I had the chance to get away from the office yesterday and help chaperone my son's high school biology class to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, just a little south of San Francisco. Despite the mild threats of rain that never came through, we had a fine day out, sliding around on the rocks, checking out various sea critters exposed at the low tide, and likely sending a poor red octopus into therapy by the collective and excited shouting of about 50 boys all pointing and bellowing "OCTOPUS!"
I tried my hand at a little journaling to pass the time on the rides down and back and may transcribe the notes here soon. A bouncing bus full of chattering teenagers may not be the ideal environment to Think Deep Thoughts, but now I have a new appreciation for the kinds of life that hangs along our coast, and how they've adapted to the battering tides.
I also have a deeper appreciation for high school teachers and the battering they get each day at work. As wonderful as it was to get out from the desk and into the fresh air, there's something to be said for the quiet and relative calm of my day job. I imagine Mssrs. Adney and Polt are leaning back in their chairs now, noddling sagely. My salt-sprayed hat is off to you gentlemen. I have to admit that I got a little unhinged on the ride home, sitting on a too-small schoolbus seat, staring at the miles of brake lights between me and home.
I wouldn't have traded the day for anything, though. We need more field trips in our lives.
2 comments:
Amen to more field trips! You are lucky to get a day out, even with those screaming teenagers around. Beaches are a wonderful thing to explore. I'm looking forward to your notes already.
Thanks for the memories of field trips of my teenage years. Especially one led our camera club advisor. Looking back now at the slides I took that included the graying chemistry teacher slogging down the beach with half a dozen exuberant boys, I can see the day from his long-suffering point of view. Despite the hi-jinks of the day, his efforts sowed the seeds of what has become one of my life's great pleasures. So hats off, indeed, to high school teachers who add that extra bit.
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