We met Boo and Miranda at Locust Lake State Park in PA last weekend. The only criteria were pet friendly campsites and equidistant, and that's what we got! It was a nice little park with some good hiking trails. Our neighbors provided a great lesson for me about why some of my students are the way they are. But still, we had some nice fires and a few great "seltzers".
The moon on the lake
Mother Nature's own candle
Flickering brightly
One morning, as I got up, Eva burst out of Sarah's sleeping bag! She's always ready to go!
I enjoyed making coffee for the crew each morning and they enjoyed sitting around chatting. We were all feeling very fortunate for each others company.
We were also glad that we did not have to go underground with whale oil lamps strapped to our heads.
All aboard the mine car!
It was incredible to go underground in a coal mine for the first time. I can't believe I've been teaching about this for a decade, but have never before seen it first hand.
Sarah and Miranda were impressed by the iron ore stalactites and amused by our guide, Larry.
Larry was a real ham!
Being in the mine was really impressive. It seems much worse than I had imagined. I can't believe boys and men spent their lives in such miserable and horrifying conditions.
This is a photo of a photo of the company homes the mena and their families were allowed to rent as long as they didn't cause trouble or try to organize. Sarah told me she read a form that showed a breakdown of the men's wages and costs. Their wages were $36/month, their costs were $35.75. They paid for their rent, their food, their tools, protective gear (if available), and their clothes... unbelievable.
Outside of the mine, there was a car show. We looked all over for a Firebird, but to no avail. So Sarah bought raffle tickets for the next best thing, a 1967 Ford Mustang. The drawing isn't until September, but Sarah says that'll be fine since she's going to drive west and the country will be beautiful in the fall!
Eva and Jonas went with us and really seemed to enjoy themselves. Even if it was a little chilly.
In the evenings we drank some seltzer to keep warm.
These photos are from this weekend and the days leading up to it.
Dingy helped me fix the riding mower. The nice thing about having dogs is that one is never without a helper.
This is from Matt's last day. My first student teacher experience was... ok. The kids really liked him and even wrote a song and a story for him.
Matt adopted some of my less effective practices. Here, two students are sitting in my chair. Instead of asking them to move out of a chair they shouldn't be in in the first place, Matt is contorted around them to work on the computer, setting up the next lesson. Hilarious.
Eva helped me "prune" the smallest of the apple trees. Veneta had lots of helpful advice, too, but didn't stick around for the picture.
We went to the Plantations and Sarah took us on a wildflower walk.
Mom and I competed for most pictures taken. Here a vortex opens as I take a picture of Mom taking a picture of a flower.
Wildflowers are much too small for me, so I wondered around IDing trees. Ash.
Beech
Basswood
White Poplar
This is the larger of the two apple trees that I pruned.
Had to have a beer before I cut all the branches off.
Sarah mowed the lawn while I pruned trees and weed whacked.
Jonas helped with the pruning. Veneta gave me lots of great advice. We had a great weekend. I didn't take any pictures of the Migration Celebration at the Ornithology Lab and all the awesome raptors we saw, including the merlin, eagle owl, kestral, golden eagle, barred owl, great horned owl, and some crazy peregrine falcon hybrid. We went to the Farmers Market and Hopshire Farm Brewery, too. Had another great weekend with the moms.
