My daughter Emily had just finished her last year of college to become an elementary school teacher, but first she wanted to go on an adventure. She chose Ameri-corp which is similar to the Peace corp but is done here in the U.S. She chose Denver for her location (She likes mountains) and her job entailed helping underprivileged children learn to read.
I drove with her to Denver. The trip started out fine but before we got to the end of the driveway we noticed that the lights on our trailer were not functioning properly. A trip to U-haul and 2 hours later we were “on the road again”. Things were going well and we almost made it 30 miles before the trailer developed a flat tire. Fortunately it was within walking distance of a Culvers restaurant where we were able to indulge ourselves with ice cream at 10 AM while waiting for the repair truck. Well 2 hours later with our ice cream still stuck to our fingers we were “ on the road again”. It was at this point that we decided that the theme song for our trip would become “on the road again” with Willie Nelson singing us on our way each time we had to stop.
Well now that we were “on the road again” and crossing the vastness of Omaha, we could see for miles and miles of open sky with big fluffy clouds for as far as the eye could see. It was then that the schoolteacher started class.
Her : those clouds are cumulus they are made up of vapor but rarely cause rain.
Me: Well what holds the vapor together?
Her: She started talking about pressure, temperature, and humidity contributing to the formations but all I heard was “blah blah blah”. I can’t believe young kids learn this stuff.
Her. On the subject of water, do you know why you can fill up a glass of water a little over the top but it doesn’t spill?
Me: Magic?
Her: No Dad, It’s surface tension overcoming gravity
Me: Ohhhh I see. (I lied)
Her: …And do you know why water expands when it freezes but all other substances shrink?
Me: To keep plumbers busy in the wintertime fixing burst pipes?
Her: Are you sure you went to school? Water expands because of hydrogen bonding and ….
At this point again all I heard was “blah blah blah” as I stared out the window at my 200th cornfield.
I am sure she is going to make a great teacher. I guess that I should have paid more attention in school Instead of figuring out how to trick out my bike with baseball cards and such.
If you would like the real answer to any of these questions, please feel free to email me and I will send the full versions which she has written down for me so I don’t forget again.
