Day 220/365 The Pursuit of Science....or Sebastian Loves Jessie.

Once again it is summer at our house, and like the previous eleven years or so, the Science Museum of Western Virginia is a huge part of our lives. My daughter attended her first homeschool science classes there (and I met another science-lovin' homeschool mom, and together we founded an inclusive homeschool group -first one in the Roanoke Valley-which eventually grew to 242 families, but that's another blog). Eventually the homeschool science classes turned into chemistry classes and science fieldtrips. Finally she was old enough to volunteer to help at summer science camp.

Then after four years of being a volunteer, last year she was offered a paid intern position, and this year she was invited back, and bumped up in position, responsibility and salary. This is no small thing in an economy where folks are having trouble finding any sort of paying job.

So one of the perks of this job is the paycheck, but it's almost dwarfed by so many other positives: an incredible staff that work with her and treat her like a peer, a chance to work with collections that most people never see, and the best part: Sebastian.

See, the science museum is full of wondrous things, like this animatronic T-Rex, that lulls visitors into thinking he's just a statue,

Or the Smithsonian quality gem and mineral hall (my favorite, all mahogany walls and dark dim lighting),

Or this guy, who is one of the last real actual human skeletons, but no one knows who's.

Or this dinosaur bone from over in Saltville Virginia (there'll be a science camp field trip over there in a couple weeks - it's one of the finest fossil beds in the U.S.),

Or the great dinosur timeline (ssshhh -whatever you do, don't mention evolution....),

Or even this electron generator that makes your hair stand on end,

And of course the herpatology tanks in all their snakey glory....

But, the best part of the science museum is.......Sebastian.

Sebastian *loves* my daughter.

And she *loves* him.

It's like watching some bizarre mutual admiration society.

Up the arm, around the neck, over the shoulder, snuggle into the hair, little kisses on the neck....

A little soulful eye to eye gazing.....

And finally a contented hug around the neck. I was there. They stayed this way for hours, until Sebastian was peeled off my daughter. Hard to say which one was more disappointed.

Day 161/365 Snakes and Karma

Being a homeschooler means encouraging your child to explore their interests, wherever they might take them. Sometimes this backfires on you, and they meet someone at the science museum, who turns them on to having a ball python. Then, their interests end up at the top of the steps, in their room, in a locking tank.

(Personally, I am convinced this is the universe repaying me with its warped twisted idea of karma, just because I killed that black snake earlier this summer, but whatever....)

So this is Grendel (yes, named after the "monster" in Beowulf - we have a running joke in our house about Beowulf). He (or she, we're not sure yet) is a baby ball python -born in captivity- about 14" long - a deep luminescent black, with coppery designs.

After all the researching, shopping, looking, and convincing Grandma it was okay - Grendel has spent almost all of his time hiding inside his little house. Much ado about nothing.

Then we found out that he was moody and cranky because he was in the middle of shedding.

Now, he's feeling much better, and has come out to explore his tank, and to pose for his closeup.

He actually has a sortof of Mona Lisa smile. He's a baby so he has no teeth. His preferred meals are "pinks", frozen baby mice that sortof look like plastic toys that used to come in gumball machines (probably dating myself here).

The reason his breed are called "ball pythons" is because when they are stressed or scared, they curl themselves into a ball, hiding their heads, until the danger goes away (think of it as crawling under the covers). As near as I can tell, they are more afraid of us than we are of them.

When he grows up, in 4-5 years, he'll be somewhere between 5-6 feet. He'll need a bigger tank.

And probably something bigger to hang on.