Snowbear's Least Favorite Question, Part 1
One of the great things about being at Green River is that life is never dull. Any given day, activity areas and filled with smart and interesting people. This is especially the case during meals at the dining hall.
The discussion at dinner began innocently enough. It was the dinner before the day that our two-week campers arrived and we were all in a good mood in eager anticipation. I was sitting next to three other mentors: Bentor, Katie, and Snowbear.
“I went on a short hike right before dinner” I started “and as I was leaving Upper-Bald field, a few turkeys flew from the field right into the trees. I can’t believe how big they are and how quickly they took flight!”
“I find turkeys terrifying!” Katie chimed in.
“Really? Terrifying?” Snowbear looked at Katie with surprise. “I love them.”
I jokingly reminded Katie that she has worked with Golden Eagles, all sorts of owls, and other powerful and seemingly more intimidating birds in the past and gently poked fun of her apparent turkey-phobia.
Snowbear then started telling a story of tracking turkeys next to his house. They would come to his back yard and he would sometimes follow them out of curiosity. One time, he heard a turkey call right on the outskirts of the woods next to his house. He decided to follow it. The turkey call led Snowbear deeper and deeper into the woods.
It seemed that just as he was coming upon the turkey, the call would get further away. Nevertheless, Snowbear was determined to find the source and perisistently followed. He was up for the challenge. After a while, he finally set his sight on … a crow?
“I was amazed at how well this crow mimicked a turkey.” Snowboard said with a smile on his face. “He had me fooled all the way.”
This was no easy feat, as Snowbear is an excellent tracker. As I sat there and listened to the end of his short story, I asked why he thought the crow was immitating a turkey and leading him deep into the woods.
“I really dislike ‘why?’ questions.” Snowbear said to me slightly frowing his brow.
Katie and I both looked at one another and then let out a collective “Really …?” When I am not at Green River, I am a high school mathematics teacher. When Katie is not at Green River, she teaches middle school science. We both consider ourselves scientific and curious, so to both of us, the essence of science is observing an interesting event (in this case the crow’s behavior) and then coming up with a hypothesis about that event. Why did it unfold the way it did? Making conjectures is an essential part of the scientific method. We were both curious as to why Snowbear wasn’t a fan of the “why”.
“Could you please elaborate?” I asked as Katie and I settled in to listen to his explanation.
(Snowbear’s explantation and mine and Katy’s reflection on it will be posted in a few days)
-Pawel
-Update on the new campers at GRP!-
Everyone has arrived safe and sound this beautiful June day, and they are all ready for an amazing week ahead of them! After saying goodbye to parents and family, the kids split up into their cabins and got to know who they will be living with for the next two weeks.
Activities this afternoon included the trust circle, the swim test, dodgeball, kick ball and a friendly game involving a Frisbee.
Dinner at GRP is served family style with each cabin sitting at their designated tables where they can talk about the activities and experiences they’ve had throughout the day, it’s an extremely nice way to have some one on one time with one another.
Tonight’s meal was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and our awesome salad bar, filled with an assortment of yummy vegetables. Needless to say, everyone left the lodge with full bellies ready to enjoy the upper council fire. The campers are ending their first day with a nightly ritual of “Rose, Bud, Thorn” held in each cabin before lights out.
We can’t wait to start this new adventure with the kids and are all looking forward to an amazing two weeks with them. As always, it has been another wonderful day at GRP.
Your GRP photographer,
-Samantha K.
