Day: September 16, 2013

The Old Gum Tree

indigoshellLeave a comment

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
What a life you lead

Many in this world do not know what a kookaburra is, even more have not seen or touched one.

Many would not know that the kookaburra’s call doesn’t sound like a laugh – it’s more of a demonic monkey yelling at the unfairness of the world.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry, merry little bird is he
Sing, Kookaburra! Sing, Kookabura!
Sing your song for me.

Many would not know how large and cuddly these birds are, how soft and downy their chest feathers are.

Many would not know the gleam of light cyan in their wings, how minuscule the feathers are and how they catch the light so easily.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me

Many would not know how picky a kookaburra will be with a frozen mouse.

Many would not know that kookaburras would even eat frozen mice.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That’s not a monkey that is me.

Many would not know how hard it is to perfect the kookaburra call, as well as getting them to call back to you.

Many would not know that if you stroke his belly and then push on his legs, you could get Stevie to sit on your hand while you pet his head.

Sarah and William

indigoshellLeave a comment

All over the internet, a new trend has been circulating.

Sloths.

Me Gusta

Creepy sloths. Creepy sloths everywhere. Do people really know what they’re like? My guess is that not many people have seen sloths in real life.

Over the summer I spent six weeks at Cub Creek Science Camp and got to take care of a very wide variety of animals. Among my favorite were two two-toed sloths, Sarah and William.

Sarah Lookalike

Sarah was the more active one, slowly and carefully wandering around and around her pen. “Don’t touch her face!” warned many, many counselors. “Don’t let her grab you! Don’t let her bite you! Don’t feed her! Sit down on the stool and don’t move!”

“You can feed her and pet her if you’re very careful,” said Billy, a very mellow counselor that taught the “Jungle” class, which is where the sloths are located.

William was the one always sleeping in the corner of the enclosure and only awakened when I brought him a little lettuce. Only lettuce though, since William will take one bite of an apple and then drop it to the ground.

Sarah though, eats both apples and lettuce. Neither of them seem to like the sweet potatoes very much and I often wonder why they even have sweet potatoes anyways since none of the animals seem to like sweet potatoes.

After feeding Sarah her apples she would stare at me with her deep brown eyes and slowly reached her odd clawed hands towards me. Any other person would be told to duck and cover but I reach out and stroke her claw, playing a strange little game of keep-away. It’s true that if they grab on they won’t let go until they bite it, but I’m careful enough to not get grabbed.

When camp ended and I returned to OVS I felt myself pining for my summercamp and its animals. No, not for the dwarf miniature horse (my gods he’s small), not for the towering camel, but for the strangely charming sloths that have plagued the internet.

Not that I’m complaining about them.

photo 21629120-2068-4857-94bd-ee0c68376bae.jpg

Dawn Patrol

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

Today, for the first time, I decided to join Dawn Patrol. Dawn Patrol is a small group of students at my school who head to the beach at 6:15 on Sunday morning to learn how to surf.

Now, I’ve been telling myself for years that I wanted to learn how to surf. It’s always been something that fascinates me. I love movies about surfing, and I think it’s an amazing skill to have.

I’ve actually been surfing twice – once with a family friend when we lived in San Francisco, and then once when we were in Cabo. But those times I never did more that ride the whitewater to the shore. Today, I went past the point where the waves were breaking, which was a brand new experience for me.

It didn’t exactly go as planned.

As it turns out, when you’re about to be hit by a wave and you’re my size (about 5’2″), the wave looks a heck of a lot bigger. It’s also a lot easier to be tossed around. I had a really hard time getting past the point where the waves were breaking, but once I did, it was amazing.

I didn’t ride very many waves. But the amazing part of the trip for me was sitting on my surfboard in the ocean, feeling the swells come up and down underneath me, and watching the sunrise and the fog clear away. It was an incredible feeling.

I did only catch two waves, once after I got out, and then again when I was ready to go back in. I didn’t stand up, in fact I did the exact opposite and got tossed around quite a bit. On my last wave, the board hit me in the face while I was underwater, which wasn’t very pleasant.

Overall though, the trip was worth it. I may not have made huge progress, but at least I got out there and started to get a feel for it. And watching the sun rise was perfect.

I definitely plan on going again. Maybe after I catch up on my sleep though.

A Little Change in Scenery

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

This summer, I was lucky enough to go to South Africa for five weeks. Because I was there for so long, I feel like I can’t just write about it in one blog post. So I’ll write about one part of it now, and another part later, and eventually you guys will get the whole story.

That’s the idea at least.

A couple months before school ended, my dad and I scrambled to pull together this trip for me. I wanted to go visit my old babysitter, who I hadn’t seen in about ten years.

Only thing is, she lives in Cape Town, South Africa. Somehow we pulled it off, and I found myself on an 18-hour plane ride a couple days after school let out for the summer.

My dad warned me before I left that it would be winter there, and that it would be cold. I basically told him he was being silly. I mean it’s Africa right? No way it could be cold.

Wrong.

It was freezing. I optimistically brought my shorts and sandals with me (along with jeans and boots, thankfully), and I definitely could have saved myself the extra weight. I never even put them on.

I lived in jeans, boots, sweatshirts, and down vests. It was freezing, and made even worse by the fact that there was no central heating. The only way to escape the cold was to take a nice long bath. Nevertheless, we still got out and explored.

The scenery in Cape Town is stunning. I’ve never seen anything like it. You look one direction and see mountains, and you look the other way and see nothing but blue ocean.

The mountains aren’t the same as they are here – there are less trees and more rocks and flowers. The views it allows of the city are breathtaking. Every direction you look there is something new to see, something beautiful and different from anything you could find in the states.

It’s absolutely amazing to see.

Cape Town

Speak emotion, not words

frog3Leave a comment

fef

When a human speaks what comes out?

Is it failures, hopes, dreams?

Do the words represent freedom?

Or just a logical way to communicate?

Humanity has not always been united in this regard.

Thousands of cultures have existed.

These ancient people made art, tools, and crafted language.

Progress always had it’s price.

Skin color, cultural values, and language all warped.

People could their differences to others.

It is these differences that has caused conflict.