Desert Horses

Welcome to my horse blog, Desert Horses. We live in the desert southwest, near Palm Springs, CA, but board our horses up in our local mountains where it is cooler in the summer. I have 4 horses, all rescues. Here is the ranch up the mountains where the horses stay.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

It's the END of a LONG WEEK! Phew!

I can't even IMAGINE why this week was SO LOOOOOOOOONNNGGG!  I even took a personal day on Tuesday.  Maybe it's because I'm burned out?  This is my 30th year of teaching and yes, I AM BURNED OUT.  Took many kids who can't read in 3rd grade.  I have 5 that can't even write their numbers to 100.  WHAT IS GOING ON????  7 NON-readers!  Can't even read the word "the"...And, no, they don't read in Spanish, either.  They are illiterate.  And, I'm supposed to catch them up to 3rd grade level in 10 months?  Ain't gonna happen.  WHERE and WHAT have their parents been doing for 8 years?  That's the REAL question.  One boy doesn't bring homework.  I had another teacher call his home.  Nobody answered, so she left a message for the parent to set up an appointment with me.  It never happened.  He continues to "forget" his homework.  NO PARENTAL SUPPORT!

Okay...I'm done with my ranting and venting.  Teachers have to let loose every now & then.

So, anyway, on Tuesday, when I took my personal day, I stopped at the Whitewater Preserve, which is up a way into the San Bernardino mountains, off Interstate 10 near Palm Springs,  but the OTHER direction.  It's always so nice & peaceful up there...enjoy the photos!

 Those are the San Bernardino mountains in the background.  This is where the horrible fire was this summer.  Back in those mountains...This is looking up the Whitewater River.  The water from this river feeds into the huge underground water storage aquifer for the Coachella Valley.
 The picnic area and CLEAN restrooms!   :-)
 One of the waterfalls there.  The pond below has trout!  NO fishing allowed, however...
 The ranger station.  Very nice and clean.  I think I'll be a docent here when I retire! :-)
 Another view of the main pond...
Looking back to the mountains and the trail system.  The preserve is only .5 miles from the Pacific Crest Trail at this point.

1 comment:

sandy said...

i like seeing our mountains from your angle. Very cool photos! That is amazing about those kids. Somebody just doesn't care in their families I guess.