Holiday Cookie

A student made this cookie for me.  Adorable! 

The First School of Forestry

                     A few weeks ago we visited the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah National Forest.    
                                                   So much history and the trails are easy!

  I think it would be fun to teach in an old school house like this one.  Very cozy and few distractions. However, I am not sure that I would appreciate this rustic feel in the middle of winter.

Have you ever heard of moon trees?   Apparently, there are several of them scattered throughout the U.S.      Moon Trees    Click the link to learn more about NASA's experiment of taking seeds to the moon.  

Nature Abounds

At the beginning of the day,  I found this garden spider (Argiope aurantia) in my front yard.   They are also called writing spiders because of the unique design in the middle of the web. 

By the mailbox I discovered a blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica).

We spent the rest of the day at Lake Glenville (highest elevation lake east of the Mississippi River), where we saw a swimming squirrel.  Yep, but what makes this even crazier is that we saw a squirrel swimming in this area of the lake a few weeks ago.  He must really like to swim?

Then, at the end of the day an osprey swooped over our heads and landed in a tree right next to us!
I have witnesses!
 

My Favorite Time of the Year

Fall is my favorite time of the year.   

The mullein is blooming.......

The "hearts are busting"..............  

Euonymus americanus

The spiders are spinning........

The apples need picking............

and the walnuts are dropping!

Blue Ridge Parkway Adventure

Tent and camping gear -    

Food -     

2 dogs-      

2 adults and a 10 month old -     

Chaos -    

Lost items that I know I packed-     

Crazy thunderstorm -    

Laughter-   

Memorable first family vacation-   


We started our journey on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Mount Mitchell.   We ended the day at Linville Falls campground. Linville River was close and raging due to numerous days of rainfall.      The campground was clean and convenient, but I thought the campsites were too close to each other.   Early the next morning we hiked to Linville Falls.  

 

We continued north to the Moses Cone Memorial Park.  Named for a prosperous entrepreneur,  this 3,500 acre estate has miles of flat roads for easy strolls and a beautiful house that serves as the Parkway Craft Center.

The last night of our vacation was spent at Julian Price Lake.     The campsite was close to the lake and the breeze was refreshing.  We finished our hiking adventures on the Julian Price Lake Loop Trail (an easy 2.7 mile trek).

                                                     Yes, our dogs get their own tent. 

Lifelong Learning

A lifelong love for learning is something I hope to instill in my students.   I know some students assume that the teacher must know everything about the subject they teach.  However, they need to understand that even teachers are still students of education.  Learning is a lifelong process.  A recent trip to PARI and Linville Caverns made me ponder this thought in more depth.   Exploring new places is homework in the lifelong learning process.

Visiting PARI (Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute) was very cool.   I never knew that the telescopes are that HUGE!     In the museum, they have all sorts of space memorabilia.   I can’t say that I am now an astrophysicist, but I do know more about space by having visited their facility.  

Linville Caverns was a nice escape from the heat of summer.   The year round temperature in the cave stays in the low 50’s.     Upon exiting the cave everyone must clean the bottom of their shoes to help prevent the spread of the dreaded White-Nose Syndrome that affects bats.  This fungus is responsible for declining bat populations throughout Western North Carolina.