And on leap years there are 29!

I actually have no reason for a post, except that it's a leap year so... that's important.

I'm just gonna post a picture of a salamander, because in 10 days I will be Costa Rica with all sorts of amphibians and reptiles and everything else in the tropics, and I cannot wait!

It had to happen sometime...

We, the residents of Bar Harbor, like to joke about the stupid tourists who get stuck on Bar Island because they don't realize that the bar is only a bar at low tide. Then they have to get rescued by the coast guard, ha ha ha! Why they so stupid??. 

 

Fast forward to today. Taylor and I decided to visit Bar Island on his last day in town. We checked the tide charts. Twice. Low tide was at 7:30. We got there at 9:30. Easy Peasy, plenty of time! We almost blew away, but we made it to the island and spent about 20 minutes thawing in a meadow. Then we strolled back out to cross back to town and then.... WATER! Covering part of the bar!! How could this be?? So we ran. And screamed. And froze our feet and legs.

This was the shallow part, after we calmed down a bit.

So stupid!!

It had to happen once. And it was most likely helped along by our extreme amounts of gimpitude. 

A Valentines Day Story

No no no, not the sappy romantic kind. This story is from elementary school, where Valentines Day was a Big Huge Deal. I'm sure all you readers know this, but here is a re-cap: 


If you didn't buy or make valentines for everyone in your class, then you were the lamest of the lame. I used to stay up extremely late (for a 9/10/11 year old) hand-crafting valentines for my class. One year I made pigs out of clay and pasted them on cards and drew a cartoon customized pig for each of my classmates. But that story of my weird pig obsession phase is another story for another day. 
Another huge part of Valentines Day in class was The Box where everyone put your valentines in. You would leave it on your desk, and everyone walked around and put Valentines in everyone else's boxes. Then you got to take the box home and spend the afternoon looking through all of your notes again and eating the candy. 


One Valentines Day in 4th grade, I took the bus back from school with my mom, day-dreaming about looking through my box all afternoon. But then-- the horror!-- I got off the bus and realized, as the bus was driving off, that I had left my beloved box on the floor. 

I proceeded to freak out. Lots. Worst Valentines Day ever. But for some reason, that day of all days I had memorized the bus number. So we went home and called Metro, told them our predicament and the bus number, got the route, and found out the time that that same bus would stop at the Metro stop. We met the bus there at the designated time, and there was my hero the bus driver, holding out my box! We gave him a handmade valentine, and there was joy throughout the land!
And that, my friends, is the story of why I love handmade valentines and public transportation.

Good Ripples

I've only posted a couple of times (and about nothing very important) since I've returned to life on Mount Desert Island. I guess I don't have many *new* things happening, because I am back in familiar territory, and that seems boring to blog about. But today I thought I would share my normal Friday with you. Nothing special happened, but it was a really good day. Those are my favorite. I love how the small exchanges and interactions that happen on an ordinary day can cause good ripples.

Shout-out to Joan of Arcadia!

Today after doing food shopping for my trip I walked to the post office in town. The man who works there, Warren, is my favorite postal worker ever. Every time I go, I have somehow managed to wrap my box terribly or with the wrong tape. He tells me that he is supposed to charge me for the tape that he uses to fix my messy work, but since we are best friends he'll let it slide. Because that's what best friends do. And every time I leave, I'm smiling. Kindness goes a long way.


And when I left the post office and sat waiting outside in the glorious February sunshine (WHAT is wrong with this winter?), who else introduced himself to me than one of the founders of COA! I guess I looked like your typical COA student, soaking up the sun on the grass in Carhartts. Anyway, we chatted for a couple of minutes about how wonderful the school is, and how he started it, and then we were both on our merry ways! Small town, small school.


Then I rented XC skis for the first time (will probably blog about how it goes later) and headed home with friends to make Indian food and watch a stupid chick flick! And eat cookie dough ice cream! So normal, so wonderful.


I don't have pictures from any of these things because nothing really happened (I think that is the point of this post?), but here is a picture from yesterday. My house had 'Dress Like Your Housemate Day', and it was a raging success! No one could tell us apart. We are pros.

Here's hoping that I will find something cool to blog about soon! If you are still reading this, I hope you find yourself in the path of some good ripples.

Major Reflection

Well it's midterms here at COA (and it's only February?!?), so I thought I'd briefly reflect on what I've learned so far, and think about if I want to change anything about how my classes are going.


Here is what has been happening in....


Intro to Econ: Global Issues
Major Global Currency
General Sense
Major Tools
General Idea
General Assumption
General Motors
General Electric
Major Takeaway Point
General Recognition
General Expectation
Major Areas
Major Factor


Our Public Lands: Past, Present, and Future
Major Rail Lines
Major Way To Get To Them
Major Snowmobile Loops
General Lands Office 
Major Piece
Major Usually
General Management Plan (Hey! I remember this guy. He was in my block course too!)


For some reason my other two classes haven't had any visits from the military. I'm going to bring that up in my midterm evaluations. If I can't randomly salute in class, then what is the point??