Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Looking for Tracks

Ev and Clem had homework for their tracking class. To look for and record signs of animal life in our yard. We got our notebooks and pencils and headed for the sliding glass door.

And this is what we saw. Not only signs, but actual animal life.


Too much fun with the hose this summer had emptied our sandbox. Just before the big rain a couple weeks ago I bought 200lbs of sand and filled it. And we left the lid off, of course.

If that wasn't bad enough, the deer left her calling card. There was a lot more, but it wasn't in focus.

But this brings me to a question.

Why do I bother? Getting more sand, I mean.

We are hopeless when it comes to putting the lid on.
And that is just the start of things. Inside the house, thanks to our cleaner (many thanks), we get by.

But our car is downright dangerous. I inhaled a fruit fly while driving and my lung hurt for a week. I look at those guys with a whole new respect. They can hurt you. If you think that fruit flies imply rotting fruit, you'd be right.

We have not yet grown corn in the seat wells--an inadvertent science project that Diane Flynn Keith, the author of Carschooling, and her family conducted. But we have mummified carrots and cultured a cloud of fruit flies.

I hear it takes 6 weeks to form a new habit.

I want to try this forming a new habit idea. Or maybe replacing some bad ones with good ones. But I am torn. Should I go for cleaning up the dishes right after dinner, or cleaning out the car every day when we get home? Or putting clothes in the hamper? Or putting toys away after we're done with them. Or...the possiblities are endless.

I got started on a whim. We pulled in the driveway today and I asked the kids to each take in 5 things and put them away. Evelyn held her piano bag in one hand and asked if it counted because it had more than five things in it. In the other hand she had an egg.

I am unclear what the egg was doing in the car. Maybe she was trying to hatch a chicken. We could grow corn in the seat well to feed it. Take that, Diane Flynn Keith!

We also found this.

In the backyard, not in the car. But there could be one in there. I'll let you know when we're done cleaning it out.

2 comments:

Stefaneener said...

You know I'm relying on you to keep me sane. Remember our fruit fly growing in the car experiment? I never thought I was endangering myself, except from my habit of trying to clap them to death with both hands while driving.

Habit. ugh. I have to call the kids up and have them put away their toys. Again. And Again. And Again.

Good luck.

Anonymous said...

I had to laugh at your cleaning up woes. Cause I really ought to be cleaning up all the dishes and craft supplies from Park Day, and what am I doing? Reading your blog.

I hate to put a damper on it, but Mr. T has only occasionally put his dish next to the sink after that amazing right-at-six-weeks exhibition.

Guess we're not so different from the deer: we're just leaving tracks. All over the dang place.