Morning Science

My dreams of daily walks with my own little girl have finally come to fruition. I've walked almost every morning with Ellie since I've been here in California. This morning my walk took place earlier than normal as Ellie has not been in the mood to sleep in lately. We left the house around seven.

BJ's parents live at the very top of a very big hill, and every morning we're engulfed in a blanket of clouds. There's dew on the grass and car windshields and clouds of mist everywhere around. It sort of resembles the setting of a Halloween movie minus the ghouls and gore. Usually the mist burns off around nine- the time I normally set out on said walks- but today it lasted and lasted, and I was so glad to be in the middle of it all. The air was cool again. Ellie was bundled in her fleece footed pajamas and two blankets. By the time we got home we were both soaked from all the condensation. It was pretty dreamlike, all quiet and misty. I think I'm gonna make an effort to set out walking a little earlier, cause I like the scenery better this way.

You may remember my favorite author. She likes to take walks in the morning too. She walks with her husband Joe on Martha's Vineyard. I like to think about her and her "Morning Science" on my walks:

"Every morning, for years and years and in all seasons, Joe and I walk the same walk- out a dirt road that meanders through the woods and around the pond, to road's end, where the pond opens to the sea- a place known locally as "the creek." Every season is wonderful there, but in the fall the woods dazzle us in reds and golds, and woodsmoke spices the crisp ocean air. We bundle up, me in my green plaid scarf and Joe in his black beret. 

After so many seasons, we feel intimate with every stick, tree and critter on the road. As we walk along we ask each other questions, trying to divine the secrets of nature. It's become a kind of game we call "Morning Science" which is funny to us because we know nothing about science, something that has really come to light out there. That doesn't stop us...

For example: Morning Science, Oct. 12

Me: Look at the big hole in the trunk of that tree. Look how perfect is is- what do you s'pose made it?

Joe: A woodpecker?

Me: A wide-mouthed woodpecker?

Joe: How bout a beaver?

Me: Silence. (I know there's no beavers here.)

Joe: How 'bout a man with a buzz saw?

End of Morning Science

Or

Morning Science, Sept. 17

Me: Look honey- look at the egret! He's got part of his bill just sitting in the water. What do you think he's doing?

Joe: Eating.

Me: Possibly just imbibing? Don't they have to put their heads under the water to see the food?

Joe (man of few words, especially in the morning): I don't know.

End of Morning Science

And so it goes... we should probably call it "Morning Stupid." We may not know much about science, but we know what we like."