EB News: Three Updates

Long time no post! I just have a lot of stuff that I've been meaning to get on paper (so to speak) so this is one of those "random updates" posts.

Weather update: We got through Florence remarkably unscathed, thank goodness. Although it was initially projected to go straight through the Triangle area, the storm shifted its course and we got barely anything over here. Jenny and Matthew and I all camped out at his place and played lots of games, but it wasn't until we moved back home Sunday night that the rain really hit us. Even though everyone was supposed to be back at work Monday, the roads were pretty flooded by the morning. Here's a look at my street:

"Road subject to flooding" indeed.

The shopping center where we usually go was completely swamped, and it took several days for it to reopen. Even so, that was about the worst we got up here but the same can't be said for other NC and SC residents. It's been crazy to realize that towns just south of us were completely knocked out and that hundreds of people are still living in temporary shelters.

Then, of course, the remnants of Michael decided to pay us a visit at the end of last week. Weirdly, our area seemed to fare worse from Michael than from Florence; roads were closed, trees knocked down (one of the cars at Matthew's apartment complex was completely flattened), and Jenny and I were out of power for a couple of days. Given how strong it was all the way up here, I can't imagine what Florida and Georgia must have gone through.

Nice day for a stroll.

But to make up for it all, yesterday was absolutely glorious and we're finally getting some nice fall weather around here. To celebrate, I bought a couple of lawn chairs so we can enjoy our meals outside-- so of course today it's raining.

Work update: I'm having so much fun! Now that I've started my after-school visits, I am working 10-hour days pretty regularly. Fortunately, I get to have a lot of fun on the job. To begin with, the students I work with are delightful and I absolutely love connecting with them. I'm thrilled that I get to work with each club for an entire week, so I get to know the kids pretty well by Friday-- and they get to know me. A couple of weeks ago, one child told me he'd had to make an invention at school and he named it after me: "Eleanor Infinity". (Never did figure out what it does though). Another girl told me happily that she learned more with me than she does in "regular school", which I sincerely hope is not the case-- but flattering nonetheless.

I also get plenty of funny stories. The other day we were doing chemistry and a huge component of our lesson is lab safety. I started out like usual ("What decisions did I make when I got ready this morning that will help keep me safe?") and they figured out the long pants and closed-toe shoes pretty quickly. Then one girl raised her hand and pointed out that I'd chosen to avoid a fashion disaster (she gave "purple shirt with red pants" as an example), which would definitely help my day go more smoothly. At least I know she approved of my outfit.

The students are all so precious and even though, as with anything else, there are definitely good days and less-good days, they always get me through the long hours.

However, office time is pretty fun too. We're always thinking ahead and testing activities for new curricula, so I get to do things like extract DNA from wheat germ (Friday), play natural selection games (Wednesday), program robots to cross a model football field (Tuesday), order extremely realistic fake animal scat, and watch my coworkers make lots of foam.

A lot of the clubs I visit are an hour or more away, so I spend a good bit of time on the road as well. (In related news, I've become a bit of an NPR addict recently.) I also see a lot of interesting stuff, whether it's a school bus converted into a tobacco leaf truck, a license plate that says "MITOSIS", or a dude casually smoking a cigarette while sitting in an armchair in the back of a pickup truck on the state highway.

Of course, it's not all fun and games. The hours are long (plus I still have my freelancing to do when I get home) and there's definitely a lot of work that goes into putting together and running a program like mine. But there's a lot that makes it worth it.

Camping update: Matthew and I have been excited to get outdoors for months, but it has been so incredibly hot that a full camping trip sounded absolutely miserable. No longer! Last weekend we headed to Morrow Mountain State Park, which is about two hours southwest of here, with backpacks and high spirits. It was a total blast! We left early Saturday morning, had a picnic lunch at the park, and hiked a few miles without the packs before setting up camp.

Getting ready!

I mentioned that I ordered buckets of scat for work... imagine how entertained I was to see the same opossum poop I have in this display at the park!

Checking out the map.

We elected not to rent kayaks this time around, but it's definitely on our bucket list.

The weather was absolutely delightful when we were there, but the ranger confirmed my suspicions that they'd been hit pretty badly by Florence. Several of the trails were still closed, and we came across a number of freshly downed trees. At one point, we even saw a portion of what used to be the trail sticking up in the air, as one giant oak had torn it from the ground.

These trees were massive.

Most of the trees came down roots and all, but this one just snapped apart. Check out that splintering!

Matthew was intrigued to catch a glimpse of an obelisk through the trees, so of course we ducked over to investigate. It turned out to be a grave marker for the Kron family, who had lived there in the 1800s. Dr. Kron was apparently a wealthy physician who had married a French bride and settled in the area, and their two daughters lived with them throughout their lives. There was a beautiful reconstruction of their estate, complete with house, workshop, and vineyard.

This greenhouse immediately threw Matthew into fits of jealousy. Dr. Croft apparently loved his plants and even grew things like oranges and lemons inside of his greenhouse.

By the time we made it back to the car, it was getting to be late afternoon so we thought we should set up the tent etc. well before dark. We grabbed our backpacks and headed out to the campsite.

Such a cute little tent!

First order of business: grab some firewood.

That feeling when you get an awesome fire going with one match.

"This is the cover of my new preacher album."

Then it got dark and I stopped taking pictures.
That is, until I decided to visit the restroom. The campsite was one of those places with a pit toilet tucked away in a dark shed. Matthew and I had both used it before it was dark, but since it was in the shed we couldn't see a whole lot (besides, it's a pit toilet so why would we want to?)

I wanted to make a stop before bed, so we trundled over with our flashlights and found... this.

Big nope. That's the stuff of nightmares.

We did see a lot of more attractive fauna (and flora) though.

We found a copperhead! Luckily it had been smooshed by a car (at the entrance of the park).

As a kid I had a dead bess bug (also known as a patent leather beetle for its shiny exoskeleton). I always wanted to find a live one, but although I knew they lived in rotting logs I never did come across one. Well, we had a rotting log next to the tent and quite easily found two of the beetles! I guess dreams do come true.

Look carefully under this leaf and you'll see a frog cowering. It really did not like when Matthew tried jumping up and down to make the water jiggle (he didn't know it was sitting on the bank next to him).

In the morning we set off around 7:00 to try out the "strenuous" path, since Matthew felt we hadn't pushed ourselves hard enough yet. It certainly was difficult at times but overall quite manageable and lovely.