Grades Update

I am happy to report that I got an 83 % on my Tech Math test from last week. Like I said the other day...Physics not so good. I only scored a 46%. But as my teacher was quick to point out I was the 5th highest grade in the class. Mind you there are only 10 of us in the class. But he said I would get a solid C on the test using the scale. So 4 people did better but 5 did worse. All in all I feel pretty good about my first week back hitting the books. Next update probably won't be until next week. Hope you all have a great week.

I just love that photo of our dog Leo. Didn't it make you all either laugh or smile when you saw him with his doggles on?

My Dog Is Cool...

This is our dog Leo. He is one cool dog. He likes to ride around wearing his "doggles." That way he can stick his head out the window as we zoom down the road not having to worry about the occasional bug or dirt particles that might get into his eyes.
When I was driving home from school the other day I heard a story on the radio about dogs and being in cars in the hot weather. They were just re-iterating how bad it is to leave your pup in your car. They gave a website that you can go to to see if it is too hot in your area that day to safely bring your favorite pup along for the ride. All you have to do is enter your zip code and they do the rest. You should check it out.

www.mydogiscool.com

Same Boat

Hello Everyone. I feel like I have gotten into the same boat as the breadmaker.
I think I won't be posting many if any blogs for the next few weeks while I am
doing my Summer Bridge program at Vermont Tech. I have 2 hours of Tech
Math and Physics each day. This past week I came home each day and spent
about 4 hours on my homework. I also just got a job working in a hardware/feed
store in the Northfield. Northfield is just over the mountain from our house.
About a 15 minute ride to work. I will be working there on Saturday and Sunday.
School was very hard for me this first week. I haven't had to think like that in
30 years!! I had 4 quizzes and 2 tests this week. I did okay on the quizzes
but not sure about the tests as they were on Friday. My math test was pretty good.
The physics test not so good.

Heavy Rain Today....

We had some heavy rain come through today about noon time. We got almost 2"of rain in about 45 minutes. The pictures are just some shots of the veggie garden near the house to show how much rain there was. There was also some hail. It was a little bit larger than a pea. It did no damage to any of the veggie crops. The beans are laying on the ground right now but I think they will bounce back up.

Green River Reservoir

Although the Leo thought it would be a great idea for him to come along on our canoe trip we decided that it would be better for him to stay home. I couldn't imagine those two in a canoe on dry land never mind on water.





Cully was really leaning towards going canoeing but once again we just had to say no.
I couldn't imagine those two in a canoe on dry land never mind on water.




We had just bought a new rack to put on my car. For those who don't know I am no longer a truck owner. I have been driving this 2005 Subaru since last September. I really like the car but I do miss being up higher when I drive. Anyhow back to the story. We are the fortunate owners of a nice canoe. Leigh's Mom gave it to us last year. We went up to the Waterbury reservoir a couple of times but never any further than that. It is about a 20 minute ride from our house. So this year with the different car we needed a rack. I put the rack on the car Thursday night. Very simple to put on. Then on Friday morning we were all ready to go on an adventure.




We decided that we would go to Green River Reservoir a little bit north of us. As you can see my able copilot was all ready to go.



It took us about an hour to get there. we arrived about 9:00 a.m. There was only one other person who had signed the sheet that day. It was a beautiful day. We paddled around the reservoir for about three hours. We only saw a couple of other boats for most of the time we were out there. When we got back to the boat launch area around noon there were quite a few people and their assorted non-motorized boats. Most of them looked like they would be camping for the weekend. We were quite happy that we didn't have to see them while we were out paddling around.

We had a great time. We decided not to bring Leigh's camera with us just in case it got wet. It made us say we need to buy a case for it so we can bring it with us. That is why there are no photos from our trip included here today. As we were first setting out we heard some loons calling back and forth to each other. It reminded me so much of those early days at Bow Lake when I would be out rowing in my rowboat. Man we had fun when we were kids at Bow Lake. I'm sure my siblings would agree with me. We paddled past a couple of camp sites that were occupied but other than that we saw no one. The water was smooth. No breeze at all. Very easy paddling. As we paddled along there was absolutely no noise at all. Other than our paddles dipping into the water we heard nothing. Except perhaps the deer flies that would buzz us any time we got close to land. At one point during our paddle we had gone up the narrow part-about 40 feet and decreasing for about 2 miles until you reached a beaver's dam- and the deer flies were thick. I would guess I saw 15 buzzing around Leigh's head as we were slowly paddling up this part of the reservoir. It was the same around my head. The biggest difference being Leigh had remembered to bring her hat with her. Ever since I got my haircut I don't wear a hat as much as I used to. Like never. It was very Everglade like as we paddled toward the dam. We had read a guide book about the reservoir before we went so we knew the dam was coming. Small 3-4' diameter tufts of grasses sticking up from the earth surrounded by water. Marsh like. Moose habitat. But alas we saw no moose. But we did see a great blue heron as we approached the beaver dam.
It stayed in place until we about 15' away from it. Then it very slowly took off flying about 30 yards downstream. We saw the heron for most of our return trip out of the end of the reservoir. About 15 minutes. It was really cool the way he flew just ahead of us a couple of times to get away from us. Not very far. But just far enough. We also saw some canadian geese with their babies. About 8 little geese swimming along.

However the best thing we saw was the mother loon with one baby on her back and the other practically glued to her side. We were close to the loon designated area (I wasn't aware that loons could read signs. Apparently this one couldn't either as she was not in her designated area.) when we saw a loon about 30 yards straight in front of us. So we just kept on paddling. I kept waiting for the loon to dive. But it didn't. Then Leigh, with the aid of the binoculars, saw that it had babies with it. We then swung wide of them. She let out a couple of warning cries as we went past her. The small ones were very fuzzy and new looking. It would have been very good to have had the camera at that point.

When we were rounding the island that was about 300 yards from the launch area we hit a very brisk wind. The last few hundred yards were an effort. The breeze as they say, (whoever they are) came out of nowhere, to create some small white caps as we finished out our trip to on Green Mountain Reservoir. We will go back there again this summer for some more paddling. Leigh had packed us a nice lunch to have but we were back before it was time for lunch. But also happy to have missed all those other people who had been arriving.

Here is a link if you want read a little bit about the Green Mtn. Reservoir.

http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/grriver.cfm