The Octopus

Octopuses (sometimes called octopi) are members of a group of animals called mollusks. Mollusks have soft bodies and a mantle (a type of covering somewhat like a robe). They may have one or two shells, or none at all. The group includes clams, slugs, snails, squid, octopus, and cuttlefish among others.

Their name comes from two words, octo meaning eight, and pous meaning foot. Octopuses do not have shells. They have eight legs, each with several row of suckers.  They have a huge brain for their size and very large, well developed eyes. You can find them in every ocean. They can range in size from 1 inch to over 9 feet long!

Octopus love to eat fish, crabs, and other ocean creatures. They catch them in their arms and pull them toward their mouth which is located at the center of their many arms. They have a beak that looks a lot like a bird’s beak that can rip their prey into bite-sized pieces.

They move by squirting water through a tube called a siphon. If they get scared, they can also shoot a cloud of ink from a special ink sac. This confuses an attacker and also hides them as they make a quick get-away.  If they choose to, they can actually make their skin look the same color as the rocks and plants around them. They can even make their skin look bumpy so they can blend in even better!

Octopuses are very intelligent. They have been known to actually unscrew jars to get to tasty treats left inside. They are amazing escape artists and can survive for short periods out of water as long as they stay wet. One aquarium keeper noticed that his fish in a tank across from his octopus tank kept disappearing. He finally set up a camera and found out that his octopus was crawling out of its tank,  crawling across the floor and into the other tank. It would eat one of the fish and then sneak back to his own tank!

Octopus moms lay eggs and stay with them until they hatch. She may not even get to eat! Baby octopus are so tiny! As soon as they hatch. They go looking for something to eat. Soon they grow into big octopuses and swim away.

I have attached a couple videos and a coloring page. I hope you like our visit with octopuses!

Love Papaw.

Why Does Ice Float?

It’s really hot outside and you go into the house to get something cold to drink. You get your favorite cup and put in some ice. Then you fill it with your water favorite drink. You may not notice, but the ice is floating at the top. You might think “duh, it always does that”. But did you know ice floating is really unusual? Water is one of the few substances that expands when it freezes. Only a few rare metals can do that. 

So what’s the big deal? Well, if ice didn’t float, life would probably cease to exist on our planet. Imagine a lake where the ice sinks after it freezes. Ice actually acts like insulation and helps keep the water down below from getting colder.  Without an ice layer,  water can keep getting colder and colder and the lake would freeze all the way down. All the fish and plants would die.

In the ocean, ice that freezes on the surface is actually fresh water. If it sank, fresh water would keep sinking to the bottom and the ocean would get saltier and saltier until nothing could live in it. 

So how does ice expand? When water is a liquid, the molecules can slide past each other up close. But when it freezes, it forms a crystal structure. Imagine you have a bunch of friends over. How many can you get in your room? Probably a lot. But what if you had to join hands with your arms straight out? This is kind of like a crystal structure. Now you can’t fit as many in the same space. Density is how much matter (or friends) you can fit in a certain space. The less friends, the less you all weigh. If you weigh less but take up the same space you would be less dense and would “float” (well, if you were ice).

If this is still confusing, that’s ok. Even high school students get confused over it too. Maybe this site can help. 

https://www.thoughtco.com/why-does-ice-float-604304

Ok, now I’m thirsty. Time to go get a cold bottle of water! 

Love,

Papaw

Pismo Clams

Did you know that Pismo California used to be known as the clam capital of the world? In the 1940-50s clams were a huge part of the growth of the city of Pismo. The largest clam ever found was over 7 inches long. That’s a big clam! They now have to be at least 4 1/2 inches to take. Back then people would fill carts with large clams and make chowder or sell them to restaurants that would prepare them for tourists. Even the indigenous tribes that came to the coast ate them before California was even a state.

For a while it looked like we would run out of them. People took so many that they became hard to find. Around 2020 the populations started to increase. Now you can see lots of small to mid-sized clams. If you happen to did up an undersized one, it’s important to rebury it so that it doesn’t get washed up on shore and die. It’s an important step in keeping the population healthy. 

There is still a clam festival in Pismo every year In mid October where you can sample chowder, fried clams, and other dishes made from these mollusks. There is even a parade! Mema and I love clam chowder, especially in a bread bowl. Be sure to ask her if she would make you some when you come to visit us. (That way I can have some too!) 

Well, gotta go to the beach. Have a fun day!

Love Papaw. 

Sand Dollars

I guess I’m a little late posting this but we’ve been busy setting up our campsite. This week we are staying in Pismo California. I love Pismo Beach. If I can’t be in Hawaii, I’ll be here. Mema likes looking for shells on the beach. One of the cool things we often see washed up on the beach are sand dollars. Sand dollars are related to sea urchins. They eat plant material that settles on the bottom in the surf line area. Most of the time if you see them on the beach they are already dead or dying. When they are alive they are wedged in the same sideways.

If you let them dry in the sun they turn white and make a pretty decoration. Mema has a bathroom that is all decorated in shell that sh has found over the years. 

She had several sand dollars I it too. It reminds her of the beach. Well that’s all for today. Hope you liked the pictures of sand dollars. Have fun, be good, and do something nice for someone today!  

Love, Papaw. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_dollar

Sharks!

Do you like sharks? Many people say they like sharks, but only if they can see them in an aquarium. That way they don’t get bitten. Some sharks are dangerous. I don’t think I would want to meet a great white shark while I was swimming in the ocean. But many sharks are just fine hunting for small fish or crabs along the bottom. Some sharks have huge teeth. Others have teeth so small it feels like sand paper. There are many different kinds of sharks. There are more than 500 different species. The smallest, the dwarf lantern shark, is only about 7 inches in length. The largest, the whale shark, can be 40 feet long. It has a huge mouth but eats only tiny animals called plankton. The hammerhead shark has a flat shovel-shaped head. They look really cool! Most sharks live in salt water, but some can visit freshwater rivers for a time. One shark, the Ganges shark live in fresh water all the time.

Sharks don’t have a skeleton. They have a skeleton made of cartilage. It’s the same kind of stuff you have in your ear. It makes them very flexible. The only bones they have are their jaws and teeth. That’s why it’s hard to find fossil sharks.

A sharks skin is amazing. If you rub its skin from front to back (be sure to avoid the teeth) it feels fairly smooth. If you rub its skin in the other direction, from tail to head, it feels very rough. In the old days, carpenters used to use it as sandpaper! This kind of skin helps them glide through the water.

Most sharks are cold blooded, which means they are the same temperature as the water around them. Great white sharks can raise their body temperature by moving their muscles. This lets them survive in colder waters and stay active.

Sharks are very helpful for the ecosystem. In coral reefs they are important in keeping fish populations under control. Otherwise all those fish might eat the whole reef and kill the coral.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark

I hope you liked the sharks!

Love, Papaw

If you would like to know more about sharks, here are some helpful sites.

 

More Information: 

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/shark 

https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/sharks

Laughter

 I love telling jokes. Most people tell me I tell “Dad” jokes because they usually have a play on words in them somewhere. I don’t mind though. I just like to see people laugh. Laughing is fun, but be sure that you are not laughing at someone. That could hurt their feelings. It’s better when we laugh together. It turns out that laughing is good for us. Laughter can relieve stress and causes our bodies to produce chemicals called endorphins which make us feel happy and positive. The Bible tell us in Proverbs 17:22, A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Sometimes we even laugh because we are embarrassed. I love to watch funny movies. One of my favorites is Mary Poppins. They laugh a lot and tell funny jokes. In the movie Marry Poppins Burt, Mary, and Uncle Albert all sing,

“We love to laugh, loud and long and clear

We love to laugh, so everybody can hear

The more you laugh, the more you fill with glee

And the more the glee, the more we're a merrier we”

Did you know they have names for the funny way people laugh? My friend AI helped me find a few of them.

Types of Laughter:

• ·       Belly Laughter: A deep, unrestrained laugh that uses the abdominal muscles.
• ·       Giggle: A high-pitched, often nervous or silly laugh.
• ·       Chuckle: A quiet, soft laugh.
• ·       Guffaw: A loud, boisterous laugh.
• ·       Snicker/Snigger: A sly or suppressed laugh, often expressing amusement at someone else's misfortune.
• ·       Cackle: A loud, harsh laugh that can sound unpleasant.

Which way do you laugh? I think I belly laugh the most. At least that what your Aunty Beth says.

Here’s one of my favorite jokes.

Which animal do you think would be more dangerous, a dragon or a dinosaur?

A Dinosaur.

A dragon won’t explode but a “dino might”!

(Get it dynamite?)

You have to admit. That was funny. What’s your favorite joke? I have added a link to “80 fun kids jokes.” You can ask your parents to read some of them to you. Be sure to laugh, because it’s good for you!

https://entertainyourtoddler.com/best-jokes-for-kids/

I hope you have fun this week!

Love Papaw

Bee Good!

 

Are you afraid of bees? It’s ok if you are. Papaw is not really afraid of bees, but there are some that he doesn’t really like. Paper wasps, the slow, yellow and black kind, are really mean sometimes! They should probably be avoided. There are certain bees that I really like to watch. Honey bees are very pretty and help our plants grow food. They also make honey, which Papaw likes to put in his coffee.

On the flowers on Papaw’s fence are a special kind of bee. It is called the Valley Carpenter Bee. They are really big, so they look scary, but they are usually very gentle. They are really fizzy and make a cute buzzing sound. They fly from flower to flower gathering pollen and drinking nectar. One really cool thing is that the male and female are different colors. The female is all black and although she can sting, she never does unless she is attacked. The male looks like a fuzzy golden teddy bear with green eyes. Although he can’t sting, he likes to fly in your face and try to scare you. It makes Papaw laugh. I guess he just doesn’t want you to know he’s as scared as you are. Since he has no stinger he has to act tough. Papaw just smiles and tell him, “Go back to the flowers you silly bee”.  

The mom burrows into wood and lay her eggs in the tunnel. She leaves a package of food called “bee bread” for the baby. Then she seals the whole and lays another egg. She might do that 7 or 8 times! Later, they hatch one at a time, the outside ones first. She will feed them for a few days and them they fly away to find their own flowers. The dad just seems to fly around the flower bushes to try to keep other birds and insects from drinking his nectar. They honey bees just laugh and go get it anyway.

Carpenter Bees can be very helpful to farmers. In Hawaii, Carpenter Bees help pollenate the passion fruit vines. Papaw love passion fruit in his drinks. It’s a good thing that there are bees to help them grow. Next time you get the chance, stop and watch the busy bees.  You will find out how much they do. Just don't touch them without your parent's permission!

I have added a couple short videos of the moms drinking nectar and gathering pollen. You can see the yellow pollen on her fuzzy back. I couldn't get one of the dad but I will keep looking!

I hope you liked meeting Papaw’s busy bee friends!

Love,

Papaw

**Male bee  picture courtesy of  https://thrasherpestcontrol.com/golden-snitch-of-the-bee-world-male-valley-carpenter-bees-take-flight/

For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylocopa_sonorina