Bees.....

...Swarming!!!
Back in December, when we met our new neighbors, one of the first things we were asked was, "Do you like bees?" We were surprised, until we learned they planned to be beekeepers!

Over the past few months we have enjoyed getting glimpses into the process building the hives, getting the bees, as well as occasional peek into the beehives to watch the bees at work.

The hives! You might be surprised by the non-conventional beehives. These are a new type of hive that allow the bees to build their own honeycomb, the end result being more beeswax for candles, soaps, balms, etc.

One day Sarah said, "Look at all the bees! They are all out and about!!" We all ran out of the house and, sure enough, the bees were out. "Sarah, they're swarming," I said. They were actually wild honey bees that had been living in the weeping willow on our neighbor's property. He had asked Dad to call him if we saw them swarm. The bees were flying around the field behind our neighbor's house. They flew closer and closer together, gathered around a young cedar tree, and gradually landed in a dense mass. As their movement calmed, I was able to get quite close for pictures. The tree the bees lived in before swarming.

The bees on the cedar sapling.

Our neighbor was able to come over and capture the queen, and start another hive!

~Kathrina

To get a word in edgewise...

We were sitting around the breakfast table Friday morning discussing the day and trying to make sure everybody knew what everybody else was doing so we didn’t have any disasters. (What? I thought Mom was available to take me to my appointment…Wait! I was planning on using the car. Can’t you drive the van…) Seeing it was going to be tough to get a word in edgewise without being accused of interrupting, Noah wisely raised his hand to signal that he had something he wanted to say. At first, nobody seemed to notice him; he grinned at me and kept it up. Still nobody acknowledged him, so he propped his right hand up with his left hand to wait it out. This brought a general laugh and attention turned to him, but alas! Dad thought of one more thing he needed to say about the last topic. “Now it is your turn.” Mom said, but there was one more thing I needed to say.
The hand came back up…and then Noah propped it again. “Sorry Noah” we all chorused.
He sighed with relief and opened his mouth – only to be interrupted by Kathrina. This time Mom said, “Wait a moment Kathrina, it really is Noah’s turn.”
Poor guy!

~ Janna Rae

A Mournful Tune

Since I finally figured out how to upload videos on our blog, I thought I would post a short series that I wanted to post last summer. I actually found that saving them as an mpeg2 file makes the uploading go even faster, so here we go!

These were all taken at the sixtieth birthday party of our music coach, Terry Prohaska. This one is "The Earle of Salisbury", an old Renaissance dance tune. It is one of Terry's favorites, though I'm not quite sure what it signifies because it seems like every other song we play is one of his favorites! It does take a little time to get accustomed to Renaissance music, Terry says this one sounds like a dirge! Unfortunately the camera does not pick up the richness of the tune, but if you have good speakers take the time to connect them to your computer!

~ Janna Rae

P.S. We have a really good one coming up for our Australian friends!

An Elaboration On Clarity...

I thought you all might enjoy this example I came across in my readings for my online WR121 class (at CCC). It is from George Orwell's essay on Politics and the English language in which he criticises politicians for using elaborate, empty words instead clear concise ones that state the truth of what they are saying and doing.

Well written English that is both poetical and meaningful:

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11)

Orwell's translation of what the same ideas would be written like in modern times:

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success of failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account. (538, The Writer's Presence)

And now let us hear the conclusion of this whole matter...People can easily sound educated by using words that no one else understands. What do you think?

~ Janna Rae

Biology Field Trip

Last Saturday we took a field trip to Yaquina Head near Newport for Krista and Kathrina's biology class field trip! Sarah and I took this biology class two years ago so we had been on the field trip before, but we had fun returning to the site without having to identify anything, or turn in any homework! (sorry Mrs. Karman)

We love traveling in the van together! Usually Dad drives, Sarah sits in the front passenger seat and helps with directions, and the rest of us find somewhere in the back to be comfortable. We read, listen to music or books on tape and have crazy or profound conversations as the mood strikes us. On this trip Mom embroidered all the way around the edge of a baby blanket she is giving to a friend. Congratulations Mom!

The Yaquina Head lighthouse overlooks the tide pools.

Kathrina and Krista hard at work identifying specimens.


Cody and Taylor, two of their classmates, identifying with enthusiasm.

The girls had to identify at least one specimen from twelve phyla. They were supposed to draw five of them, but it was raining so hard drawing was impractical.

The photo on the left is a sea sponge attached to a rock. The sea sponges almost look artificial with their bright orange coloring!


Rockweed

Sea Anemone

These Sea Urchins had actually dug themselves little depressions in the rock.

A Sea Star (Hurray! I still remember something from my biology!)

Another view of a Sea Anemone and Sea Star. The Sea Anemones are fun to touch - they stick to your finger rather like velcro!

A crab Mom found

The beautiful tide pools at Yaquina Head. It was rather stormy!

Of course, we made a day of it and played in Newport for the rest of the afternoon! We stopped in a glassblowing shop, walked on the beach, bought fudge and taffy and had a lovely dinner at a Thai restaurant. Oh yes, and we got home at 10:30 p.m. - rather early for us!

~ Janna Rae