The early morning skies bring light a surreal bed of clouds. The sharp contrast of the dark basaltic rock in the shadows and the white, puffy clouds gives the picture a mystic quality.
Comments
Post your own comments on this photo!
Wendy Riggs said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:12pm)
@Scott Yeah, I know I only need a flashlight, but I want an excuse to buy a headlamp. :D I'll probably use a flashlight, though before I get a lamp. We always have a few spiders even in winter, but you're right . . . more will be out soon!! :)
Kansas City, Missouri
Scott Dillon said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:35pm)
@Wendy, you technically don't need a headlamp... just a flashlight "shining out from your eyes". But, yeah, a headlamp helps a lot. If the spiders are not out yet in TX, they will be soon!
Kansas City, Missouri
Scott Dillon said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:32pm)
@Dawn, It is a blast! I've seen green-eyed spiders and orange-eyed spiders (as in the color of the reflections). And most of the spiders around here at night are a gray spider that hangs out on the ground or on tree-trunks or other plants, just no web spinning. (I don't know my spider names very well...I just look). We also have some larger, hairy, brown spiders that like to spin webs about face level across the trail! Gotta keep an eye out for those!
We also had a yellow and black spider in my mom's garden growing up as kids. We called it a banana spider... ;) We liked to feed it grasshoppers and watch the spider spin it up in webbing!
Wendy Riggs said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 07:15pm)
I love today's topic! I'm not married, but I love getting kids interested in the outdoors. My parents & I have gone camping with my cousin & her two girls for the last few years. It's fun to get those little girls outside in the great outdoors! They are city kids, but the already love any excuse to be outside. Some of my best memories are our family camping trips when I was a kid. Now, as an adult, I still love to go camping. I'm not as hardcore as some of y'all (no sleeping on the ground under the stars for me!), but we camped in tents the whole time I was growing up. Now my parents have a travel trailer so I get to enjoy that. :)
@Charlie - Love the idea about no cell phones. I get excited when I'm camping somewhere with no cell signal so people can't get in touch with me! LOL.
@Scott - I still haven't gone spider sniffing yet, but I will! I want to get a headlamp.
@Commish - I'm with you -- not a very exciting pic, but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to visit HI someday! :)
Omaha, Nebraska
Dawn Granholm King said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 06:42pm)
@Scott, Spider sniffing sounds awesome! I can't wait to do that with the kids. Jayson's favorite "pet" last summer happened to be a huge yellow and black garden spider that had its web in my rose bush. Every visit with us had to include a visit with the spider. It cracks me up because my daughter, his mom, is terrified of spiders.
Hendersonville, North Carolina
John Clark said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 04:14pm)
Thanks everyone for the replies. I have been reading "Last Child in the Woods" and working on my Environmental Educator certification, and have really been blown away with some of the stats in that book. I applaud all of you who are working with kids, yours or others, and really encourage it to continue! Now, all we need is funding for the programs so we can do more!
Sacramento, California
Mark Ransbury said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 03:21pm)
@Scott - you're freaking me out! LOL... The term spider sniffing congered up something far different than your explanation...
Love reading the tiny kid stories. They travel so well when small and it was fun teaching my kids to be very very quiet when we were on the trail by 6am to try to see the bull elk in the Tetons. They had a heck of a time with the wisper thing...
Kansas City, Missouri
Scott Dillon said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 03:15pm)
@Dawn, the bug hunts sound cool. Something I've enjoyed for the past several years is called "spider sniffing." It's done at night (or at least in dark places) by holding a flashlight up along the side of your head with the beam pointing out along your line of sight (or a head lamp makes this easier). If there are any spiders looking at you, they're eyes will reflect back as tiny sparkles. It's the same principle as cat eyes or deer eyes in the headlights of cars. I've seen spiders from 20 feet away that were no bigger than a pin head! And the first couple of times I did it (in the woods in summer) I was just amazed at how many spiders are out there!
Have fun!
Omaha, Nebraska
Dawn Granholm King said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:53am)
My 5 year old grandson has been obsessed with bugs since last fall. He is excited for spring because "the bugs will be back and he can go outside and find them". I"m looking forward to going on bug hunts with him...I've already noticed a few flies and a moth or two outside.
My kids and my grandkids have been camping since they were babies. I remember camping in Georgia in February years ago, and my kids sitting at the picnic table in their snowsuits eating hot oatmeal, snow all around, rosy cheeks, and big smiles. They were 10 months and 3 years old.
@Mark - I'm definitely a big fan of starting young! I was out camping when I was six months old. Some of my best memories growing up are camping as a child. I think it's great when I see people out hiking and camping with young children. That's what I plan on doing when I have kids.
Tucson, Arizona
Beth Haas said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:40am)
@Mark My son's first experience in the out of doors was at 8 days old when my family and I took him to the Ramsey Canyon Preserve (Nature Conservancy). I remember putting him under a frilly bush with the sun gently coming through its gently moving leaves. I swear he had the most intense look on his face - as if he was trying to figure out exactly what was going on in this strange new world. I took him across the Grand Canyon with me for the first time (just the two of us) when he was 5. He loves, loves, loves and is completely in love with the wilderness. I agree - start them off when they don't know any better.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
John Keiser said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:16am)
@Mark - thanks for the article link - no surprises, but definitely good reading and perfect example of how difficult the respect of natural things is such a difficult road.
Raytown, Missouri
Charlie Harrison said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:06am)
@Mark. Great article, thanks for sharing that.
@Beth. I can already hear the shrill cries of NOOOOOOO, then the pouty "how can we have any fun?". Got some work to do don't I. Gonna hafta do some hikin instead! Fortunately, my girls already get it and they can school their citified friends.
Eagle River, Alaska
Judy Rusk जुडी रस्क said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:56am)
Hiya! Charlie!!!
Eagle River, Alaska
Judy Rusk जुडी रस्क said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:56am)
Morning!Curtis !
Eagle River, Alaska
Judy Rusk जुडी रस्क said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:55am)
@John, Morning!
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
John Keiser said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:50am)
@ John - Scout camping trip this weekend...it's not today...but my kids walk home from school every day?!! 1.5 miles...
Sacramento, California
Mark Ransbury said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:41am)
The key to getting kids to like and appreciate the outdoors is to start early. My kids weren't walking yet when they joined us for their first camp trip. Funny thing - when my daughter was about 12, she went with another family on a camp trip. When she got home she asked why we never told her there was such a thing as flush toilets at camp sites. From then on, every time we planned a trip the first question was - does it have flush toilets?
Sacramento, California
Mark Ransbury said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:38am)
It is an amazing visual and spiritual feeling to be up there. Well worth the trip. The Hawaiians knew how special this place was as well as Mauna Kea. Their Aloha traditions let the Christian Missionaries take these special places. Here is an artical comparing the problems of the native hawaiians to the Na"vi. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/09/2592650/hawaiians-mountain-in-avatar-like.html
I love walking through the clouds.
@ John taking the kids hiking after work today.
Tucson, Arizona
Beth Haas said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:07am)
@POTD I like the pic.
Tucson, Arizona
Beth Haas said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:06am)
@Charlie Morning Charlie. A standard rule on our camping/Road Trips was NO electronic gear that didn't already come with the car (we could listen to books on CD for example but not bring a separate CD player, video game, etc. and we had to keep our phones off unless we needed them). My son Dan says all kids should be made to go long distances with their parents without stuff to isolate them. He says teens and parents need to talk more. I couldn't agree more. You might not like what you are hearing but at least you know what your kid is thinking!
Raytown, Missouri
Charlie Harrison said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 07:14am)
@Alison - only if you do it "today" as instructed by the Commish. You'll have to rework your material or application.
Spokane, Washington
Curtis Barville said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 06:28am)
Good morning, Startlikers!
Teton Village, Wyoming
Alison Hyatt said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 06:21am)
@ Charlie- does inspiring some twins to be wranglers and horse riders count :-)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Sydney Hester said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 05:24am)
@John- I am a counselor at a summer camp that is sponsored by the Dept. of Natural Resources and other nature/wildlife groups. It is so awesome to show teens the beauty and importance of nature. It has helped many pursue careers in the great outdoors! I love sharing my knowledge and passion of nature with them.
Raytown, Missouri
Charlie Harrison said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 05:14am)
Good morning :)
@John, Can Do. I'm trying to get my twins to camp with me this weekend. I'll tell them to each bring a friend new to to camping. That'll do it. Ewww bad thought though..... camping with 12 year old girls with cell phones.... ick! I'll have to nix the phones or take em where they don't work.
Portland, Oregon
James D Peoples said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 04:24am)
Yay!!! I am moving to hawaii on the 23rd!!! this is a great pic
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
John Keiser said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 04:02am)
think of the pic as what you see on your way flying into Hawaii...clouds, sun, tropical paradise!
Hendersonville, North Carolina
John Clark said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 03:50am)
Good Morning Startlikers!!!!!!! Hey, today, help encourage someone to get a kid in nature!
Hendersonville, North Carolina
John Clark said:
(Mar 9, 2010 @ 03:50am)
Not a very exciting picture, but would love to be in Hawaii right now!
Early Hawaiians applied the name Haleakalā ("house of the sun") to the summit area only, most likely because from the west side of the island, the sun could be seen rising up over the eastern side of the mountain.
Early Hawaiians applied the name Haleakalā ("house of the sun") to the summit area only, most likely because from the west side of the island, the sun could be seen rising up over the eastern side of the mountain.
Comments
Post your own comments on this photo!
Wendy Riggs said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:12pm)
@Scott Yeah, I know I only need a flashlight, but I want an excuse to buy a headlamp. :D I'll probably use a flashlight, though before I get a lamp. We always have a few spiders even in winter, but you're right . . . more will be out soon!! :)
Scott Dillon said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:35pm)
@Wendy, you technically don't need a headlamp... just a flashlight "shining out from your eyes". But, yeah, a headlamp helps a lot. If the spiders are not out yet in TX, they will be soon!
Scott Dillon said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:32pm)
@Dawn, It is a blast! I've seen green-eyed spiders and orange-eyed spiders (as in the color of the reflections). And most of the spiders around here at night are a gray spider that hangs out on the ground or on tree-trunks or other plants, just no web spinning. (I don't know my spider names very well...I just look). We also have some larger, hairy, brown spiders that like to spin webs about face level across the trail! Gotta keep an eye out for those!
We also had a yellow and black spider in my mom's garden growing up as kids. We called it a banana spider... ;) We liked to feed it grasshoppers and watch the spider spin it up in webbing!
Wendy Riggs said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 07:15pm)
I love today's topic! I'm not married, but I love getting kids interested in the outdoors. My parents & I have gone camping with my cousin & her two girls for the last few years. It's fun to get those little girls outside in the great outdoors! They are city kids, but the already love any excuse to be outside. Some of my best memories are our family camping trips when I was a kid. Now, as an adult, I still love to go camping. I'm not as hardcore as some of y'all (no sleeping on the ground under the stars for me!), but we camped in tents the whole time I was growing up. Now my parents have a travel trailer so I get to enjoy that. :)
@Charlie - Love the idea about no cell phones. I get excited when I'm camping somewhere with no cell signal so people can't get in touch with me! LOL.
@Scott - I still haven't gone spider sniffing yet, but I will! I want to get a headlamp.
@Commish - I'm with you -- not a very exciting pic, but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to visit HI someday! :)
Dawn Granholm King said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 06:42pm)
@Scott, Spider sniffing sounds awesome! I can't wait to do that with the kids. Jayson's favorite "pet" last summer happened to be a huge yellow and black garden spider that had its web in my rose bush. Every visit with us had to include a visit with the spider. It cracks me up because my daughter, his mom, is terrified of spiders.
John Clark said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 04:14pm)
Thanks everyone for the replies. I have been reading "Last Child in the Woods" and working on my Environmental Educator certification, and have really been blown away with some of the stats in that book. I applaud all of you who are working with kids, yours or others, and really encourage it to continue! Now, all we need is funding for the programs so we can do more!
Mark Ransbury said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 03:21pm)
@Scott - you're freaking me out! LOL... The term spider sniffing congered up something far different than your explanation...
Love reading the tiny kid stories. They travel so well when small and it was fun teaching my kids to be very very quiet when we were on the trail by 6am to try to see the bull elk in the Tetons. They had a heck of a time with the wisper thing...
Scott Dillon said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 03:15pm)
@Dawn, the bug hunts sound cool. Something I've enjoyed for the past several years is called "spider sniffing." It's done at night (or at least in dark places) by holding a flashlight up along the side of your head with the beam pointing out along your line of sight (or a head lamp makes this easier). If there are any spiders looking at you, they're eyes will reflect back as tiny sparkles. It's the same principle as cat eyes or deer eyes in the headlights of cars. I've seen spiders from 20 feet away that were no bigger than a pin head! And the first couple of times I did it (in the woods in summer) I was just amazed at how many spiders are out there!
Have fun!
Dawn Granholm King said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:53am)
My 5 year old grandson has been obsessed with bugs since last fall. He is excited for spring because "the bugs will be back and he can go outside and find them". I"m looking forward to going on bug hunts with him...I've already noticed a few flies and a moth or two outside.
My kids and my grandkids have been camping since they were babies. I remember camping in Georgia in February years ago, and my kids sitting at the picnic table in their snowsuits eating hot oatmeal, snow all around, rosy cheeks, and big smiles. They were 10 months and 3 years old.
Michelle Fitts Cramer said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:44am)
@Mark - I'm definitely a big fan of starting young! I was out camping when I was six months old. Some of my best memories growing up are camping as a child. I think it's great when I see people out hiking and camping with young children. That's what I plan on doing when I have kids.
Beth Haas said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:40am)
@Mark My son's first experience in the out of doors was at 8 days old when my family and I took him to the Ramsey Canyon Preserve (Nature Conservancy). I remember putting him under a frilly bush with the sun gently coming through its gently moving leaves. I swear he had the most intense look on his face - as if he was trying to figure out exactly what was going on in this strange new world. I took him across the Grand Canyon with me for the first time (just the two of us) when he was 5. He loves, loves, loves and is completely in love with the wilderness. I agree - start them off when they don't know any better.
John Keiser said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:16am)
@Mark - thanks for the article link - no surprises, but definitely good reading and perfect example of how difficult the respect of natural things is such a difficult road.
Charlie Harrison said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 11:06am)
@Mark. Great article, thanks for sharing that.
@Beth. I can already hear the shrill cries of NOOOOOOO, then the pouty "how can we have any fun?". Got some work to do don't I. Gonna hafta do some hikin instead! Fortunately, my girls already get it and they can school their citified friends.
Judy Rusk जुडी रस्क said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:56am)
Hiya! Charlie!!!
Judy Rusk जुडी रस्क said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:56am)
Morning!Curtis !
Judy Rusk जुडी रस्क said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:55am)
@John, Morning!
John Keiser said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:50am)
@ John - Scout camping trip this weekend...it's not today...but my kids walk home from school every day?!! 1.5 miles...
Mark Ransbury said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:41am)
The key to getting kids to like and appreciate the outdoors is to start early. My kids weren't walking yet when they joined us for their first camp trip. Funny thing - when my daughter was about 12, she went with another family on a camp trip. When she got home she asked why we never told her there was such a thing as flush toilets at camp sites. From then on, every time we planned a trip the first question was - does it have flush toilets?
Mark Ransbury said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 09:38am)
It is an amazing visual and spiritual feeling to be up there. Well worth the trip. The Hawaiians knew how special this place was as well as Mauna Kea. Their Aloha traditions let the Christian Missionaries take these special places. Here is an artical comparing the problems of the native hawaiians to the Na"vi. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/09/2592650/hawaiians-mountain-in-avatar-like.html
Michelle Fitts Cramer said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:10am)
Cool pic!
Robert Mitchem said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:08am)
I love walking through the clouds.
@ John taking the kids hiking after work today.
Beth Haas said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:07am)
@POTD I like the pic.
Beth Haas said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 08:06am)
@Charlie Morning Charlie. A standard rule on our camping/Road Trips was NO electronic gear that didn't already come with the car (we could listen to books on CD for example but not bring a separate CD player, video game, etc. and we had to keep our phones off unless we needed them). My son Dan says all kids should be made to go long distances with their parents without stuff to isolate them. He says teens and parents need to talk more. I couldn't agree more. You might not like what you are hearing but at least you know what your kid is thinking!
Charlie Harrison said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 07:14am)
@Alison - only if you do it "today" as instructed by the Commish. You'll have to rework your material or application.
Curtis Barville said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 06:28am)
Good morning, Startlikers!
Alison Hyatt said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 06:21am)
@ Charlie- does inspiring some twins to be wranglers and horse riders count :-)
Sydney Hester said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 05:24am)
@John- I am a counselor at a summer camp that is sponsored by the Dept. of Natural Resources and other nature/wildlife groups. It is so awesome to show teens the beauty and importance of nature. It has helped many pursue careers in the great outdoors! I love sharing my knowledge and passion of nature with them.
Charlie Harrison said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 05:14am)
Good morning :)
@John, Can Do. I'm trying to get my twins to camp with me this weekend. I'll tell them to each bring a friend new to to camping. That'll do it. Ewww bad thought though..... camping with 12 year old girls with cell phones.... ick! I'll have to nix the phones or take em where they don't work.
James D Peoples said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 04:24am)
Yay!!! I am moving to hawaii on the 23rd!!! this is a great pic
John Keiser said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 04:02am)
think of the pic as what you see on your way flying into Hawaii...clouds, sun, tropical paradise!
John Clark said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 03:50am)
Good Morning Startlikers!!!!!!! Hey, today, help encourage someone to get a kid in nature!
John Clark said: (Mar 9, 2010 @ 03:50am)
Not a very exciting picture, but would love to be in Hawaii right now!