Two two-headed snake field trips
Gorgeous weather and some sublime serendipity made for a fun week.
The weather here has been delightful lately. San Francisco plays a bit of a cruel trick with the weather: around this time, as the school year wraps up and kids are itching to be free and start their vacations, the weather outside turns into a powerful lure. Then, just as the kids are cut loose for the summer in early June, the rising temperatures inland create a vacuum that sucks the marine air inward, socking the city in clouds and fog. We get plenty of sunny days, don't get me wrong, but terms like "June Gloom" and "Fogust" get bandied about. Those inland temperatures start to drop again around September, trapping the marine air off-shore, and San Francisco's real summer begins—a few weeks after the new school year has started. We have our most consistently gorgeous, sunny weather in September and October, when kids are once again trapped indoors at their desks.
This is not why we homeschool, but it is solidly in the "pros" column.
At this time of year, May, we tend to ramp up a bit in our enjoyment of the city. It's a bit of a race to take advantage of not just the sunshine, but also the roominess in the world while most folks are still spending their days inside buildings.
Last week, in addition to our typical twice-weekly homeschool mega-playdates, we had two impromptu field trips fall in our lap—and in a bit of serpentine serendipity, both featured two-headed snakes.
East Bay Vivarium
Just across San Francisco Bay, Berkeley has the country's oldest reptile-focused pet store, the East Bay Vivarium. Some homeschool friends decided to visit and threw out the invite for others to join. It's a neat little place, it had the feel of a community center as much as a store. I enjoyed chatting with a few pet owners who came in to stock up on supplies. The store has all sorts of lizards, snakes, and tortoises on display. The tortoises were so stinkin' cute. The kids got to take turns holding an albino corn snake, and my daughter liked playing with the food the mice. I didn't take many pictures; I was busy enjoying the experience, and I lack the skills to engagingly photograph animals behind glass.
I had an easier time photographing a Black-crowned night heron that hung out around the pools at the front of the store. He held court like he owned the joint, moving about freely—largely ignoring us, even though we were close enough touch him—as he stalked turtles that were safely behind mesh wire.
The star attraction at the East Bay Vivarium right now is a rare, two-headed California King snake that hatched there, and is now six months old. They're named Angel and Zeke, and they've made the news.
After the Vivarium, the kids wanted more time together, so we bopped over to Shorebird Park near the Berkeley Marina, which overlooks the bay and has great views of the city. One of the families in our group is brand new to San Francisco, they moved here from Texas just a few weeks ago, and I got to verbally label all the landmarks across the vista for them. It's always a joy to see San Francisco through the eyes of someone who is new here.
At the rocky little beach next to the park, I spotted a tiny scrap of what looked like paper or maybe a wrapper poking out of the sand. I started to dig it out, thinking it was trash. It was money! Once I carefully fished it all the way out, it turned out to be a $2 bill. Weird! The kids all gawked at it, they hadn't seen a $2 bill before.
San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park
The very next morning, as my daughter and I were wrapping up a math lesson, she got a call from one of her good friends, who also homeschools: would we be free to join her and her dad in an hour for a baseball game? They had a couple of extra tickets. YES! I've been to the ballpark a few times, but never for an actual game. Plus, we love this family, her dad is a good pal of mine, and hanging out with them is always a great time.
The San Francisco Giants play at Oracle Park, a newer stadium perched right on the Bay, with sweeping views of downtown, the Bay Bridge, the East Bay, and of the boats that hang out nearby hoping to snag an errant home run ball. The stadium has more than 41,000 seats, and get this: of all of those seats, the folks directly behind ours happened to be another homeschool family we know! There was no connection, these weren't part of a block of seats that went out, it was just pure coincidence.
It was a ridiculously beautiful day. My eyes were dancing across the wide world in front of me; there just happened to be a ball game going on in one corner. It being an afternoon game on a weekday early in the season, the stadium was nowhere near crowded. I appreciated the relaxed scene, it felt downright pastoral.
I got garlic fries and a hot dog, because when in Rome etc., and I have to admit they hit the spot. But the best was when my friend busted out his new favorite gummy snack: conjoined gummy snakes, one sweet, one sour. Too perfect, and they really are good!
The Giants got trounced, but that's okay. I mean, I'm sure it's not okay with them, but it's okay with me.
Okay, I've got to get this recorded and posted so I can get back out there and enjoy more of this sunshine! We're meeting up with friends today at a park. Hope your day is full of fun and friends and sunny weather, too. I'd love to hear what you're up to this weekend.