Last Friday, instead of composing a sprog blog, the sprogs and I were offline and in nature (specifically, Yosemite, pictured above). This is not to say we weren't talking about matters scientific, but we didn't have an internet connection with which to check any assertions or hunches.
Some highlights:
Elder offspring: I read somewhere that sloths only climb down from their trees to go to the bathroom --
Younger offspring: But they don't actually use bathrooms to go to the bathroom.
Elder offspring: I bet it takes them a really long time to actually climb down to the forest floor.
Younger offspring: How do they make it in time?
* * * * *
Younger offspring: Why haven't we seen any bears yet?
Elder offspring: We took every trace of food, and even wrappers, out of the car like they tell you to, and we didn't leave any food outside the cabin. So the bears don't have any reason to come where we are.
Younger offspring: Are there really bears? If they never come out where we can see them, how do we know? The doe last night came really close, so we know there are deer, but I don't think there are really bears.
Dr. Free-Ride: You've seen the pictures of what the park was like back in the '40s, when people fed the bears and the bears got really bold. The bears would come right up to cars and cabins and harass people. It got so bad that the rangers had to shoot the bears.
Elder offspring: That's why they're so serious about not leaving food out for bears, so the bears don't see people as a source of food.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yep, you don't want to inadvertently train the bears to forage in cars and tents rather than in the woods.
Younger offspring: So they trained the people to be careful with their food instead.
* * * * *
Younger offspring: I need some sunscreen.
Elder offspring: If you wait a little while, the sunshine on your skin can make some Vitamin D.
Younger offspring: There's Vitamin D in milk, too.
Elder offspring: Do you think that's because the cows grazing in the sun make Vitamin D, too?
Dr. Free-Ride: I'm pretty sure they add the Vitamin D to the milk before they put it in the bottles or cartons.
Younger offspring: Maybe if the cows had less hair they could make Vitamin C from the sunshine.
* * * * *
How realistic was the statue of John Muir in the Visitor's Center? The sprogs discovered there was room to insert fingers in his nostrils.
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Tell the sprogs that I saw _two_ bears last time I was there (May). And I'm not even going to talk about the photo with their fingers up Muir's nose. :)
In real life, of course, Mr. Muir's nostrils were almost never that dilated.
His ears, however, were another matter entirely; he once lost an entire John Morel breakfast link in them. (It was a complicated combination of a bet, a dare and an experiment.)
Alas, the statue doesn't do them justice.
LOL! We were at Yosemite recently, too. My offspring will be disappointed that he didn't discover the secret of John Muir's nostrils! (We didn't see any bears, either). :(
http://www.flickr.com/photos/herebedragons/499057987/in/set-72157600178…
I'm pretty sure cows make their own vitamin D. Though sunshine, or so I've heard, helps you use vitamin D as well as make it.
BTW, sunblock doesn't stop you from making vitamin D, it just takes longer.
On Bears: If it works for cats, of course it's going to work for bars. And what is it that works for cats? If you can't keep a cat from temptation, keep temptation from the cat.