one of each is good enough.
and here they are:
 |
| common snapping turtle chelydra serpentina |
 |
| painted turtle chrysemys picta |
Monday, September 02, 2019
2019 venture vermont: catch a butterfly or dragfonfly with a net
ok, technically this one is neither a butterfly nor a dragonfly. it is a damselfly, which ought to count for the purposes of the challenge because most people don't make the distinction.
i found this one on lake abenaki in thetford. it was my first time using my BRAND NEW PROFESSIONAL GRADE BUTTERFLY NET.
anyway, it's an eastern forktail (ischnura verticalis).
i found this one on lake abenaki in thetford. it was my first time using my BRAND NEW PROFESSIONAL GRADE BUTTERFLY NET.
anyway, it's an eastern forktail (ischnura verticalis).
Sunday, September 01, 2019
2019 venture vermont: make a recording of a toad or frog's call
i kept trying to get a recording of some wood frogs i know, because that's a SOUND but for some reason every time i approached them with a recording device, they fell oddly silent.
i was able to get a recording of some peepers (psueudacris crucifer) and in the background are some grey tree frogs (hyla versicolor) if you listen closely.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gqnta6hksf7y2gy/frogs.m4a?dl=0
just for funsies imma tell you that i do a pretty good impression of green frogs (lithobates clamitans) and that any conversation is pepped up a little by the addition of frog songs.
you can get away with this if you're a naturalist, i guess.
i was able to get a recording of some peepers (psueudacris crucifer) and in the background are some grey tree frogs (hyla versicolor) if you listen closely.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gqnta6hksf7y2gy/frogs.m4a?dl=0
just for funsies imma tell you that i do a pretty good impression of green frogs (lithobates clamitans) and that any conversation is pepped up a little by the addition of frog songs.
you can get away with this if you're a naturalist, i guess.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
2019 Venture Vermont: sleep under the stars without a tent
oh, my. it's already nearly september and i have not written one single venture vermont entry and my excuse is i was BUSY.
like, i don't know if i will be able to complete the challenge busy. my ingress sojourner badge broke the weekend of my lifeguard training and i've barely played that since. because busy.
busy doing outdoor things, teaching outdoor things.
but let me try.
anyway, weekend of june 7-9 my girl scout troop camped at Little River State Park and of course there are no pictures of that i can share with you, but there are pictures and i could probably scare up a receipt if i had to.
the naturalist at little river will remember we were there, because as campers there were were the sunset adventure paddle and boy, wasn't that a time.
the weather was very nice, so for the first time ever i pitched my hammock and left the tarp off, and imma have to say that counts as sleeping under the stars; at least it counts as lying awake half the night under a blanket of "it's so pretty".
last time i checked sleeping under the stars had no requirement about sleeping on the ground. i'm not into that anymore. stars = A-OK. ground = nope.
since that first night (which i did because of this item on the challenge), i have enjoyed several other nights under the stars, a thing i had not done since maybe the late '70's?
i'm calling that one thing checked off on my list.
like, i don't know if i will be able to complete the challenge busy. my ingress sojourner badge broke the weekend of my lifeguard training and i've barely played that since. because busy.
busy doing outdoor things, teaching outdoor things.
but let me try.
anyway, weekend of june 7-9 my girl scout troop camped at Little River State Park and of course there are no pictures of that i can share with you, but there are pictures and i could probably scare up a receipt if i had to.
the naturalist at little river will remember we were there, because as campers there were were the sunset adventure paddle and boy, wasn't that a time.
the weather was very nice, so for the first time ever i pitched my hammock and left the tarp off, and imma have to say that counts as sleeping under the stars; at least it counts as lying awake half the night under a blanket of "it's so pretty".
last time i checked sleeping under the stars had no requirement about sleeping on the ground. i'm not into that anymore. stars = A-OK. ground = nope.
since that first night (which i did because of this item on the challenge), i have enjoyed several other nights under the stars, a thing i had not done since maybe the late '70's?
i'm calling that one thing checked off on my list.
Monday, August 26, 2019
a conversation with MB
flask
i dropped some food on the floor.
i went to pick it up and pop it in my mouth.
the thing i picked up and tossed in my mouth wasn't food.
it's time to vacuum the closet.
carpet. it's time to vacuum the carpet.
the closets are all pretty clean.
MB
Yeah, or you could stop eating food off the floor. That might be easier
But at least vacuum
flask
it was food-adjacent!
MB
NOT GOOD ENOUGH
flask
why you no like food adjacency?
MB
Because adjacent to food isn't the same as BEING FOOD
flask
but still good enough to TRY.
MB
No
i dropped some food on the floor.
i went to pick it up and pop it in my mouth.
the thing i picked up and tossed in my mouth wasn't food.
it's time to vacuum the closet.
carpet. it's time to vacuum the carpet.
the closets are all pretty clean.
MB
Yeah, or you could stop eating food off the floor. That might be easier
But at least vacuum
flask
it was food-adjacent!
MB
NOT GOOD ENOUGH
flask
why you no like food adjacency?
MB
Because adjacent to food isn't the same as BEING FOOD
flask
but still good enough to TRY.
MB
No
Sunday, August 25, 2019
echolocation
i have known for a while that some people can echolocate effectively.
here's a youtube video that helps explain how.
here's a youtube video that helps explain how.
Saturday, August 17, 2019
fairy houses
children at girl scout camps have a fondness for building fairy houses. one time we had very many notes to the fairies and we needed to close camp and get business done, so i wrote a letter. i signed it with the glitch name of a real person, so i can't take credit for that, nor can i take credit for using the glitch calendar system to date the letter. i just thought it would lend a lovely not-quite-of-this-world quality to it and quite frankly, i do not think i could have invented a better name for the purpose.
so here's the letter:
Hairday, 29th of Fever
Year 66
Wye Pond Hill
Eventide
Dear Children,
Your eyes cannot read our Fae language, but I and some of the others have some learning in your letters.
Wee are very fond of Girl Scouts ever since they named Brownie Scouts for our cousins, the Brownies.
Wee have enjoyed so very much your gifts, and when wee are small wee love living in the houses you build. It has been so much fun trading notes and surprises with you that wee will be a little sad to get back on out tour bus after our convention is over.
Wee have stayed perhaps too long in the houses of our sisters and brothers on Wye Pond Hill but they will enjoy quiet again soon.
Remember that wherever there is a spirit of kindness, a playful spirit or merrie magic, wee are near. Take care of yourselves and take care of each other. Be kind to the land and the water and the air and care for all the creatures that walk, crawl, slither, swim, or fly.
Thank you for your kindness, and look for us again in green forests where there is laughter and delight.
Yours Truly
With Love and Respect,
Voluptua Sneezelips
Corresponding Seretary
Jethimadh Chapter
International Guild of Traveling Fairies
so here's the letter:
Hairday, 29th of Fever
Year 66
Wye Pond Hill
Eventide
Dear Children,
Your eyes cannot read our Fae language, but I and some of the others have some learning in your letters.
Wee are very fond of Girl Scouts ever since they named Brownie Scouts for our cousins, the Brownies.
Wee have enjoyed so very much your gifts, and when wee are small wee love living in the houses you build. It has been so much fun trading notes and surprises with you that wee will be a little sad to get back on out tour bus after our convention is over.
Wee have stayed perhaps too long in the houses of our sisters and brothers on Wye Pond Hill but they will enjoy quiet again soon.
Remember that wherever there is a spirit of kindness, a playful spirit or merrie magic, wee are near. Take care of yourselves and take care of each other. Be kind to the land and the water and the air and care for all the creatures that walk, crawl, slither, swim, or fly.
Thank you for your kindness, and look for us again in green forests where there is laughter and delight.
Yours Truly
With Love and Respect,
Voluptua Sneezelips
Corresponding Seretary
Jethimadh Chapter
International Guild of Traveling Fairies
Friday, August 16, 2019
festival of pernicious odors
two weeks. four different camps. a limited number of showers. no shortage of opportunities to get dirty and sweaty.
clothes for paddling, clothes for swimming, camping gear, naturalist equipment, nine pairs of shoes.
in short, my car smells terrible.
clothes for paddling, clothes for swimming, camping gear, naturalist equipment, nine pairs of shoes.
in short, my car smells terrible.
Monday, August 05, 2019
things go to hell
facsism is on the rise. nationalism is on the rise. racism is on the rise.
sometimes i just have a difficult time coping with all the shootings and the poverty and the fear.
what helps me is to go to camp.
yeah, going camping is nice, but i'm talkin' 'bout summer camp. with children.
for the girl scouts in particular, but it would work with any camp, i guess.
because when things are going to hell in the adult world, i like to retreat to a small enclave where i can talk to children about Being Good People and what that looks like.
it looks like taking turns. it looks like settling arguments fairly, with as little adult intervention as possible. it means not calling people nicknames they don't like. it means giving everyone a chance to try things and not criticizing them if they're not good at everything yet, or if they don't know things.
i get to work with girls especially and teach them how to use sharp tools and do experiments that require safety glasses and i get to take their concerns and their lives seriously. i get to help them negotiate practicing adult skills because, i tell them, one day you will be an adult and you will be glad you practiced this.
i'm a nicer person when i'm helping young people do things. i don't have as much time to ride my bike or go camping myself or read novels, but i can feel a little better about one little corner of the world.
sometimes i just have a difficult time coping with all the shootings and the poverty and the fear.
what helps me is to go to camp.
yeah, going camping is nice, but i'm talkin' 'bout summer camp. with children.
for the girl scouts in particular, but it would work with any camp, i guess.
because when things are going to hell in the adult world, i like to retreat to a small enclave where i can talk to children about Being Good People and what that looks like.
it looks like taking turns. it looks like settling arguments fairly, with as little adult intervention as possible. it means not calling people nicknames they don't like. it means giving everyone a chance to try things and not criticizing them if they're not good at everything yet, or if they don't know things.
i get to work with girls especially and teach them how to use sharp tools and do experiments that require safety glasses and i get to take their concerns and their lives seriously. i get to help them negotiate practicing adult skills because, i tell them, one day you will be an adult and you will be glad you practiced this.
i'm a nicer person when i'm helping young people do things. i don't have as much time to ride my bike or go camping myself or read novels, but i can feel a little better about one little corner of the world.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
i'm sure my neighbors love this
because it is camp season, i do some bugling.
it's nice to have some snazzy bugle calls to help people know it's time to move. mostly i just play assembly when it's time for everyone to meet and Go To A Thing and i play taps for close of camp, which is at variance to military usage, but it's how girl scouts ceremonially close a day.
yeah, i CAN play retreat, but it's kind of arcane for the purpose.
anyway, if you're going to bugle, you have to PRACTICE bugling. i try to keep the exercises to a minimum and in the mid-morning, but in the evenings at home i blow tattoo and then an hour later i blow taps.
funny, but any loud parties going on in the neighborhood become mellow gatherings after tattoo and i don't care if they stay up after taps.
in a couple months i have gotten pretty decent at it, and i think it sounds pretty.
it's nice to have some snazzy bugle calls to help people know it's time to move. mostly i just play assembly when it's time for everyone to meet and Go To A Thing and i play taps for close of camp, which is at variance to military usage, but it's how girl scouts ceremonially close a day.
yeah, i CAN play retreat, but it's kind of arcane for the purpose.
anyway, if you're going to bugle, you have to PRACTICE bugling. i try to keep the exercises to a minimum and in the mid-morning, but in the evenings at home i blow tattoo and then an hour later i blow taps.
funny, but any loud parties going on in the neighborhood become mellow gatherings after tattoo and i don't care if they stay up after taps.
in a couple months i have gotten pretty decent at it, and i think it sounds pretty.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
too stupid to live
today i saw a young man about whom, i am sure, people will say "such a tragedy" and "couldn't have been prevented"-
he was riding a skateboard downhill on the main road from jericho into richmond, which is a road on which a person on a bicycle can easily coast up to 45 MPH, and he was going fast. taking up a whole lane (as he should, moving at the speed of traffic), and not wearing a helmet.
WHILE LOOKING AT HIS PHONE.
he was riding a skateboard downhill on the main road from jericho into richmond, which is a road on which a person on a bicycle can easily coast up to 45 MPH, and he was going fast. taking up a whole lane (as he should, moving at the speed of traffic), and not wearing a helmet.
WHILE LOOKING AT HIS PHONE.
Thursday, July 04, 2019
rotifers
rotifers are an ancient species. they have their own phylum. in some of their species whether or not they reproduce sexually is a heritable trait. one species has not been known to have any males in it for millions of years.
and here is a little video i made of some i found in my backyard.
because these days you can do this on your phone.
excuse me, young people, while i get all amazed at the speed of technological advances in my lifetime.
uh, anyway:
and here is a little video i made of some i found in my backyard.
because these days you can do this on your phone.
excuse me, young people, while i get all amazed at the speed of technological advances in my lifetime.
uh, anyway:
Tuesday, July 02, 2019
nationalism is bad
i'm from vermont.
i love my town and my mountains, because i am of this place.
your town is probably pretty cool too.
also your mountains. or your lake. or your seashore.
go, local sports team.
people by and large are awesome.
but look around. fascism is on the rise. nationalism is on the rise. wherever there is an in-group trying to keep everyone else out, somebody is making money off of that. somebody is consolidating their own power by making others fear outsiders. somebody is exploiting you.
if somebody is selling you an agenda that doesn't include dignity for all, don't buy it. if your country doesn't define itself by its care for the least among you, your country is shitty. you have a duty to act.
i love my town and my mountains, because i am of this place.
your town is probably pretty cool too.
also your mountains. or your lake. or your seashore.
go, local sports team.
people by and large are awesome.
but look around. fascism is on the rise. nationalism is on the rise. wherever there is an in-group trying to keep everyone else out, somebody is making money off of that. somebody is consolidating their own power by making others fear outsiders. somebody is exploiting you.
if somebody is selling you an agenda that doesn't include dignity for all, don't buy it. if your country doesn't define itself by its care for the least among you, your country is shitty. you have a duty to act.
Saturday, June 29, 2019
i write to my congressman.
presented without comment is my recent letter to peter welch (D-VT):
representative welch,
at this point i have to question the soundness of your judgement because you have not yet gone on record as being in favor of impeaching the president.
really, how many laws does he have to break? how many women does he have to assault? how many people need to die in concentration camps?
oh, mercy.
i never in my life expected to be in a position where i could be writing those words without even a hint of hyperbole.
nothing is going to get better in this world while we are still on an inexorable march toward fascism. impeaching the president would be a nice start.
good luck to you and please stop allowing us to come to harm.
representative welch,
at this point i have to question the soundness of your judgement because you have not yet gone on record as being in favor of impeaching the president.
really, how many laws does he have to break? how many women does he have to assault? how many people need to die in concentration camps?
oh, mercy.
i never in my life expected to be in a position where i could be writing those words without even a hint of hyperbole.
nothing is going to get better in this world while we are still on an inexorable march toward fascism. impeaching the president would be a nice start.
good luck to you and please stop allowing us to come to harm.
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