While waiting for our food today, Logan and I played a little game of “I Spy” with our menu!
It is very simple, Open the menu to a page, say to the other player(s) “I Spy…” and pick a word, if the children are younger, pick a shape or color, and allow them to find it, and then they get a turn.
Good for about 5-10 minutes… maybe…
There are endless variations on this, and with the summer travel months ahead…
What variations have you played?
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Back in March, Madison brought home an announcement about the Brandywine Valley Association doing their “Red Stream Blue” program for the fourth-graders at her school, and they were looking for some parents to volunteer their time for the day.
If you have been following my photographic work at all, you’ll know that I have preference for running water, and I have been to a variety of places in Chester County, so this seemed like a fun opportunity to get to know the local environment a little bit more.
At 9 am on April 3rd, we gathered in the faculty lounge at Uwchlan Hills Elementary School for the morning training session.
We had a delightful instructor by the name of Connie Shapiro, who walked us through the eight stations that we would be presenting to the children later in the day.
During the program, parents and students are taught about the cycle of water as it falls from the sky, lands on our roofs, lawns, driveways and street, then is channeled into gutters or streams, and into the creeks, through water treatment plants in local townships, and finally into the Atlantic Ocean.
Connie cheerfully explained each stage of the water cycle, and answered questions as we prepared for the afternoon presentations.
After the initial morning training, we then got to choose which stations we wish to work at, and I selected Station 4 Macro-invertebrate Mayhem!
This was the station with all the bugs or should I say larvae, nymphs, snails and worms.
The good stuff!
After lunch, we set up the eight stations in the fourth grade pod, and fine tuned what we were going to say when the kids during our 10-12 minute presentations.
To say I was nervous was an understatement, and thankfully I was joined by Eileen Hazard from the Brandywine Valley Association (BVA), as she brought in another bucket full of critters she had collected on her way to the school!
Finally it was time to begin.
In the main meeting area, with all the teachers, students, volunteers and BVA folks, Connie started in, and captured the interest of a room full of fourth graders quickly. Robert Struble, Jr. gave a short little introduction to the program, just before Principle Giering was partially mummified to illustrate how much water our bodies contain.
At the conclusion, Eileen and I rushed back to our station, and made the final preparations.
I asked Eileen, if she could please demonstrate first, because I was not sure what to say in such a limited amount of time. Each group was with us for only about 10-12 min, and there was a fair amount of information to cover in during such a limited amount of time.
When it became my time to demonstrate, I was glad that I was sitting at a table. The table hid my rapidly twitching legs, as they moved up and down like pistons in a car.
I was surrounded by a group of fourth graders, and if you have not done this in a while, it can be very intimidating.
Thankfully I recognized a few faces, or in other cases they recognized me, which helped ease my nerves as I began to speak.
When the second group arrived, my daughter, Madison, came running up, and give me a big hug and kiss just before my demonstration. Some needed reassurance for me.
It was delightful to see the children so happy and inquisitive, and I was very surprised with the lack of screaming, as many of these kids were being introduced to these ugly critters for the first time!
During the two hours of the program, we did eight presentations, for nearly 100 children, as they rotated from one station to another.
There was a final group wrap-up meeting, and we broke for the day.
If you happen to have the time, and chance, I strongly recommend that you volunteer in this program.
There is no doubt that during the course of the day, you will learn something about the streams, creeks and rivers within the Brandywine Valley and how integral they are in our local environment.
You will also get to work with some wonderful parents, neighbors and BVA Staff, and if nothing else, you do get a chance to work with children, and maybe spark some sort of curiosity into science!
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I was in the area, and with this most likely the last snow of the season, I decided to visit the mill.
The last time I had been here, was last summer, and I wondered what had changed.
One of the areas I wanted to find this time, was the “Orange Room”, which I thought I saw on the last visit, but ran out of time to investigate.
As I walked further into the building, I could hear the wind blowing outside, and water dripping from the holes in the roof.
What was very startling, was how close the cars on the road sounded. There where several times, I thought they were driving in the building!
The occasionally, one of the side doors would slam a direction, and scare the hell out of you!
All in all, it was a good trip!
Thanks for looking!
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Woke up this morning, and there was 2-3 inches of snow on the ground…
The 5th Day of Spring… Go figure…
Got the kids on the bus and headed to the Marsh Creek Lake Dam area for maybe the last snow of the season.
In the woods, I was getting bombarded by snow, as it fell from the trees.
When I finally reached the Dam plateau, the snow was coming down hard, and it was nearly impossible to keep the front of the lens clean, so most of the shoots are looking south, with the wind at my back.
After about an hour of wondering around, I headed home…
I am so ready to get some real colors!
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Just caught this on Google+
The Nik Collection by Google: photography first, for professionals and more
Here on the Google+ Photos team, we’re busy building tools for all kinds of photographers. Today, and for all the professionals out there, we’re bundling the complete set of Nik plug-ins as the Nik Collection by Google. We’re especially excited about three things:
1) It’s more affordable. The entire set of plug-ins for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture only costs $149 (versus the previous $499).
2) It’s really powerful. The Nik Collection by Google gives you tools for everything from noise reduction and HDR imaging to creative effects and image sharpening (and lots more).
3) It’s free to try. You can visit niksoftware.com for a 15-day free trial of the Collection.
If you’ve already purchased one or more Nik plug-ins in the past, then don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In fact: we’re going to upgrade you to the entire Nik Collection by Google for free. Just keep an eye out for emailed instructions in the next few days.
Once you’ve got a Nik Collection shot that you’re excited about, feel free to share it with the Google+ community. Simply tag your public pictures with #nikcollection , and we’ll reshare some favorites from the +Google+ page. We can’t wait to see what you’ll create!
This is SO sweet!
If you have never tried Nik Software, it is REALLY cool stuff, and it sounds like, in a few days, it will be well worth the price!
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