Kids and dead things

I led another educational tour at the wetlands this week, a group of 7th graders. I generally like that age as they are old enough to talk to you on an intelligent level, and young enough not to have attitudes yet. And this particular group was from a very wealthy area of Southern California. So, we head out onto the trails, and I talk about the wetlands habitat, pointing out herons and egrets, showing them the difference between ground squirrel holes and gopher holes, smelling coastal sage--the usual stuff. There are are a few overlooks on the path at Bolsa Chica where we stop to talk about the mud flats, good bacteria, and the Pacific Flyway. Well, we've just been through quite a few big storms in this area. Do you know what happens in wetlands when storms come through? Lots of trash, gunk, and pollution wash down the storm drains and end up at the wetlands. Even dead dogs. Of course the dead dog ends up right smack in front of my lookout point--in clear view of everyone. God knows where it came from--it likely died somewhere else and was washed down the storm drains. It sure wasn't fresh--its fur was gone, and its skin was hard and red from exposure to the sun and water. I wanted to talk about mud flats and egrets. All the kids wanted to do was look at and discuss the dead thing. I tried telling them it was a coyote because I didn't want them to think it was someone's pet, but they didn't care what it was. They were thrilled to see something dead! They wanted to know how it died: did it get in a fight, did it fall off the cliff, did it drown? One kid said "That's the biggest dead thing I've ever seen." It made his day! They were all fascinated! They completely ignored the beautiful egret that was feeding on the mud flats. I had to practically drag them away to finish the rest of the hike. On the way back they wanted to stop and look at it again. I said NO. A few of the little punks lagged behind me and ran to the lookout point when I wasn't watching them. I know they all went home to their estates in the hills and told their parents about the dead animal, the highlight of their day! I hope the wildlife care center personnel get out there and pick it up before my next tour!

Goodyear Blimp ride

After I saw the movie The Bucket List, I actually made my own list, even wrote it all down. Some of the things I'd already done, like run a marathon, and stand in Red Square in Moscow. Some things are still in the future like attending Wimbledon and owning a pair of Manolo Blahniks. But, this week, I got to cross off an item. I rode the Goodyear Blimp! It was a totally amazing experience! You can't buy a ride on the blimp. It's free but you can only go via an invitation. It's all about who you know. Fortunately, my friend Dan knows the right people and he invited five friends as the blimp seats six, plus the pilot. We arrived about 45 minutes early, we were all so excited! We had to sign our names and watch a safety video--that's it. Easy. Guess what? There are no seatbelts!! You can get up, switch seats, open the window. Once you board the blimp, the ground crew tosses off the weighted bags that keep the blimp from floating away, then they push you up and you're off. The pilot told us that, at takeoff, we are 200 pounds LIGHTER than air. That's wild--especially when you've got 7 people whose combined weight is over 1000 pounds! It took no time to reach 1500 feet above the earth. The view is incredible--very different from being in an airplane. Because the blimp is so much slower, you can really study everything below. We headed south and floated over Long Beach, the LA Port, the Queen Mary, the Vincent Thomas Bridge, and the Home Depot Center. We all took turns sitting in the front seat, and the pilot had fun "body-surfing" on the wind. Our pilot, Nathan, was awesome. He's a tour guide pointing out the landmarks below. He's an historian filling us in on local history. He's a meteorologist explaining weather phenomena and how it affects blimps. He's one of only 70 blimp pilots in the United States, about half of whom actively fly. And he was fun--we tried to buzz an oil tanker in the harbor, but at blimp speed, I think they saw us coming! We learned that blimps react differently when underneath a cloud. You can actually feel it being pushed downward, and you can tell when you get out from under the cloud--it's like the blimp goes "whew, made it!" The winds really determine when you can land--and we had to stay up an extra 20 minutes because of it. And the landing! WOW!! It's a lot of physical work for the pilot. Then the ground crew, about 16 people, run toward the blimp and grab these long ropes that hang from the nose. They assist the pilot in guiding the blimp into a tiny little pole that connects to the nose. The landing was a work of art and choreography, absolutely beautiful. It was a once in a lifetime experience and we are all so grateful to have had the opportunity. It's a great feeling to check another item off my bucket list!