Alone In The Wild

You're in rural Alabama on a Saturday evening thirty miles from your home. Your daughter has to get to a district honor band in thirty minutes. You're car gets a flat tire. Not just a leak or a nail, but a big old slash in the side wall. You change the tire using the stupid little doughnut tire that serves as a spare . Skinning your knuckles in the process. Then you discover that the spare tire isn't holding air either. The valve stem is broken. Did I mention that it's Saturday evening in rural Alabama. Triple AAA asks, "What would you like to do." You respond, "I would like you to take my daughter to her concert and then fix my flat tire." There is silence on the phone. Then the triple A rep asks, "Do you know that you're in rural Alabama?" I don't think you are going to find someone to fix your tire on a Saturday evening down there. When the tow truck driver showed up, he asked, "What would you like to do?" Well, can we take my daughter to her concert and then get my tire fixed?" Silence..... "Did you know that this is rural Alabama?", the driver asked.

Scribbles got one of her friends to drive her to the concert. The tow truck driver called in a favor and got a buddy to stay open late at the Sears Automotive store. Jake spent lots of money getting the tire fixed. But alls well that ends well.

First Lego League

Robots are cool! This weekend, Yellow Hair along with the rest of her robotics team, "The Electro-Bots", competed in a competition with 43 other schools as part of the First Lego League. The First Lego League introduces children around the world to the fun and experience of solving real-world problems by applying math, science, and technology. The Electro-Bots did well taking first place in the teamwork portion of the competition. They have already begun designing their robot for next year's competition with their sights set on taking the overall first place trophy. Click here to see some additional photos from this year's competition.

Georgia Aquarium

After Christmas, the Pohick Gang drove to Atlanta, GA and visited the Georgia Aquarium. The aquarium was pretty awesome and well worth the drive. The Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia at Pemberton Place, is billed as the "world's largest aquarium" with more than 8.1 million US gallons (30,662 m³; 30,661,835 liters) of marine and fresh water housing more than 100,000 animals of 500 different species. To see a few more pictures from this adventure, check out this link.

Great Granny Pohick

The Pohick gang had a great Christmas this year. Jake's mother squeaky visited. We also had a visit from Molly's sister JD and Great Granny Pohick.

Hiking in the Pohick Swamp

The Pohick gang all went hiking in the Pohick Swamp this weekend. We saw lots of wildlife and the weather was just perfect for hiking. Not too hot...Not too cold....Not raining. Just a lovely afternoon.

Spooky

Despite Jake's insistence that he was not going to decorate for Halloween this year, he changed his mind at the last minute. After arriving home from work at 5PM, he quickly located all of the Halloween decorations and managed to pull the whole thing together in under an hour. The entire ensemble included the graveyard with electric lights, spiderwebs on the house also with lights, a murderer with strobe light in the upstairs window, spooky music, carved pumpkins and a fog machine. Not bad for one hours worth of work. We had about 70 trick or treaters and they all seemed to enjoy the ambiance. To see a few more pictures, check out this link.

SciQuest

Step One - Enter Teleportation Chamber
Step Two - Close Chamber Door
Step Three - Enter Teleportation Coordinates
Step Four - Energize Teleportation Chamber
* Warning - Ensure that no other biological entities are in chamber prior to energizing.

Dog Gone - I guess we should have read all of the instructions prior to pushing the go button. Oh well, It's really not that noticeable is it?

To see some additional photos from our trip to the science museum click here.

Tate Farms

The Pohicks headed to Tate Farms in Meridianville, Alabama today. We all had a great time. While there we jumped in hay, jumped in cotton, took a hay ride, picked pumpkins, petted goats, petted pigs, petted bunnies and got lost in a hay maze. To see some more great pictures from the day, click on this link.

Disco Fever

Just a little video from the good old days.

Alabama Music Hall of Fame

No Pohick adventure would be complete without a little toe-tapping Alabama Music. The group swung by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was opened in 1990 to honor the many contributions made to music by Alabamians. The Hall of Fame inductees include: Tammy Wynette, Lionel Richie, Emmylou Harris, the group Alabama, The Commodores, Nat King Cole, W.C. Handy, and Hank Williams.

Helen Keller Birthplace

Related Articles

• 5 March 2008 -Researchers have located a rare unpublished photo of Helen Keller.
• 24 March 2008 - Important events in Helen Keller's Life
  

Today's adventure took the Pohick Clan to Tuscumbia, Alabama and the birthplace of Helen Keller. Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deaf blind person to graduate from college. The story of how a remarkable teacher broke through the isolation the lack of language had imposed on the child, who blossomed as she learned to communicate, are staples of American folklore. What is less well known is how Keller's life developed after she completed her education: she became a radical campaigner for workers' rights and an advocate for many other progressive causes.

Here are some additional photos from our visit.

We were very excited to see Helen Keller's birth home having grown up watching the classic movie Miracle Worker. In the movie, 7-year old Helen Locked in a frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness since infancy. She has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch the only tool they have in common and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Update (5 Mar 2008) - Researchers have located a rare unpublished photo of Helen Keller.

Corn Maze Craze

Once again our band of intrepid adventures journey into the unknown. Seeking out new civilizations. Going where no man has gone before. Well, no man except for the guy who cut the path through the corn maze. The Pohicks journeyed to a nearby town and took a hike through a corn maze. It was fun but as the weather was still in the 90's today, it just didn't seem like a good day to be participating in Fall activities. Who wants to drink hot apple cider when it's 90+ degrees out I ask you? Anyway, the gang still had fun and Jake got to prove that he is not as directionally challenged as Molly sometimes likes to portray him.

A Bug In Your Ear

How to Safely Remove a bug from your ear.

A little over a year ago, I did a blog entry entitled, "A bug in your ear." Little did I know that this particular entry would become the number one source of traffic on Pohick. I was at the time, using the phrase as a figure of speech or an idiom, and not an actual bug in the ear. Apparently however there is not a lot of qualitative information on the web concerning what to do if you actually get a bug in your ear. I have been amazed at the hundred of queries for "bug in the ear" information. Queries have included:

• What do I do if I have a bug in my ear?
• Can a bug live in your ear?
• How long can a bug live in your ear?
• How do I know if a bug is in my ear?
• How do I get a bug out of my ear?
• Removing bugs from ears?
• Types of bugs that live in ears?
• Ear bug removal
• Put a bug in my ear

I feel bad that there are so many folks dealing with bug in the ear issues. As a public service, I have compiled the following list of references for what you can to do if you have or believe that you may have an actual bug in your ear.

• Having a live insect in your ear can be extremely uncomfortable.
• People are often desperate to get the bug to stop moving.
• If you do not have a known hole in your eardrum, it is usually safe to place a few drops of mineral oil into the ear. This will kill the bug and allow you to calmly and safely continue with additional care. Click here for detail instructions on safely removing the insect from your ear.
• Removal of any object from the ear can be very difficult, and should only be attempted by a doctor skilled in the techniques of safe removal. Usually this can be done in the office, but sometimes general anesthesia must be used when the object is lodged deeply in the ear or if the patient is uncooperative, such as with a young child. It is important to remember that the most common reason that an ear is injured from a foreign object is because of inadvertent damage occurring during the removal of the object. (Source: www.medicinenet.com)

Here is what it looks like when you have a bug in your ear.  Video.

(** Jake Pohick is not a medical doctor, nor does he play one on TV. This advice is provided as a public service and you should seek competent medical advice as soon as possible.)

How to Safely Remove a bug from your ear.

The GamePlan/Ditto Landing

It was another great day for the Pohick family. First they went to see the movie The GamePlan starring The Rock. The movie was a surprisingly good family movie and it received 4 thumbs up from our reviewing staff. Since they were already out and about, the crew drove down to Ditto Landing and walked along the Tennessee River while enjoying the great fall weather.

Hiking at Monte Sano State Park

Given the perfect weather today, the Pohick gang just had to get out of the house. They headed to Monte Sano State Park for a little hiking. The overlook in this picture is just one of many that the group stopped at to admire the great outdoor scenery. Who took this picture did you ask? Jake took the picture. Actually, he set the camera for the maximum delay of 10 seconds and ran as fast as his little legs would carry him. He jumped into the picture just in the nick of time. He briefly considered taking another picture just to make sure, but as winded as he was, he just didn't think he could do it. Luckily this picture came out just fine so a do-over wasn't necessary.

Lean on Me

Sometimes we all need someone to lean on.

Getting Every Last Drop Out Of The Summer

Alas, the end of summer 2007 is almost upon us. It is the middle of September and the girls have been back at school for several weeks now.

The Pohicks spent a good deal of time this summer in the pool. Jake and the girls couldn't resist at least one more trip back to the community pool which will be closing for the season in a few weeks.

The air was really warm today, but truth be told, the water was just a wee bit on the chilly side for everyone's liking. Once you got in though, it really wasn't too bad. Obviously though, unless they want to join the polar bear club, the Pohick's swimming season for 2007 is just about at an end. They are already looking forward to 2008.

It's not easy being....Red

Meet Mr. American Toad or Bufo americanus as his friends like to call him. Molly found this fellow stuck in a drainage pipe next to the castle. Scribbles was ready to kiss him to see if he was really a prince. We had to explain to her that turning amphibians into princes typically only works with frogs and not toads. Scribbles decided not to chance it since we really didn't need some prince hanging around the castle anyway.

Decatur

This weekend the Pohick clan went exploring and ended up in the town of Decatur, Al. Why you ask? Hmmm... Well, just because that's the sort of thing that the Pohicks do. Did you know that Astroturf was invented in Decatur? Or that Decatur is the home of Meow Mix. Well, that's the sort of thing you learn when you go exploring with the Pohicks. It's not about the destination. It's about the journey. Anyway, after exploring the town of Decatur, they ended up at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge and decided to go for a little hike. A very pleasant day.

Molly Falls Off The Wagon

Ok, so Molly didn't really fall off the wagon. But she did get a wagon ride. Molly wanted a garden cart for her birthday, and that is what she got. Jake and Yellow Hair assembled the said cart and then took Molly for a little ride around the estate. Happy Birth Day Molly!!!!!!