Fossil Hunting in Winkleman

Fossils can be found along the road to Globe just past the slag dump. You don't have to search- just look down at the rocks that are at the very side of the road. One side is the drop to the river - the other side is steep hill or cliff. You can pick up almost any rock - especially the white ones - and find the shells of sea creatures that lived millions of years ago.

Counting Calories: Exercise and Eating

I have found a couple of sites that help with figuring out the numbers.
The Calorie Counter has lots of good information for health and nutrition. You can calculate your intake and needs easily with some of their pages. You can become a member of the site and access some forums but you don't have to sign up to use the calculators or the library of informative articles

Another site that is useful for calorie counting is Calorie Count.

Flags at Sunset

There are things to teach our children everywhere a parent, or grandparent, looks. Here is a perfect example.

Discuss with your children the meaning of the colors in the flags View at sunset from San Manuel, Arizona towards the Galiuros
The national and state flag fly in many locations. This set of flags fly at the local plastics plant.

The colors of the national flag - "white represents purity and innocence; red represents hardiness and valor; and blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice."
The Arizona flag - copper star for our copper industry, yellow and red rays for the sun and the colors of the conquistadors. Blue - I don't remember - maybe you can find out for me.

The importance of the meaning of color in art is another topic you can discuss with your children as you create a flag of your own that represents characteristics you might want to develop in your family.
Loyalty, trustworthyness, perserverance, confidence, are a few character traits you might discuss.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Although I am not a big baseball fan, we received tickets from a friend and spent a lovely afternoon at Reed Park in Tucson. At the seventh inning stretch we sang the song - written in 15 minutes on a train ride back in 1907. The verses to the song describe a young woman's love of the game. The chorus is what she says to her boyfriend when he asks her what she would like to do on a date.
Once upon a long time ago, my grandmother got all the cousins together that were staying with her for the summer, and set us all in positions around the field. We learned to play baseball from her. We learned how to play fair and who was a good sport. Lots of character building can be done by one determined grandmother and a baseball.
Get a game going on your own. Invite the neighbors and their kids!

Time to Start Tomato Seeds

Re-use old papers to make little bio-degradable seed pots

Karate Class Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-5

Therapy through movement and discipline of the mind

View videos of the Katas Practiced by the Shorin-Ryu Matsubayashi-Ryu System.

Wildlife Along the San Pedro River, Arizona

Poster I made for CAC College for Kids 2007
The San Pedro River flows from its source in northern Mexico to Winkleman, Arizona where it joins the Gila River. This river is a riparian corridor that is home and passageway for a dizzying array of wildlife. The beaver population is returning to help regulate the flow once again. Some of us have seen the dam at the San Manuel Crossing (32 35'58.47”N 110 32'11.97”W) but it was washed away during the last set of storms. You can still see the marks of beaver teeth on the trees in that area. This is an easy place to drive to and park. You may need to walk up or down stream to get away from the noise of the paint-ball games and quad riders.

Sit still and get quiet

Sitting still on the bank of the river gives children and their grown-ups a chance to listen for the movements and calls of the wildlife. Follow the sounds to see what kind of creature made them. Bring binoculars if you can; they make the experience closer but not necessarily better.
Look at all the distances: close up, middle, and far. You see different things.
Bright red and yellow birds flit through the branches or walk carefully across a floating carpet of duck weed. Great Black Hawks hunt and nest; frogs croak and call to each other; cicadas crawl out of the damp sand, up he tree trunks and out of their skin to scream at each other in the branches. Large animals make their way down to the water at different times of day. If you sit still long enough you may see coyote, deer, bear, javelina, coatimundi, ringtail cat, bobcat, mountain lion, and raccoon. Huge wasps make nests in the mud on the banks. Funnel spiders make beautiful webs and raise their babies as one big, happy, crawling family.
The plants ar beautifully adapted to the strip of water that runs through the arid landscape. In the summer the trees take in water during the day and the flow of the river diminishes. At night the trees don't drink as much so the water level goes up. On really hot days you can see the difference as though it wer tidal. The next time you go down to the river, take a moment to have a look around, then take another moment to listen.
Three Cautions:
1. Bees do sting and spiders do bite but not if you leave them alone.
2. Remember to stay away from the river if it is still raining upstream or in surrounding mountains.
3. Pack it in – pack it out.
At-home activity: print out the line drawing of the poster and color it yourself

Spring Snow Storm

Snow is quickly melting off the cars - it is very cold here. From my office window I watched a dark grey cloud consume the mountain. The little white clouds rushed out of its way, down the street and through the trees. We could see the curtain of snow before it hit us, like the rains in summer. One of my client's drove up with his mother from the town below the snowline, up into our clouds; knowing they would drive back down out of the snow when they left my office.
Snowflakes are supposed to be unique. Each has six points or sides. The ground outside the office looks like someone forgot to plug the hole in the bottom of the slushy machine. It just looks cold and wet.
for a virtual snowflake of your own try Make A Flake
Or make one out of paper with scissors at home using these instructions:
Paper Snowflakes

Looking for Mushrooms

March 8

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Wet - cold early Spring day

Perfect for mushrooms

Look down or on tree trunks.