Waders and Crab Parts

As part of my strategy to regain my equilibrium and lose some of my crabbiness, I'm taking some time off in dribs and drabs this summer. By early September, it'll amount to nearly 30 days off work, in a bunch of three day weeks, and a couple of whole weeks off. It's all accrued vacation time, though it feels like mental health days.


Yesterday, on one of those days off, I went on a field trip with Miss M.'s class. It was a glorious day spent mucking around in the Hudson River. The kids got to put on waders (tiny little kid-sized waders) and seine for critters. They pulled up shrimp and crabs, anchovies and jellyfish, rocks and mud, and one tiny striped bass.


When they weren't in the river handling the net, the kids were ostensibly conducting a scavenger hunt. Mostly this took the form of "look Mommy, I found (another) feather" or "is this old glass?" (I'd made the mistake of telling them that well worn beach glass was okay to pick up - instead they just picked it all up and then asked.) The scavenger list provides good evidence that we aren't all that far from a major urban area: two of the items to "find" are the George Washington Bridge and garbage. I also quite like that crab parts is another item to find, but then I guess I'm a little perverse.

Best of all? I got to take a nap when I got home.