Finally... Snow

There is finally snow in the sierras. This is the beginning of the ski season. We have gotten an inch of rain in the past week 3/4 of it last night.

Election Night Madness

First of all, Boxer won in California (52% Boxer : 43% Fiorina), Brown won in California (54% Brown : 41% Whitman), and Reid won in Nevada (50% Reid : 45% Angle). Those are all very bad things. There were good too, the republicans have power in the house of representatives, almost in the senate, and there are a lot more republican governors.

Here is the senate map.

Sailing on the Bay

Yesterday, on my day off my mom and I went sailing with some friends who have a sailboat.

There was absolutely no wind at all, so, we motored most of the way.

We departed Berkley around 11:30 AM. We sailed around Yerba Buena isl. Then, we docked near the ferry building at a restaurant. We got some lunch at the ferry building and brought it back to the boat and ate while we motored. Then, we went around Alcatraz and back to Berkley. We got back at around 4:00 PM.

First Rain of the Season

Last weekend was the first rain of the season. It didn't rain much but it rained. It was also very windy at night on Saturday. Saturday night, I watched "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles". It was very funny. We downloaded it off of amazon on demand.

Andy Griffith 50th Anniversary

October 3rd was The Andy Griffith 50th Anniversary. It has been on the air since it started.

Week in Yosemite

For school I had to write a travelogue. Here it is.

My 6th grade class from Los Gatos, California spent four days and nights at Yosemite National Park. In addition to the 35 kids there were our chaperones. We took a charter bus from the school heading south east along highway 120 to Curry Village in Yosemite. On the way we stopped at a park in Oakdale to have lunch and stretch our legs. As soon as we arrived we began our week of nature studies, team building, and games.

We studied many elements of nature at Yosemite including rocks, trees, and rivers. One of the most amazing things was that the cliff next to the camp. It was 3,000 feet high which is much taller than the tallest building in the world which is Burj Dubai at 2,717 feet. Another of my favorite things that I saw was the giant sequoias, especially the tree called “Grizzly Giant”. It was 209 feet tall which is almost as tall as San Francisco’s Coit Tower which is only one foot taller than the tree. It looked very fictional. The difference between redwood and the sequoia trees is that redwoods get really tall and the sequoia doesn’t. The reason that they don’t grow tall is because the trees around them aren’t that tall so they don’t need to be extra tall to get sunlight. As I looked up at those trees I wondered how old they were and how many houses could be built from one of them.

Another amazing thing was the “Spider Caves” formed by a rock fall 400 years ago. It was great because there was so much teamwork plus it was really fun. The teamwork included working in the dark and telling the person behind you of any obstacles they might encounter, a rock in front of them, or if there was a three foot drop… Before we entered the Spider Caves I thought I would faint because I was nervous, very nervous, I did not know what to expect. When we entered, it was dark, eerie, and creepy. Our instructor did not allow us to turn on a flashlight because she wanted us to proceed by our sense of touch. I freaked out at the beginning going through the tiny hole, but I had to do it and I relied on the person in front of me for information, just as I passed information to the person following me. When I crawled through the final hole I was proud and sorry it was over.

We played many games at Yosemite. I liked one better than all the others. It was called Camouflage. One person was selected to be the “squirrel”. Everyone else was a fox. The point of the game was for the foxes to be out of sight of the “squirrel,” the foxes could see the squirrel. The squirrel held up numbers using his fingers. If the squirrel saw a fox, the fox was out. The fox who remembered all the numbers without being seen, won. Another good game was zipper tag which was a lot like traditional tag. I liked it for the exercise that I got.

Our final adventure was a hike to the Merced River where we played some more games. One of our chaperones found it fun to throw giant rocks into the river while talking with a Scottish accent. The last game that we played was tourist vs. animals. The way it works is the tourist tags the animals but the tourists can un-tag the other tourists. After that, the bus ride home was uneventful.

Yosemite celebrated its 120th year as a national park on October 1, 2010. I don’t think it has changed much because it is protected and I am glad it is because it was interesting to see its natural elements as they probably appeared to the people who first saw them in the 1800’s. Someday I would like to return in the winter to see if the waterfalls freeze. I felt very lucky to be there and I would recommend the park to anyone interested in seeing it.

New school AGAIN

Last Wednesday I started sixth grade at a new school, again. Everybody is really nice including the teachers. Each morning I take the bus from my house to school. It takes about 45 minutes to get there because we don't go on the highway.

Ikea Heights

It's a comedy series on YouTube that takes place in ikea, without ikea knowing that they're doing it. Here is the link to episode 1.

Jam sale

July 31 2010, I had a big jam sale in our front yard. I decided to have it that day because it was the day of the neighborhood block sale. The flavors that I offered were Blackberry,Strawberry, Mustard, Apricot, two sorts of plum, Orange-lemon marmalade, mint, and grape. It was a success. I made about $130. We also sold recycled bags made out of chicken feed bags.

Cheney, the Dog Died

Cheney had a better life than she would of had. We got her from a Mexican family in Salinas, California. We took her home when she was just a couple weeks old. She made friends in our family very quickly. She, lived in two of our houses. When she was six and a half she got hypothyroid but we didn't discover that until a year later. The vet put her on medication, so, we did that for a couple of weeks until she got skinny again. We stopped the medication but, she kept getting skinnier and skinnier. Then she didn't eat or drink, so, we had to force feed her. We did that for a couple of months. Then, she started going to the bathroom in the house, so, we put her in the bathroom. Then, it just got to the point that we couldn't take it any longer, so, we took her to the vet and put her to sleep. She lived 8 1/2 years and she died July 27 2010 at 1:30 PM.

My friend Chuck, who is a writer said this "I loved that dog. However, she had a great family, a great big yard, got to run around up at the ranch, an all you can eat chicken poop buffet, and the unconditional, indeed, some say unnatural, love of Chuck. It was a dog's life, and one to be envied. If one believes in these things, she's gone to where all the good dogs go."