First get a loaf of bread - a yeast bread is good, french will do, anything light and fluffy. Leave it out on the 23rd. It needs to get stale.
Mix in a shallow bowl (pie pan works well) :
2 eggs (half cup of egg substitute)
1/2 cup eggnog
vanilla
apple pie spice (easy way to get a good mix of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, etc)
Soak thick slices of bread in the mix, 30 seconds + per side (longer for denser bread)
Fry over medium heat till you have the best Christmas morning French toast ever. Serve with sausage.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Opposites
One weekend in August I competed in a canoe race - the American Canoe Associations Open Canoe Slalom Nationals. The particular race I competed in had two components. The first was a down river component where you go as fast as you can down 4 miles of river. This requires strength, endurance, good technique, and the ability to navigate rapids on a whitewater river while taking on as little water as possible. The second component consists of two runs through a slalom course where 20 or so gates are hung over 200 or so yards of river. The gates, depending on their color, must be navigated by travelling downstream or upstream. This requires skill, precise control, power and, as with the downriver race, the ability to take on as little water as possible while battling the surging currents of a whitewater river, strapped into a boat as long as 15 feet and as heavy as 60 pounds. [Note : high end race boats weigh closer to 30 and can be a bit shorter, they compete in a different class.] Despite our dry conditions, the river had no shortage of water as it is dam fed. I didn't do particularly well but I had a great time.
A week later I took two of our children on a camping trip with the YMCA Trailblazers in Pisgah National Forest. One of our activities was to go tubing on the Davidson River. Tubing, in general, requires nothing more than the occasional splash with your hands to avoid a branch or a rock. Unfortunately, our dry spell did affect the Davidson as it is a free flowing river. The result being that some of the larger of us drew more water than was available and found ourselves sliding, crawling, and walking a lot more than we were floating! This did require strength and endurance... The kids agreed with me - we'd rather be in canoes!
A week later I took two of our children on a camping trip with the YMCA Trailblazers in Pisgah National Forest. One of our activities was to go tubing on the Davidson River. Tubing, in general, requires nothing more than the occasional splash with your hands to avoid a branch or a rock. Unfortunately, our dry spell did affect the Davidson as it is a free flowing river. The result being that some of the larger of us drew more water than was available and found ourselves sliding, crawling, and walking a lot more than we were floating! This did require strength and endurance... The kids agreed with me - we'd rather be in canoes!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Busy Weekend
Saturday :
I am able to goof off for the first half of the day.
At 2:30 it is at least 95 degrees and sunny outside. We are moving D’s school stuff to her new library from home and from a storage locker she rented.
To facilitate moving, we take the back two seats out of D’s van – we each would need to haul two kids. Due to operator error it takes 15 minutes of sweating to get the seats out.
We go to D’s rented storage locker and load up the back of my truck, a 4x8’ trailer, and her van. In my truck are H (age 9) and J(age 3). N(6) and L(5 months) are with D. N helps load boxes. I realize that I do not have a tarp. While there, we leaving both vehicles idling the entire time to provide air conditioning for the smaller children still inside.
When we arrive, we find between our truck, van, and trailer and the library an entire lane of drive way with a fresh “tack coat” (imagine dirt and gravel with a light sticky coat of tar – this is an intermediate step in paving). The route available to us is from the parking lot through the main entrance. On the side walk are large wooden crates holding precast concrete columns for the entrance, these are arranged haphazardly and allow passage of a hand truck with a few inches to spare. Blocking the driveway is a large “cherry picker” type lift with the boom a little lower than my head level.
When I wheel the first hand truck load of boxes in, I realize that I am leaving a black inky trail on the tile. Our first instinct is to think that it is tar, but the hand truck has not gone through any tar. We realize that a scrap of carpet at the entrance is soaked by rain and probably the source of this. We clean this up and don’t bring the hand truck past the door.
The older two kids help move the lighter boxes.
I return for an additional load from the storage locker. I decide to take D’s tricycle (grown up sized with a basket), the only way I see to carry it is to put it on top of the camper shell. I get many second looks from people I pass. ¼ mile from the school, it begins to rain.
Hard. There is no place to park out of the rain. I hurriedly take the exposed cardboard boxes under the shelter of the entry archway. When I am done, it stops raining.
D stays at school with two of the children while I take to pick up dinner. It is after 9pm.
Going home, after dark, my battery light comes on and my voltage gauge starts dropping. When at a light, the needle on the voltage gauge jerks to the left in time with the turn signal. I suspect my battery and possibly alternator are bad, or maybe there is a problem with the trailer lighting adding an unusual load. When I gun the engine, the voltage needle moves to the right, so perhaps it is not the alternator…
Sunday :
After church we go to Circuit City to pick up a TV for school. We get there at 1:00. They open at 1:30.
We discover that there is not enough room behind the back seat for the TV (my in-laws’ van). After 10 minutes of moving things (including a car
seat) around in the near 100 degree heat, we discover that the rear seat slides and there /is/ room for the TV
We eat at Sonic.
While at home loading up for a second day of moving, Jonah decides he needed some attention by having a double barreled potty accident upstairs that results in a load of laundry, a bath, and the use of the remainder of a can of carpet cleaner.
We load our van, truck, and trailer again. Our plan is to later come home and get the in-laws' van because we need to drop our van off at the body shop for repairs before Monday morning. My in-laws’ van is the only one that can carry all 6 of us at one time today.
My truck to be jumpstarted. I let it run for a few minutes and try to start it without the cables – it will not start. I suspect a bad cell in the battery – most of my battery failures have been in very hot weather. I jump start it a second time.
We get to school and between us and the front door, in the only path that I can maneuver a hand truck is a guy in a lift pressure washing the entry arch way. He will be here for 2 hours or more. As I am concerned about driving after dark because of what happened last night, I feel we need to empty the truck and trailer now. We carry the bulk of the boxes in by hand.
At one point the pressure washer guy tells me that he has started spraying a chemical (muriatic acid) to clean the masonry and that I will need to keep the kids back. They all happen to be outside by the vehicles. H reads to the two boys while sitting on the sidewalk in the shade of the crates of precast columns.
We plan to take the kids to the pool for some swimming and to check the pool equipment and my in-laws’ mail. My truck has to be jump started again. I decide to go get a battery after dropping off the trailer and my load of kids. The car parts stores are open til 9 – it is only 6.
I drive to my inlaws and unhitch the trailer. I then drop the two kids I have at the pool with D.
I go to buy a battery and due to an electronic “communication failure” I cannot use a debit or credit card. The clerk thinks my “what we have heah is a fay-luh to communicate” quip was a Guns n’ Roses reference. When I say that came from a long time before GnR, he says they must have covered a song. I describe the movie “Cool Hand Luke”. I don’t think he appreciates it. The battery and other supplies will cost me $100. I cannot leave the store without being jump started or buying a battery.
I walk to a Nations Bank ATM where I plan to withdraw about $125. The “fast cash” option has a max of $100, when I hit “cancel” the machine spits out $30 (there was no option for $30) and a receipt indicating a $2 transaction fee. With no alternative, I try again and am able to withdraw an additional $100. I incur another $2 service fee.
We install the battery and test the alternator, it is bad. It is not generating the expected amperage and a “leaking diode” is allowing AC (alternating current) to leak into the circuit and could damage my computer. The alternator came from the same store chain and had a lifetime warranty. I do not have my receipt. The clerk says that even if I did have it, their thermal printouts are notoriously bad and it would be unreadable by now. The clerk suggests that I call the store I bought it originally (their computers are apparently not networked) to get the information he will need to provide me with a free replacement.
I had purchased that alternator in Fredericksburg, VA and replaced it in the parking lot of a Food Lion while on a road trip two years ago. I call directory assistance. They tell me of two stores of this particular chain in that town and I take both numbers. On the first try I find that there is a third. My second try is the right one. They are able to look me up and see that I made a $217 purchase but cannot provide any “history”. 20 minutes or so of hold time and a conversation with the manager in Virginia later the clerk at the local store says that it is obvious that I have a lifetime warranty based on the price and that they are the only vendors of that particular brand of alternator. He says he will replace my alternator, however he cannot place the order because their computers are now down completely. He suggests that I call back tomorrow to place the order. He won’t be working that day, but they can call him at home. This has taken 1 and a half hours. I revise my plan and head home to get the in-laws van and look for the receipt.
At home I cannot find the receipt and receive a call from D’Etta that we need to feed the kids something. I gather loose items in the kitchen because I cannot stomach feeding them another meal at Sonic. I leave the truck and take my in-laws' van. The van is partially loaded, leaving room for two passengers.
I decide to take a chance and call the auto parts place back at 8:45 to see if their computers are up and if the guy who knows what is going on can place the order. I am on hold for 15 minutes after which he places the order and assures me it will be in at 7:30 am Monday.
I rendezvous with D and the kids and we proceed to school to unload the items currently in the vans. The pressure washer guy is gone. I assemble a cart for the TV. We leave the library and drop the van at the body shop. We load up all in my in-laws’ van and go home. D takes the kids and preps them for bed.
I have to move the remaining items from the storage locker to a friend's shed. I unload my truck completely to head back to the storage locker.
Even with an empty truck bed the futon, the two tables, stack of 12 kids sized chairs, rocking chair, two pallets, and a Lazy Boy will not fit. I put the rocking chair in the front seat, this allows me to shift gears if reach from beneath the steering wheel. I leave the tail gate down and lash the Lazy Boy on. [By the way, moving a cotton ticking futon rolled up in plastic sheeting is probably very similar to moving a body.]
I arrive at about midnight. There are no lights and I don’t have a flashlight. To unload, I have to back up to the shed, meaning I cannot use my headlights to illuminate the shed.
On the way home I stop at Sonic.
Monday :
At 8:00am the car parts place does not have my alternator. They are to have it this afternoon. Apparently the order had been placed after the “cut off”.
My battery light comes on while driving to work on the interstate. I back into my space so I can be easily jump started if need be.
D’Etta says that her library cards have not been shipped. The supplier says design was never approved. School starts in a week.
The phones in school (even the principal’s) cannot call long distance.
There are no phones or network connections in the library.
To get the library card order moving, they need to send a fax. There are no fax machines. The number is long distance.
There is a moisture problem in the library and the brand new books are warping.
Today is registration and they are completing the paving at the entrance.
Note :
I left out a lot. I left out all the stuff D was doing when I was not there. All I did was heavy lifting and driving around. She is the one who has to figure out where all that stuff will go.
Unfortunately it never occured to me to take a picture of the heavily laden truck and trailer or the obstructed entrance to the school. However, I did take a picture of the intermediate school whose campus adjoins the elementary school's. This was after the rain on Saturday when a rainbow had come out.
I am able to goof off for the first half of the day.
At 2:30 it is at least 95 degrees and sunny outside. We are moving D’s school stuff to her new library from home and from a storage locker she rented.
To facilitate moving, we take the back two seats out of D’s van – we each would need to haul two kids. Due to operator error it takes 15 minutes of sweating to get the seats out.
We go to D’s rented storage locker and load up the back of my truck, a 4x8’ trailer, and her van. In my truck are H (age 9) and J(age 3). N(6) and L(5 months) are with D. N helps load boxes. I realize that I do not have a tarp. While there, we leaving both vehicles idling the entire time to provide air conditioning for the smaller children still inside.
When we arrive, we find between our truck, van, and trailer and the library an entire lane of drive way with a fresh “tack coat” (imagine dirt and gravel with a light sticky coat of tar – this is an intermediate step in paving). The route available to us is from the parking lot through the main entrance. On the side walk are large wooden crates holding precast concrete columns for the entrance, these are arranged haphazardly and allow passage of a hand truck with a few inches to spare. Blocking the driveway is a large “cherry picker” type lift with the boom a little lower than my head level.
When I wheel the first hand truck load of boxes in, I realize that I am leaving a black inky trail on the tile. Our first instinct is to think that it is tar, but the hand truck has not gone through any tar. We realize that a scrap of carpet at the entrance is soaked by rain and probably the source of this. We clean this up and don’t bring the hand truck past the door.
The older two kids help move the lighter boxes.
I return for an additional load from the storage locker. I decide to take D’s tricycle (grown up sized with a basket), the only way I see to carry it is to put it on top of the camper shell. I get many second looks from people I pass. ¼ mile from the school, it begins to rain.
Hard. There is no place to park out of the rain. I hurriedly take the exposed cardboard boxes under the shelter of the entry archway. When I am done, it stops raining.
D stays at school with two of the children while I take to pick up dinner. It is after 9pm.
Going home, after dark, my battery light comes on and my voltage gauge starts dropping. When at a light, the needle on the voltage gauge jerks to the left in time with the turn signal. I suspect my battery and possibly alternator are bad, or maybe there is a problem with the trailer lighting adding an unusual load. When I gun the engine, the voltage needle moves to the right, so perhaps it is not the alternator…
Sunday :
After church we go to Circuit City to pick up a TV for school. We get there at 1:00. They open at 1:30.
We discover that there is not enough room behind the back seat for the TV (my in-laws’ van). After 10 minutes of moving things (including a car
seat) around in the near 100 degree heat, we discover that the rear seat slides and there /is/ room for the TV
We eat at Sonic.
While at home loading up for a second day of moving, Jonah decides he needed some attention by having a double barreled potty accident upstairs that results in a load of laundry, a bath, and the use of the remainder of a can of carpet cleaner.
We load our van, truck, and trailer again. Our plan is to later come home and get the in-laws' van because we need to drop our van off at the body shop for repairs before Monday morning. My in-laws’ van is the only one that can carry all 6 of us at one time today.
My truck to be jumpstarted. I let it run for a few minutes and try to start it without the cables – it will not start. I suspect a bad cell in the battery – most of my battery failures have been in very hot weather. I jump start it a second time.
We get to school and between us and the front door, in the only path that I can maneuver a hand truck is a guy in a lift pressure washing the entry arch way. He will be here for 2 hours or more. As I am concerned about driving after dark because of what happened last night, I feel we need to empty the truck and trailer now. We carry the bulk of the boxes in by hand.
At one point the pressure washer guy tells me that he has started spraying a chemical (muriatic acid) to clean the masonry and that I will need to keep the kids back. They all happen to be outside by the vehicles. H reads to the two boys while sitting on the sidewalk in the shade of the crates of precast columns.
We plan to take the kids to the pool for some swimming and to check the pool equipment and my in-laws’ mail. My truck has to be jump started again. I decide to go get a battery after dropping off the trailer and my load of kids. The car parts stores are open til 9 – it is only 6.
I drive to my inlaws and unhitch the trailer. I then drop the two kids I have at the pool with D.
I go to buy a battery and due to an electronic “communication failure” I cannot use a debit or credit card. The clerk thinks my “what we have heah is a fay-luh to communicate” quip was a Guns n’ Roses reference. When I say that came from a long time before GnR, he says they must have covered a song. I describe the movie “Cool Hand Luke”. I don’t think he appreciates it. The battery and other supplies will cost me $100. I cannot leave the store without being jump started or buying a battery.
I walk to a Nations Bank ATM where I plan to withdraw about $125. The “fast cash” option has a max of $100, when I hit “cancel” the machine spits out $30 (there was no option for $30) and a receipt indicating a $2 transaction fee. With no alternative, I try again and am able to withdraw an additional $100. I incur another $2 service fee.
We install the battery and test the alternator, it is bad. It is not generating the expected amperage and a “leaking diode” is allowing AC (alternating current) to leak into the circuit and could damage my computer. The alternator came from the same store chain and had a lifetime warranty. I do not have my receipt. The clerk says that even if I did have it, their thermal printouts are notoriously bad and it would be unreadable by now. The clerk suggests that I call the store I bought it originally (their computers are apparently not networked) to get the information he will need to provide me with a free replacement.
I had purchased that alternator in Fredericksburg, VA and replaced it in the parking lot of a Food Lion while on a road trip two years ago. I call directory assistance. They tell me of two stores of this particular chain in that town and I take both numbers. On the first try I find that there is a third. My second try is the right one. They are able to look me up and see that I made a $217 purchase but cannot provide any “history”. 20 minutes or so of hold time and a conversation with the manager in Virginia later the clerk at the local store says that it is obvious that I have a lifetime warranty based on the price and that they are the only vendors of that particular brand of alternator. He says he will replace my alternator, however he cannot place the order because their computers are now down completely. He suggests that I call back tomorrow to place the order. He won’t be working that day, but they can call him at home. This has taken 1 and a half hours. I revise my plan and head home to get the in-laws van and look for the receipt.
At home I cannot find the receipt and receive a call from D’Etta that we need to feed the kids something. I gather loose items in the kitchen because I cannot stomach feeding them another meal at Sonic. I leave the truck and take my in-laws' van. The van is partially loaded, leaving room for two passengers.
I decide to take a chance and call the auto parts place back at 8:45 to see if their computers are up and if the guy who knows what is going on can place the order. I am on hold for 15 minutes after which he places the order and assures me it will be in at 7:30 am Monday.
I rendezvous with D and the kids and we proceed to school to unload the items currently in the vans. The pressure washer guy is gone. I assemble a cart for the TV. We leave the library and drop the van at the body shop. We load up all in my in-laws’ van and go home. D takes the kids and preps them for bed.
I have to move the remaining items from the storage locker to a friend's shed. I unload my truck completely to head back to the storage locker.
Even with an empty truck bed the futon, the two tables, stack of 12 kids sized chairs, rocking chair, two pallets, and a Lazy Boy will not fit. I put the rocking chair in the front seat, this allows me to shift gears if reach from beneath the steering wheel. I leave the tail gate down and lash the Lazy Boy on. [By the way, moving a cotton ticking futon rolled up in plastic sheeting is probably very similar to moving a body.]
I arrive at about midnight. There are no lights and I don’t have a flashlight. To unload, I have to back up to the shed, meaning I cannot use my headlights to illuminate the shed.
On the way home I stop at Sonic.
Monday :
At 8:00am the car parts place does not have my alternator. They are to have it this afternoon. Apparently the order had been placed after the “cut off”.
My battery light comes on while driving to work on the interstate. I back into my space so I can be easily jump started if need be.
D’Etta says that her library cards have not been shipped. The supplier says design was never approved. School starts in a week.
The phones in school (even the principal’s) cannot call long distance.
There are no phones or network connections in the library.
To get the library card order moving, they need to send a fax. There are no fax machines. The number is long distance.
There is a moisture problem in the library and the brand new books are warping.
Today is registration and they are completing the paving at the entrance.
Note :
I left out a lot. I left out all the stuff D was doing when I was not there. All I did was heavy lifting and driving around. She is the one who has to figure out where all that stuff will go.
Unfortunately it never occured to me to take a picture of the heavily laden truck and trailer or the obstructed entrance to the school. However, I did take a picture of the intermediate school whose campus adjoins the elementary school's. This was after the rain on Saturday when a rainbow had come out.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Turtle walking, pt II
Good ole Edisto Sand
Conclusion later...
In this picture, you can see the turtles tracks arcing from the lower middle, sweeping up and right then back to the left.
One of the things they told us in the lecture was that a large portion of the beach had been “renourished” over the winter. This is when offshore sand is dredged up and pumped on shore to replace beach that has been lost due to the action of waves and tides. [That barrier islands are in the long run rather mobile and do not respect the temporary structures of man and his concepts of property and real estate is a long discussion for another day.] This sand has a different texture than the original sand – it is hard for me now to say exactly how. My impression of it was that it was a finer texture but had lots of bits of broken shell and other debris. The rangers said that the turtles have noticed the difference, too and seem to prefer the “good ole Edisto sand” – the renourishment project ranged from the “town beach” into the state park, but did not reach all the way to the end – about a mile of the beach beyond the campground has “virgin” sand.
Stars
As our walk proceeded down the beach, passing the campground to where the island tapered to a narrow slice between marsh and ocean, we came to this virgin sand. At this point the rangers said that we would stay while they went on to Jeremy’s Inlet that formed the northern bound of the island and return to us. They said they could move a lot faster without us and one would come back to us if they encountered a turtle. Our little crowd dispersed somewhat as folks took a seat or laid down. I stretched out, with my arms behind my head and stared into the stars. As far as the coast of South Carolina goes, this is about as remote as you are going to get without a boat and accordingly has less light pollution than the more developed areas. Here the Milky Way was as pronounced as I had seen it in a long time. Strangely I could make out few constellations, not that I am much of a stargazer. We did see a satellite – a fast moving, unblinking speck of light tracking east to west. Warmed by the sand below, lost in the stars above and lulled by the rolling surf I lost all sense of time. If we never saw a turtle it would have been all right with me. I had more than gotten my money’s worth.
Return
The rangers when the spoke to us it was in low murmurs, those nearest leaning in and passing their words out to those in the outer rings. The words this time roused us to head back towards town with the same caution as on our outbound trip – the turtles they said were never more than a couple of hundred yards from shore and with their large dark adapted eyes, could see us quite well. It was their experience that the waiting mothers would watch us pass and make their landings when they thought us gone. So, brushing sand from clothes and collecting water bottles, we resumed our hushed march southward.
But wait…
Not more than 100 yards into the return we were halted with word that a turtle had been sighted. It was at this time that I checked the time on my phone and realized how little sleep I would be getting before my drive back, even if I could go to bed now. It was nearly 1:00am. I must confess to a moment of mixed emotions, I could hear my pillow calling to me… We were instructed to wait, that they would come and update us shortly. We resumed our resting positions and strained to make turtles out of the shadows in the murky surf ahead. A while later we got word that the turtle was starting to dig her nest – soon it would be safe to approach her without spooking her from her task. We returned to staring, convinced one minute that we could make something out then another certain we hadn’t.
We began to notice what looked like a flashlight in the far distance, later we would learn that the “turtle patrol” from the town had been called so they could see a turtle nest – many of their volunteers had not witnessed this. The inexperienced volunteers were scolded for their carelessness with their light…
By a red light
Then Elaine, the head ranger came back and huddled us up and said it was nearly time to move up and carefully approaching the turtle from behind we could watch her lay her eggs. We could see red glow of a small LED flashlight ahead – I assume that this had the same night vision reserving benefit for the turtle as it did for us – marking the location of the other ranger. We crept closer trying to get a glimpse of this much anticipated creature still shrouded in the moonless dark. I tried to lean in from the back of the tight crescent we formed around the apparent center of activity and could only make out the jagged silhouette of a creature from another age cast in red. As we swapped positions around so everyone could take a turn at seeing more clearly, the expected shapes came into focus, as did the unexpected size. As large as the empty carapace in the classroom was, this animate being seemed so much larger here a few feet away, perched over a cavity in the sand.
In the dim red light we see what do indeed look like wet ping pong balls dropping one by agonizing one 18 or more inches into their temporary resting place. That this is a labor in both senses is obvious. At one point Elaine tells us that she will shine the light on the head of this transient mother so that we can see her face – black saucers stare out of a mottled head that actually is the size of bowling ball, a beak hooking down. We sense she’d rather we weren’t there. We retreat into her blind spot.
Slinging sand
Soon the rate of eggs dropping diminished and we were cautioned to stand back. This mother will first fill in the hole of her nest then disguise its location – all with her back flippers. The same that she has excavated it with. These clumsy 18” appendages start shoveling the pilled up sand around the opening and as that fills in began to sling sand back and forth – not wildly, but with a pause to rest between each effort. Soon , we’re not sure exactly where the nest was.
Conclusion later...
In this picture, you can see the turtles tracks arcing from the lower middle, sweeping up and right then back to the left.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Turtle walking, pt I
I was supposed to have been at work that day, but I succumbed to the persuasion of my wife. My family was on a month long stay at the beach, courtesy of my in-laws. I had come down for several three day weekends – this would be the last one for this year. My wife talked me into staying an extra day, saying I could take one less day than I had planned for at Christmas. A helpful coworker rescheduled what meetings I did have on my calendar.
I had forgotten that she and her father had signed up for a ‘Turtle walk’ that night at the state park. He graciously said I should go in his place. The walk was not to take place until 9:30, so we went to dinner before heading out. We watched the sun go down over the marsh while eating some fine local shrimp and a steak. I washed mine down with a cold beer. We headed over to the state park a little early.
The weather was beautiful – just warm and with a nice sea breeze keeping the gnats and mosquitoes out of play. The sky was a darkening indigo with only the occasional high wispy cloud to be seen. There was no moon. We made our way to the classroom where the lecture preceding the walk was to be held. I had been here a day before with the older two of our children for the kids version of the program we were here for tonight. The kids program consisted of a lecture and a walk on the beach to look at the tracks of nesting mothers and the nesting sites – original and relocated. Children under 10 are not invited on the nighttime walk because of the late hour and the patience and silence required for the long walk (both in time and distance). I would find out how long (in time) that the walk would be later…
Lecture –
The state park staff is licensed by the Federal government to work with the Logger Head Sea Turtles who nest on this island. Part of their mission is education and they do a good job of it. Though I heard again most of the same facts that I heard in the previous presentation, the enthusiasm, or rather passion of the head ranger kept my attention. There aren’t many of these ancient critters left and we could easily be the last generation that knows them first hand.
Walk and night vision –
The rules for the walk are that we follow along behind the two rangers about 20 yards behind. With no flashlights, no moon, little ambient manmade light, and the light of the stars, the rangers are invisible to us who are not at the front of the pack. Our steps are guided, and stopped, by those in front. We, in turn guide those behind. The murmur of voices and shuffling of feet on sand is almost drowned out by the surf. Our eyes adjust, the world is cast in fine shades of the darker grays and lighter blacks. As our eyes adjust to the darkness – it really does take 10 or more minutes to reach your maximum sensitivity – we can see what they told us, the surf does glow dimly and is the brightest of areas down below the dome of the sky. We strain to make out anything in the shifting murk – we’ve been told what to look for – the appearance of a log floating in – but in dark tumbling surf, I lose all sense of scale and realize that it will take eyes more practiced than mine to see anything. Occasionally we are stopped as the rangers think they have spotted something or when those in front think the rangers have stopped.
Lights –
More later...
This picture is from the day time walk with the kids. She is showing us where a turtle had nested the night before, her tracks were still visible. The rangers relocated this nest to get it above the high water mark. The pieces of straw in the were how they kept count of the eggs as they moved them - this nest had over 80 eggs (low end of the range).
In the eddy...
What is an "eddy"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_%28fluid_dynamics%29
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eddy
http://www.chrisj.winisp.net/lexicon.htm
This isn't my picture - I'll replace it with one of my own soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_%28fluid_dynamics%29
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eddy
http://www.chrisj.winisp.net/lexicon.htm
This isn't my picture - I'll replace it with one of my own soon.
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