Hiking — taking a long, vigorous (using a lot of energy) walk in the mountains or country (away from cities and towns) — is popular in many countries. Every year many people leave their homes for trails, or paths, which will will bring them face-to-face with the beauty of nature (experience it personally).

Some choose day-hikes, shorter hikes that can be finished in a day or less. Others prefer backpacking, multi-day (more than one day) hikes that require hikers to carry everything they need on their backs in a special bag called a backpack.

When people come to California, they often think about Hollywood, Disneyland, or beautiful sandy beaches, but not  hiking. That’s unfortunate, because California offers (provides) many good hiking opportunities. Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks are popular for their rugged (rocky, rough) mountains, thundering (very loud) water falls, and towering (very tall) trees. The sequoia are some of the largest trees in the world.

Big Basin Redwoods State Park is home to a forest of old-growth redwood trees. It’s one of California’s many state parks and one of my favorites. Old-growth forests have never been disturbed and, as a result, have many features (a part of something that you notice) that you won’t find in other forests. When you hike in an old-growth forest, you often feel like you’re walking backward in history.

You can also find two other, more unusual, kinds of hiking in California. The first, urban hiking, keeps you inside, or very near, the city. Charles Fleming has described almost 40 urban hikes in his LA Walks newspaper column (articles that appear regularly). These are day hikes that you can take without leaving the city of Los Angeles. Many of these hikes have magical-sounding names, like Ballona Lagoon, Tujunga Wash, Arroyo Seco, Fern Dell, and Elysian Park. Hikers who try these trails quickly discover that they can find and enjoy nature even when surrounded (to be on every side) by the city.

Inn-to-inn (inn = small hotel), or hostel-to-hostel (a place you can stay and eat for very little money) walking vacations have been a tradition in Europe for many years, but not in the U.S. Tom Courtney, a retired university professor, wants to change that. His Walkabout California books and web site describe a series (one after another) of multi-day hikes along the Pacific Coast (the land next to the ocean) and other scenic areas in California.

You could use Courtney’s guides to explore California’s rugged coast and fascinating coastal towns all the way from San Francisco to Mexico. Or you could choose shorter hikes, usually two to four days long, and explore a smaller area. Whichever you choose, you won’t need a large backpack, because Courtney promises that almost every day will “end with a comfortable bed, a glass of wine, a good meal, and maybe even a hot tub (spa or jacuzzi).”

~Warren Ediger – ESL coach/tutor and creator of the Successful English web site, where you’ll find clear explanations and practical suggestions for better English.

iPhotos of Half Dome (Yosemite Nat’l Park) and the Arroyo Seco Trail by W. Ediger.

Fundraisers are a part of many schoolchildren’s lives, but a new law that took affect in July puts major restrictions (limitations) on what can be sold.

Fundraisers are efforts to earn money for a specific project or group. In U.S. public schools, many extracurricular activities — such as after-school sports, student clubs, and music programs — aren’t supported by government money, at least not entirely (completely). If students want to buy new uniforms (clothing worn by an entire team, usually for sports), take a field trip (travel somewhere for an educational experience), buy supplies, or have money to support their activities, the students (and their parents) must raise (earn) the money themselves.

Fundraisers come in many shapes and sizes (are varied; there are many types), some of which I wrote about when talking about school music programs. Among the most popular fundraisers are bake sales and candy sales. Bake sales involve students and parents making desserts such as cupcakes (small, round cakes), cookies, and brownies (a small square of heavy chocolate cake; see photo), and selling them at an event where other students, their parents, teachers, and people in the community come to buy them.

Candy sales involve students taking packaged candy that their club or organization purchases in bulk (in large quantities) and selling them at a higher price, with the understanding that the money will go to help the school group. Students sell to other students or go door-to-door (going from one house to the next), but very commonly, parents sell them to their co-workers at work.

In July, the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act went into affect (began to be enforced). This law requires that the federal (national) government set standards (say what is required) for all food and drinks sold during a school day. This includes vending machines (machines in which you put money to buy food or beverages), classroom snacks (food eaten between meals), and daytime fundraisers. The law doesn’t say that all sweets are out (not allowed) in fundraisers, but says that they must meet nutritional standards (what is considered healthy and beneficial for the body). Bake sales are still allowed and each state decides how often they can occur, but they should be “infrequent” (not very often), according to the new law.

Recent news reports say that this new law poses (causes) problems for schools that rely heavily (depend very much) on selling sweets to supports their activities. However, many are moving to selling other items, such as wrapping paper (colorful paper used to wrap (cover) gifts), candles (blocks of wax that can be lit), and other things not related to food.

How are schools funded where you live? Do schoolchildren raise money for some school activities?

– Lucy

Photo Credit: Several Brownies from Wikipedia

There are many laws in the U.S. that are intended to (have the purpose of) protect workers (people with a job). But there are also laws to protect people who are applying for (asking for; trying to get) jobs, including questions that employers (companies) cannot ask you during an interview.

Here are nine topics a U.S. employer cannot ask you about during an interview or on an application (and that you should not answer if they do!):

The mysterious moving rocks of Racetrack Playa have puzzled (been impossible to understand or explain) scientists for nearly 100 years.

A playa is a dry lake. The water that used to fill Racetrack Playa evaporated (disappeared into the air) many years ago and left a three-mile-long (4.8 km) and two-mile-wide (3.2 km) layer of thick, yellowish-brown mud.

Racetrack Playa lies in between two mountain ranges (a group of mountains in a line) in Death Valley – the hottest, driest, and lowest area in the U.S. Death Valley is in the Mojave Desert in eastern California, about 140 miles (~225 km) west of Las Vegas.

Nearly 100 years ago, visitors noticed that the rocks on the playa – some larger than a man – moved from time to time. One year they would be in one place and the next year in another. And when they moved, they left tracks, or trails, in the soft mud.

The rocks’ movement was rarely the same. Sometimes they moved a few inches (1 inch = 2.54 cm), other times much farther. Sometimes the tracks were straight, other times they curved or even zigzagged (moved like a “Z”) across the playa.

Many scientists have tried to explain why the rocks move the way they do. But no one has succeeded, that is, until recently.

The mystery was solved one day last December by two scientists, Richard and James Norris, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. When they arrived at the playa, Richard said that it was covered with ice. They also noticed new rock trails near piles of broken ice along the shoreline (edge of the lake).

The next day, the two cousins were sitting nearby when they heard loud cracking (breaking) sounds from the playa. “It’s happening,” Richard yelled.

The sun had begun to melt the ice, and when the wind began to blow, the ice began to break into floes (areas of floating ice). The wind blew the floes across the lake and into the rocks. As the Norrises watched, the large, thin floes pushed the rocks so they began to slide across the slippery (wet, smooth) mud of the normally-dry lakebed (bottom of the lake).

So, what happened? What made it possible for the Norrises to see what no one had ever seen before? The answer is that they were there at the right time, when the all the conditions (things that must happen before something else can happen) were just right. What were these conditions?

First, there was water in the playa from one of the infrequent (rare; not happening often) rains or runoff (water from melted snow) from the nearby mountains. The water makes the lakebed soft and slippery. And it was deep enough for ice to float on top of it, but not deep enough to cover the rocks.

Second, the water froze enough to form what they call “windowpane” ice – ice that is thin enough to move freely (easily) on top of the water but thick enough that it doesn’t easily break.

When the ice began to melt, it broke into floes that a light (not strong) wind was able to blow across the shallow lake. When the floes moved, they pushed the rocks in front of them, and the rocks left their telltale (a sign that shows that something has happened) trails in the soft, slippery mud.

Mystery solved (to find the right explanation for something that is difficult to understand)!

~ Warren Ediger – ESL coach/tutor and creator of the Successful English web site, where you’ll find clear explanations and practical suggestions for better English.

Photo credit: www.onlinefreecomputers.com.

Growing up, I enjoyed playing board games, games you play with other people on a board, usually a hard piece of thick paper or wood with pictures, words, or drawings on it. I liked playing popular games like Monopoly, a board game where you travel from space to space on a square board with the goal of collecting, trading, and accumulating (adding) more and more properties or land. Also popular in our house was a game called Sorry!, a similar board game using dice (small squares you throw with dots on each of the six sides, from one to six).

But my favorite board game was always Chinese Checkers, a game where you move marbles (colored balls of glass or plastic) strategically (with a plan or purpose to win) across the board to your opponent’s (person you are trying to defeat in a game or battle) territory or area. (The game was actually invented (created) in Germany and got its name — Chinese Checkers — from a U.S. game-maker because of the pictures painted on the board.) My brother and sisters and I spent many hours trying to defeat (beat) each other.

But with the advent (invention and arrival) of video games, the popularity of board games waned (went down; decreased). Even in our house, when my mother brought home an early video game console (machine into which individual games can be placed for playing), we spent less time playing board games and more time trying to shoot aliens (beings from outer space). Today, over 60% of people in American homes play some form of video game, and over 50% own a game console, according to one report.

However, I also read an article recently that board games may be getting a second wind (becoming popular again), especially among the generation (people born in approximately the same years) called Millennials, who are now between the ages of 18 and 32.

They’re not playing the old games, but new board games that involve strategy, many using the same skills they may use in video games. Many meet in each other’s homes or at cafes to play. The appeal (what attracts them), they say, is being able to interact with other players and friends in a more relaxed, friendly, and social atmosphere. There’s still competition (efforts to win), but it’s more likely over a cup of coffee than a game console.

In fact, just last Saturday, I was at a cafe relaxing, reading, and drinking tea in the courtyard (enclosed outdoor area with no roof) where three large tables of people were gathered. Each table was had a different board game being played. One was clearly a trivia game (game asking short questions about facts), but I didn’t know what the others were. The players were very animated (showing excitement). Most of the players appeared to be Millenials, with a few older players.

Do you have any favorite board games, especially ones you still play?

– Lucy

Photo Credit:  Chinese Checkers board  from Wikipedia