Things I saw last week.

Sunday: Rat Snake It was probably about 4 1/2 feet long. I am still waiting to see a snake that just scares the poo out of me. I was warned that this one was coming up by Dre. I have yet to just stumble upon one myself.
Monday: Fireflies. Yes, this is the first time I have seen lightning bugs. It was majestic. Well, besides the fact that the general atmosphere of the moment was frustration/defiance/chaos because Lawson thought that he could run away from camp and to his home because he didn't want to be at camp anymore. It was camp out night and he was supposed to be finishing the little amount of homework he had, and he was upset and thought the solution was probably to run away. Lets just say he didn't get very far. Anyway, the bugs were beautiful. Good story right?
Tuesday: Bullsnake. This website I linked doesn't actually have Arkansas as a state it is in...but Buddy said it was a Bullsnake, so I am going to agree with him because he has lived here all his life, he wears his hair in a pony tail, wears cutoff jean shorts, and flannel. I don't think anyone should disagree with anything Mr. Buddy says. He's legit Arkansas. By the way, I didn't find this one either. The Kitchen Director Ms. Mary did, then Mr. Buddy was holding it behind the kitchen which is on the way to the staff lounge where I was headed. SO, once again, I am still waiting to be scared out of my wits by one that I find. (But I think I'd be fine not finding one).
   Also on Tuesday I saw a Tarantula . It was a beautiful and furry creature. I had seen one in September on the classroom porch, but I actually petted this one. It was sitting next to the pathway to cabin 4 where some boys were setting up tube tents to sleep in that night. Right next to it was also a teeny-tiny snail. It was so small it could have fit inside the diameter of a dime.
   June bugs have also really started to come out as well. I have mostly seen them careening into the lights on the porch of the classroom at night and then littering the porch the next morning. Sad, but true. They are huge and loud, but pretty cool I suppose.
  I still hear and see tons of frogs around camp and have picked 4 tics off of kids this last week and found one on Hercules'(Director's Dog) ear. They are really coming out strong!
   Here are a couple other random notes. One of my boys in math group said that the scar I have on my elbow looks like a piece of meat attached to my elbow. I told him that I got it snowboarding though, and he thought I was much cooler. Then I told him to do his work or it was going to be homework. :)
   Another couple of the boys were trying to guess my age and they thought I looked more like 19 or 20, so that made me feel good.
   Lawson (the one I wrote about wanting to run away) told me on Wednesday during our last math group that he wanted more work to be able to show his family how smart he has gotten. It went something like this: "I want more adding sheets so I can show my mom how smart I got because I wasn't smart before I got here.
    That is exactly what I am here for.

for.the.kids