Nerdy but Cool: The Skater Boys' Conundrum

This afternoon in Target I was perusing a box of recycled Christmas cards, when the word "kill" caught my attention. I looked over to find three boys, around 13 or so, rummaging through the Halloween candy (Sale! 75 Percent Off!). They wore black jeans and Vans, and all three had dark hair that curled at the backs of their necks. One wore a RAMONES tee-shirt. (If I were a 13-year-old girl, I'd describe them as skaters -- gangly, nerdy, and decidedly cool.)

As they were circling the bins, one kid said, "So you let her die, right?" and I realized they were talking about a video game. To my joy, his buddy said, "Well, hopefully you get attached to the character and let her live." The third kid wasn't participating in the dialogue, however, as he'd homed in on something spectacular. "Pez!" he rejoiced.

I knew I was onto some great dialogue, so I pushed my cart over to the sale bin, pulled a pen and pad from my pocket, and started jotting away. One of the boys glanced over at me, then turned to join his friends, who had wandered so far away that I could no longer hear what they were saying. But luck was with me, and they drifted back. RAMONE was now carrying a bag of Reese's Pieces. "You can buy Kit Kats if you want," he told his buddy, "but I'm buyin' these." Then off they went, shoulder to shoulder, in search of the Doritos aisle.

Fall Morning in Folsom

Observed during my morning walk this crisp October day:

1. Man wearing flannel PJ bottoms, Birkenstocks with no socks, a white tee, dark gray jacket, and sunglasses. Happily strollin' along.

2. Middle-aged couple seated on park bench, eating french fries from a McDonald's bag and talking to an older woman. Couple's two dogs -- one a Great Dane pup with large floppy ears -- were sitting at their knees, eyeballing the fries. Only caught snippet of their conversation, but the older woman (her hair in a bun) said, "Socialization is huge. Huge, huge, huge." True on so many levels.

The park was at its best this morning: the leaves on the sycamores, maples, and oaks are just beginning to turn, and the air carried the scent of a fire from a wood stove. I may repeat the route this evening, maybe on my bike this time, and my first sweatshirt of the season.

Peregrines

Steve's on the board of The Peregrine Fund, and was recently in South Texas for a board meeting. This young peregrine was trapped on South Padre Island as part of a long-term research project to measure contaminants and the reproductive health of peregrine populations.

Peregrines are now off of the endangered species list (DDT and other pesticides caused egg shell thinning and reproductive failures), as trapping results and research measurements now point to a healthy, increasing population.


A biologist is banding this young peregrine; the hood helps protect the biologist and the bird from injury. The peregrine was released a short time later.

Insomnia Haiku

Awake again. Rats.
What's the secret to sleeping?
God knows, but won't tell.

A Passion for Nature

Currently on page 59 of A PASSION FOR NATURE: THE LIFE OF JOHN MUIR by Donald Worster. It's been difficult reading, as Muir was tormented by his father, a controlling, joyless, brutal man.

"Daniel enforced his son's work regime, not through inducements or praise, but through thrashings and sermons. A burning brush pile became a reminder that an everlasting hell was waiting for bad boys who disobeyed God (or withheld their labor). 'The old Scotch fashion of whipping for every act of disobedience or of simple, playful forgetfulness' continued on the frontier, but now it had become part of rural work-force discipline. Most of the beatings, Muir wrote, 'were outrageously severe' and most of them fell on him, not on his sisters or younger brothers."

It's no surprise then that he found solace in nature, and comfort in the plants, wildlife and trees of Yosemite. What's surprising is that he didn't turn out like his father.

Folsom's Annual Bark 'n Splash

Folsom hosted its annual Bark 'n Splash on Saturday, when local canines were invited to frolic in the kiddie pool before its yearly cleaning. This photo features Maya and Erich's Labs, Country and Delilah -- Country is the black Lab in the center of the photo (posing for the camera), and Delilah is the yellow Lab, hopping from the water -- which she did easily, roughly 2,000 times.

Not only was the pool filled with Labs and retrievers, but with two great Danes, one St. Bernard, a handful of cow dogs, two coons, two poodles, one exceedingly shy pit bull (a contradiction in terms, if ever there was one), and maybe half a dozen unidentifiables (aka mutts). Oh, and there were two bulldogs, one wearing a nifty little life vest.