Over the river and through the woods

Well, I just got back from my last science field trip. ("Just" meaning I returned almost an hour ago, promptly got a shower, and have been posting messages for my Tolkien listserve.) We were taken out to a "Mystery Spot," so that they could dump us there and have us put all the Lovely Things we've been learning into action by coming up with a history (geological, topographical, etc) of the area. Actually, the spot was only two minutes away from campus (last time it was 20 minutes away plus a 12 minute hike in the woods to get there).

First off, we had presentations this morning in science. Our group (group #3) was. . .you guessed it! going to go third. Unfortunately we weren't the only ones who decided that Global Warming would be the easiest topic. So we sat through the first two presentations, and watched as they used our facts, our evidence, even some of the same diagrams and slides. Go figure. But here's the worst of it: each presentation was supposed to be 7 min long. Which means, with a 50 minute class period, there should be more than enough time for all five of the groups to go, even assuming the normal technological breakdown at the beginning. Both groups in front of us took 20 minutes. ARRGG! What do these people not get about a 7 MIN PRESENTATION???? Okay, so a little of that time was the tech problems, and questions after, etc., but each one was still like 17 minutes. I'm sorry, but that's way off. So we had to rush through ours, which, yes, did end up being around ten minutes with questions (NOT my fault, as any of you who have heard me present no doubt know. And this time I was trying to fly through the material). I hope the teachers don't blame us for lack of depth just because we stayed within the time limit. What a mess.

Anyway, back to our lab fieldtrip. Most of it was pretty normal; tripping on rocks, ducking under branches, trying to look intelligent while saying things like "Definitely looks like it was formed by karst" or "These crinoids point to the mississipian period" or "Oh look at the pretty flowers." And, of course, trying to cross a wide stream by hopping on rocks and waving one's arms wildly. But two moments stood out (well, besides the "yes, that IS poison ivy")

Sarah (one of my lab partners) and I had crossed the stream, when out from the woods comes. . .a yellow lab/golden something kind of dog. And it looked just like Walt's dog from LOST. Woah! This trip began to gain back my interest. Off it went racing into the woods (hmm, maybe we should follow it), but then there were two other dogs with it, and a minute later a woman walking past on the path higher up in the woods. Oh well. (Ooooh, wait, maybe she's an other! :0)

Second crazy happening was on our way down the cliff we were on top of back to the vans. No, nobody fell off, though goodness knows we probably deserved to. We weren't supposed to go near the edge (ha!) unless we were lying on our stomach. I sat quite a safe distance away, and I wished I was bold enough to pull out my fiction book. Okay, so I did get close to the edge (lying down, of course!) to take pictures, but it was for a good cause. Anyhow, we were at the edge of the dirt parking lot, when some girls see a snake and shrink back. Our teacher comes and blithely picks it up. It is, of course, dead. Well, we here a shriek behind us, and we find an even bigger snake, which one of the girls, in her haste to back away from the first one, stepped on. (Isn't that so like the way things work?) Unfortunately there is no moral behind this story; this snake was dead as well. Which leaves only the question of how they died. . .they didn't seem hurt at all. Then again, I was keeping a safe distance. But I bet the others did it.