Encroaching Brown

The island has decided that the rainy season is over. Many flowers are fading, and all the grasses are going to seed, turning brown, and dying off. You can see the blight of brown appearing on the peaks and creeping down the hillsides. It's daily progress is impressive.

We did have a good rainy season this year; I think there was less than 5 inches of measurable rain in 2007, and in 2008 we're over a dozen. The ponds, lakes and reservoirs in the interior are all full now, and the bison and deer populations should be well fed for the summer lean times. So while I complained about the mud we had to deal with over the winter, we're certainly thankful for the water. But now it's back to dust. As we were driving over to Avalon today, I was using the rear windshield wiper to clear the accumulating dust from rear window.

We were going to Avalon for Springfest, a peculiar little festival for the locals in support of various organizations (the high school, the Scouts, etc.). It was a weird vibe. Many people used it as an open market/garage sale. There were some games and a moon bounce (unclear what the money being collected was going to - maybe just the owner of the bounce), but we were there for charitable work. The Cub Scouts were selling baked goods for the Great American Bake Sale. Thing1 helped sell cookies for his allotted hour. Many of the goodies on the table disappeared in that time, some into us. Afterwards, Sweetie and Thing1 tried their hand at archery (the Scout booth), but we couldn't convince Thing2 to take a pony ride.

Speaking of animals, on the way there, we almost ran over a large (~3 ft) rattlesnake that was crossing the road. We stopped and got out and (using a looong stick) prodded the feisty reptile to the side of the road. It didn't rattle at us, but it was hissing. Shortly thereafter, we picked up two high school kids who were returning from a weekend of camping at Shark Harbor. They were hiking back to Avalon, but it's a long way, so we offered them a ride. The island being the island, we had some common acquaintances, and so had a pleasant conversation on the way.

Hmm. I guess that's something we'd never do on the other side of the channel...

Pinewood Derby

Gentlemen, start your...uh...well, just sit there and wait for gravity to take effect.

Yes! It's that time of year when little boys all over the country watch their dads build the cars they wanted to build as youth (while watching their dads build the cars..., etc.)



Daniel and I put together a slick-looking racer that initially weighed 6.2 oz (well over the 5 oz limit), necessitating the boring out of a cockpit. Our snazzy paint job was achieved with markers, since the hardware store on the island only carried oil-based paints. And after some minor confusion about the date of the race (leading to a drive through a marathon and a game of miniature golf), the big day arrived.




Pack 400 holds its Pinewood Derby outdoors at the Wrigley Pavilion down by the beach in Avalon. It was a beautiful sunny day, and quite a few tourists stopped by to watch the action and buy baked goods. Since both the Pack and the associated Scout Troop are so small, they let the Scouts participate, too. Each Den (Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Webelos, and the Scouts) races separately to determine Den winners, then they have a run-off of all the winners for an overall winner. This Pack also has a Friends & Family race (so dad can build his own car) and a corporate sponsor race ('no rules', but a higher entry fee). Thing1 did pretty well. He placed second in both races for his Wolf Den, and thus won himself a second place medal. He even (without prompting) went over to the Wolf winner and said "Nice race." No one cried (a first, apparently). Thing2 really enjoyed watching the races, and we decided that next year he'd get to enter a car in the Friends & Family competition.

Orca pictures

Okay, just so you don't think I was too spoiled, this is typical of the views of the orcas that I got from the boat I was on (it was still pretty cool, though):



Now here are some better pictures (I'd credit the photographer, but I'm not sure who it was):

Easter and comings and goings and Wiggling

Easter on the island was a new experience. We couldn't find our Easter decorations and baskets, so we had to make due with what was about. We dyed eggs Saturday night, and the Easter Bunny dutifully hid them around the living room. Instead of Easter Baskets we had Easter Mixing Bowls, but the Things didn't mind.

One of the yacht clubs holds an Easter egg hunt in town. They hide plastic eggs full of candy and one Golden Egg with some bigger prize (I think it's something like $50). The younger kids were on the beach this year, and the older kids were up at the playground and 'amphitheater'. Both things had a great time and found lots of eggs. No Golden Egg for us this year, though. It was a beautiful day. We went down to the beach and ran around. The Things did go into the water some, but it was pretty cold, even for them. We did have one 'tragedy' when Thing2 knocked over his bubble mix, but all in all it was a lovely day.

We also had to say goodbye to Thing1's friend Y (you remember Y from a previous post). His folks decided to start a move back to Alaska, so they cast off into the, well, I guess sunrise, since this is the west coast.

Easter, of course, means Spring Break for the school kids, and the LRSH closed its doors to give Ms. Barney a well-deserved rest. We took the opportunity to go over to LA for a weekend and see the Wiggles in their latest roadshow. We stayed in a hotel so the Things got to swim in the pool. We also stopped by the bookstore so our voracious reader (Thing1) could re-load.

One last note on the topic of comings and goings: Tuesday, I arrived at work to find a group of students hustling down to the dock to hop on a boat. It seems a pod of orcas had been spotted just off the island, and they were going to have a look. So I hurried down and asked if I could tag along. Twenty minutes later we could see dorsal fins and some tails flipping out of the water. A few times we even saw flukes. One of the students took some pictures. I'll try to get some posted, although I don't know how good they are.