Hermie The Hermit Crab

In the previous post, I left off where Mum and I drove up the coast. We stopped in Brookings to meet up with my Aunt. The next day we went to Harris Beach where there are some famous rocks. 

I thought that the footprints we saw on the beach were rather interesting. My guess was initially Skunk. I got poo-pooed and the general consensus was Raccoon. Although I still don't think it's Raccoon. Any insight would be lovely.

The reason we were in Brookings was to see the negative tide, which was -1.4. It was pretty amazing. This funny looking rock is actually covered with Anemones. 

Mum gets the Eagle Eye award for spotting this guy. It was a Sea Cucumber that looked very much like a rock. I'm really happy I didn't step on him.

We stayed around the tidal pools until dusk. Mum and my Aunt chatted a bit as the light faded away.

The evening became even more magical as the lights of Brookings flicked on and twinkled across the harbor.

Our adventure doesn't end there, I'm afraid. For you see I did a bad thing. I found a bit of driftwood that I thought was funny looking and put it in my pocket and promptly forgot about it. You shouldn't take things from the beach. And in typical me fashion, I got an instant punishment. When we got back to the house, I pulled the driftwood out of my pocket and a little shell fell out a crack in the wood and into my hand. Then the shell started to scurry... across my hand. I screeched and threw the now identified hermit crab onto the bed, where he spent some time scurrying. (Quickly I might add) I felt bad about accidentally bringing the hermit crab home, so Mum took me back to the beach where we walked for 10 minutes to get back to the tidal pools. Unfortunately the tide had come in at this point and the only pool I could get Hermie into (I named him Hermie) could only be reached in the brief time between waves. So I waited for the wave to recede, ran to the pool, dumped Hermie in, and ran back. I earned wet pants for returning Hermie. But I felt like I owed it to him. It wasn't his fault he got jammed into my pocket and taken far from home.

Hermie had better live a bloody long life after all that. I hope he's ok.

Camp Memories

Camp is full of all sorts of fun memories. It was fun to see some of the high school campers become cabin leaders for the middle school kids. Both weeks we went on a beach trip, which included fire pit s'mores and singing.

I had the opportunity to spend time with people I hadn't really seen or talked to while I was at university. Good times were had by all.

I think my favorite memory was when we had an all staff night game of Nine Square In The Air. Kyle (in the center) had gotten himself a sandwich. He played nine square by hitting the ball with his plate all the while raving about his sandwich. At some point he got out and was going back to the first square when Josh (on the left) spiked the ball towards Kyle. The trajectory couldn't have been better. The ball flew over Kyle's shoulder, hit the edge of the plate, and spilled the sandwich into the grass. The highest pitched scream was uttered with high, whiny tones of "MY SANDWICH! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? THERE WERE ONLY TWO BITES LEFT!!!!" Everyone, and I do mean everyone, collapsed to the ground, laughing, for a solid three minutes. People's sides ached the next day from the laughter.

No camp would be complete without John Lightfoot. Everything you've heard about Chuck Norris is true when it comes to John Lightfoot. I saw the guy dive into a briar patch under a cabin in order to grab a gopher snake. Who does that? John Lightfoot. That's who.

If you doubt his awesomeness, just watch this video.