Fun Guy

Actually, I just wanted to capture your attention with that title. I'm teaching high school biology at St. Stephen's and we're on the fungi module. Perhaps you're blase, like most of my students, to these fascinating creatures, but you should stop and consider what may be going on beneath your feet--probably not at this very moment, unless you're blogging on a nature walk--but in your yard and all around the woods. If it weren't for these remarkable saprophytes the trees would have choked in their own leaffall long ago, fallen logs would clog the woods, and recyclable nutrients would still be trapped in their originally bodies.
One morning, on the way to school, we saw a live, but dying, tree with a ladder of pumpkin-orange shelf fungi spiraling up its trunk. Over the course of a week or two the color changed from orange to gold to yellow, and finally faded to tan--as brilliant as the turning of the leaves. At school, in the bark mulch near my classroom I discovered striated birds' nest fungi. They look like miniature spiky puffballs until they pop open. Then they resemble tiny bird's nests complete with spore sacs that look like four tiny eggs. Most people would simply pass them by without noticing them, but now I've got the high schoolers and my 5th graders on the lookout for fungi! The amazing thing is--those are not the bodies of these "plants", they are actually the fruit. The real organism is a network of threads below the surface--imbedded in their organic dinner. These filaments may stretch for yards and are among God's decomposers. They break down dead plant material, like leaves and twigs and fallen logs, returning the nutrients to the soil to be used by other plants to grow.
God's designs are so amazingly intricate, yet practical--and beautiful, too. Enjoy!

Ships Passing in the Night

The first month and a half of school have gone by in a blur. It could be worse--I could have lesson plans to write every night in addition to papers to correct. I don't have to write lesson plans every night because I have to write and submit them for a month at a time. I decided to make mine more comprehensive than required so I would know what to do for review, instruction, and homework each day before the month begins--sort of like the monthly menu rotation at home! I finally feel like I'm getting into the routine, but the school day still ends long before all the material I'd like to cover has been touched.

I finally felt confident enough in my class that I could prepare lessons for them to do with a substitute in my absence. So, this past weekend I went on a denominational women's retreat in Williamsburg. It was a long drive down on Friday--about six hours in rain and heavy traffic. But the conference was good and I got to spend Saturday afternoon in the rain touring Williamsburg with Katelynn who goes to school at William and Mary, just about across the street from the historic restored village. The drive home on Sunday was more scenic, less hectic, and much drier.

Pop left on Tuesday morning to spend a week in Indiana. He was returning Jon's car that had broken down here when Jon came to visit, but Pop had actually planned to make the trip even before that. He will go to Midnight Madness (IU's first practice of the season, I think) with Matt on Friday night. On Saturday they'll go to the IU vs. Iowa football game. He's visiting many of our friends and spending as much time with Jon and Matt as he can.

But, I'm feeling like he and I have hardly seen each other in the last month. I'll be very glad when he gets home.