Hidden Byway

Poison oak has three leaves, but in the winter it looks like a stick growing out of the ground and it has no leaves. But, in the summer, it has three leaves. They are reddish green and it looks oily. It is even worse in stick form. 

Some people may initially seem immune to it. But, no one is totally immune to it. The more times you touch it, the more affected you are. If you hear that if you eat it you will be immune to it, don’t believe it. Because I heard that someone did it and nearly died. Do not burn it because even if you have a gas mask your neighbor does not have one and it will get in their lungs and they could die. If you get poison oak you should wash the area with cold water within ten minutes. But if you don’t do it by then, it probably won’t work. And don’t scratch or you could get an infection. 

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Here I will teach you how to build a basic shelter. First of all you need to find a short, forked tree and a straight stick that is a little longer than you are. Lay one end of it in the fork of the tree and the other end of it on the ground. Then find other sticks to go up against the long stick on each side. Make it just big enough for you to fit in and make a small doorway so it will keep your body heat in. Next cover it with a thick layer of grass, mud and leaves. Now you have a simple shelter.  After I completed this shelter I slept in it for a couple hours in a storm to test how it worked.  I stayed warm and dry.

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The book “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen, is about a 13 year old boy, named Brian, who has divorced parents. He is taking a plane to Canada to visit his dad, when the pilot suddenly has a heart attack and dies. Brian has to take the wheel and try to land the plane. He ends up crashing the plane into a lake. Brian has to unbuckle and swim out through the windshield. All he has with him is his hatchet, a gift from his mom. He has to learn what is edible and how to survive out in the wild (such as how to light a fire, how to build a shelter, and how to catch fish). He had many exciting adventures. Now you must read the book to answer the question, ‘Did Brian survive?’. I really liked this book! I recommend this book to anyone who liked My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, and to anyone who enjoys adventure stories.

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One day my family and I went to Lexington Reservoir.  We found old ruins of houses and artifacts around them.  I looked under one of the ruined houses, and I saw this whitish thing.  I stuck my hand under the house to grab it. My dad said, “Don’t stick your hand under there, you don’t know what could be living there”. But I had already stuck my hand under and picked it up. I looked at the thing I had found, and saw it was half of a jaw bone. I searched on Yahoo! to see what kind of animal it came from.  I found out that it was half of a jaw bone from a rat.

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This is about Redwood trees. Here is some stuff I will tell you about them. In my yard I have some Redwood trees. I like to climb them. I haven’t gotten very far, but I keep on trying.  Redwood tress have reddish/brown bark. Their bark is good to protect them from fire. Their leaves are edible and smell good. When they are a light green they taste a little bit sour. I like to eat them. Redwood trees can grow to be very tall. Because they are tall they can push through the lower plants and collect sunlight. Their roots help them stand up through big storms, because their roots go out and not very far down it keeps them secure. The Giant Sequoia Redwood is the thickest tree in the world. The Coast Redwood is the tallest tree in the world. The Dong Redwood is another type of Redwood, but it only grows in China.  I don’t like logging and I try to save the trees up in the mountains. Redwood trees are one of my favorite trees.

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The Fairy Creek is a stream that is in the woods in the Santa Cruz mountains. It is a beautiful place! I love to go there with my family and my dog to explore and have fun there. It is a peaceful place because not many people go there.

My dog loves to run around there and take drinks out of the stream. There are many big rocks and you can see miles of beautiful woods when you are sitting on them.

There is a burnt-out redwood tree that we like to go inside. My dog likes to jump around in there too. The branches sometimes look like animals and different shapes.

There is a pile of rocks that the stream goes over. It makes a waterfall. One of my friends named it the Fairy Creek because it looked like a place that fairies might live. I think the same.

There is a stump that is hollowed out and you can get inside it. Right next to it is a steep drop off. Nearby there is as huge fallen tree that reaches from the top of the hill to the bottom.

There are many fallen trees that make a bridge across the stream. The Fairy Creek is one of my favorite places.

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I’ve been watching the Western Scrub Jays for a long time. Here are some of my experiences.

They are blue, with a white belly, a gray stripe across their wing, a black patch around their eye and a white eye stripe.

Scrub Jays like to eat acorns. I see them cracking open acorns. I saw a Scrub Jay resting above my door, snatching moths and eating them. I also feed them bread. Sometimes when I feed them they get very close to me. They swoop down and snatch the bread with their beaks.

They like to rest in my Oak trees and in my Quince bush.

I got really close to a Scrub Jay when I was in my Quince bush. I looked up and two of them were perching on my fence.

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Nature

Wild, giving

grows, lives, gives

free to all creatures

Forest

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We read My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George. I loved this book! Sam is the main character. Sam ran away from home, and went to live by the ruins of his grandfather’s farm. He burned out a tree to have somewhere to live. There was a stream that he could fish in to get food. He made lots of friends when he was in the mountains. Some of the friends were animals and some were human. In hunting season, he took the deer that the hunters lost. He also went up a mountain and stole a falcon chick from her nest. He named her “Frightful”. She caught food and they shared it. Frightful was one of his best friends. The Baron was another friend — a weasel — who lived near them. I think that you should read this book!

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