Summertime Adventures!

G'day, friends of the interwebs! It's been so hot these last few days. Today, it was nearly 90 degrees fahrenheit, with 60% humidity! I've been sweating buckets! Since we don't have a pool, and I didn't feel like hooking up our sprinkler, I decided I would do the next best thing. So, I packed a little bag, and trekked on down to the stream.

To get to the stream, you have to follow a dirt path along some power lines. I wasn't heading up over this hill, though; I was going the other way. 

Along the path are thick bushy areas, filled with wildflowers, brambles, and blueberries! I climbed into a little patch to check out what was growing. The blueberries weren't ripe yet, but there were little green berries forming on the ends of stems!

I looked over and checked out some little white flowers, too. When I touched this one, something very bright caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, it was an amazing little spider! Look at the awesome shade of yellow it is! I didn't touch it, though; as beautiful as it was, spiders give me the creepy crawlies.

I stepped out of the puckerbrush and continued along the sandy path. After a little ways, I came to this fork in the path.

The signs posted around said no ATVs, but I knew there were lots of mountain biking trails. Anywho, I knew the stream wasn't down that way, and I would save the mountain biking for a different, cooler day.

I continued along for another few minutes. Finally, I got to the sandy, rocky hill that would lead me to the cold, watery refuge.

I descended.

When I got to the bottom, I sat on the edge of the rickety bridge and dangled my toes in the water. "Ahh..." I exhaled as my hot, sweaty, sand-caked feet touched the icy water. 

I decided to wade in a little further. I jumped from the bridge into the clear depths. I sloshed through until the water was nearly to my knees!

I waded my way through the water, trying to see if there was a clear way to go further upstream. 

"Hmm, the water is flowing this way," I said to myself, turning around so I was looking in the opposite direction.

I made my way through the tall grasses, and stumbled upon a little pond. 

I spotted a green frog floating in the water, soaking up the sun.

I waded in a little further; the sticky mud was like quicksand, and I sunk in a couple inches more with each step. I decided not to go much further; I didn't want to get stuck.

I climbed through the grasses again to get back to the stream. Not too far, though, because the pond and stream were only about two feet apart. I reached into the little bag I had brought with me and took out some of the pH paper I had brought. I thought it might be fun to see how acidic or basic the water was. I predicted it would be 7, or neutral, as most water is. 

I bent down and dipped the paper into the water.

I went back to the bridge, perched on one of the boards, and got out my journal and pH scale.

I compared the paper to the chart, and to my surprise, found the pH of the water was actually 6! That means that it was slightly acidic. I wrote this down, as well as some of my other observations, in the journal. 

I sat and wrote for a little while before going back up the hill and heading home.

I'm so glad I live so close to such a cool little ecosystem! I guess it just goes to show you how many living things are always around us. I think I'm going to come back again and see how the stream and pond and frogs are doing. *Squee* I love summer! What are some of your favorite things to do in the summer? How do you beat the heat?

This has been Dani, dabbling in summertime adventures. Over and out!