thelighthousetve

Monarch Butterfly Life Cycles!

May 4, 2024May 4, 2024 thelighthousetve

by guest author Ayah Haimor

Butterflies are amazing creatures. They do so much for the earth. Today I will be telling you about Monarch butterflies. Let’s get started!

First I will tell you about one type, or species, of butterfly. There are many different kinds of butterflies, but today I’ll tell you about the monarch butterfly. Monarch butterflies are so cool. They have cool designs and patterns on their wings.

Today, I will tell you about their life cycle. There are 4 steps. First, a monarch butterfly lays an egg on a milkweed leaf. Second, the monarch butterfly’s egg hatches into a caterpillar, which then eats the milkweed leaves of the plant that it’s on. Third, after it gets big enough, it comes out . And it’s a beautiful butterfly!

But wait, the wings on the butterfly are still wet! The moisture comes from the butterfly dries its wings in the sun. When the wings are done drying the butterfly flies away and goes to collect nectar from flowers. If you go close to a butterfly it will fly away. Fun fact you can get a monarch butterfly to come to your backyard if you plant a lot of flowers. Monarch butterflies can’t fly that high like, for example a monarch butterfly could not fly to space because the monarch butterfly’s wings would freeze and it wouldn’t be able to fly because it’s freezing up there.

I hope you enjoyed learning about butterflies! Bye!

Stories, Student Life

The Midgard Serpent – Percy Jackson Fanfiction ~ Ch. 4 & 5

May 4, 2024May 5, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Emery Pugh

SPOILER ALERT: The following content may reveal parts of the plot of the Percy Jackson book series. There may also be spoilers about the Heroes of Olympus book series, which is a five-book sequel to the Percy Jackson series. The Trials of Apollo series, the sequel to Heroes of Olympus, will be mentioned. It is highly recommended that you read at least the Percy Jackson series AND the first book of the Heroes of Olympus series. If you don’t mind the spoilers, then read on. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Chapter 4

Hector

Let the fun begin was definitely not the first thing I would say in my predicament.

The only reason I was still alive was because Kane was testing out his iron bar. His posse were having practice fights. The clang of metal was near-deafening.

I looked at Garret in horror. “Is this…”

“Real?” Garret finished my sentence. “Unfortunately, yes.”

Garret pulled out a… I didn’t know what it was, but it looked like a pond reed. He was about to put it to his lips, but Kane strode up and snatched it away.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Kane wagged his finger and snapped the reed. “No nature magic of yours.”

Garret whimpered and handed me something. I glanced down and saw that it was a gleaming bronze knife.

“Hide it,” Garret whispered. “Don’t say anything about it.”

“IT IS TIME!” Kane roared, hefting his iron bar. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? LET’S EAT THESE PUNKS FOR BREAKFAST!”

Five eight foot tall, super-strong monsters that I couldn’t outrun charged me with iron poles in their hands. What could go wrong?

“DIE!” sounded a cry from above.

I looked up and I was sure that it was the most bizarre scene I would ever see. A half-man, half-goat landed on top of Kane and smacked his head with a baseball bat. Kane went down screaming with a sickening crack!

More goat men soared from the rooftops and started pummeling the monsters. Some stayed on the roof and played music, which I guessed was nature magic, on reed pipes like Garret’s. Thick roots sprouted from the ground and wrapped around Kane and his posse.

“Ahhh!” Kane started to crumble to dust. “Help me!”

And just like that, all that remained of Kane’s group was a few piles of yellow dust.

“Gleeson! Er – I mean, Coach Hedge!” Garret cried. “You heard my call!”

“I don’t abandon a fellow satyr!” Gleeson/Coach Hedge hefted his Louisville Slugger on his shoulder and grinned. “Especially when someone needs a whacking on the head!”

“Um, what do you mean by ‘you heard my call?’” I asked.

“It’s a nature magic thing,” Garret explained. “Remember how I played some music on my reed pipes before school? That was the call. I was lucky that it worked, since Coach was all the way at camp.”

“So,” Hedge pointed his baseball bat at me, which made me flinch. “Do we blow this fella up or take him to camp?”

“Uh, take him to camp.” Garret politely objected to blowing me up. “What transportation do you have?”

“My Ford Pinto, of course,” Gleeson said. “Let’s go whack people!”

***********************************************************************************

I was not particularly excited when I heard Coach Hedge would be driving. Based on what I knew about him so far, he was a reckless type, which is awesome if you want to get into a car crash. However, he turned out to be a better chaperon than I thought.

I had a thousand questions, but I didn’t know what to ask first. My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth whenever I tried to speak.

Finally, something unintelligible came out. “Wha – who – where…?”

“What did you say?” Garret asked, leaning towards me.

I cleared my throat. “Um… Where are we going?”

“To a camp,” Garret said, like that cleared up the confusion. He elaborated, “It’s a camp for… well, people who aren’t… I was going to say ‘normal,’ but that’s not quite the word.”

“Great,” I muttered. “I needed the reminder.”

“I don’t mean it like that!” Garret said hastily. “I mean… you know about Greek mythology, right?”

“Yes,” I answered. “What does that have to do with it?”

“Everything,” Garret said. “All the things about Greek mythology… it’s real. Well, most of it, anyways. And you… you’re a half-blood – a child of one of the gods.”

He took a moment to let that sink in. To tell the truth, I had no idea what to say. Should I deny it? Most people would. On the other hand, it would sort of make sense. I mean, I just saw a bunch of horned people called satyrs whack seven-foot tall giants with baseball bats. At this point, anything could be true.

“So… um… how…” I stammered.

“I know,” Garret said. “It’s hard to believe, but it’s true.”

“What is going on in my life?” I yelled. All the other passengers in the car jumped. I attempted to regain self-control, without success.

“Ahhh!” I ripped off a chunk of the leather seat and threw it out the window. I steadied my breathing and slumped in my seat.

“Please don’t damage the car!” Hedge glanced back at me nervously. “It’s the only one I have!”

I didn’t respond. My brain apparently couldn’t process the revelation I had, since everything clouded up and I fainted.

Chapter 5

Godric

I slashed the last monster to dust, standing next to my friend Sanderson, both of us out of breath.

“That was the biggest attack we’ve had so far,” Sanderson muttered. “Even the magic of the statue of Athena couldn’t stop it.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “We’re gonna become monster chow if it doesn’t finish soon.”

You might ask what “it” is. Well, it’s a top-secret project that only a few campers know about. It may or not work, and if it fails, it could be disastrous. No. It would be disastrous. There was no question about it.

He looked at me gravely. “I’m not against a joke, but this is no laughing matter.”

“It’s true, though,” I pointed out.

The son of Apollo didn’t respond. He gazed across camp.

I should mention: I’m a son of Zeus (worst dad of all time, by the way). Sanderson and I grew up together since we were toddlers, Sanderson being a month older than me. Around turning nine years old we were orphans under the protection of a mysterious yet kind and surprisingly strong woman, until a satyr named Grover led us here at age thirteen. We’ve been at camp for about a year, and yes, we’ve gone on a quest. No, I do not want to talk about it. Not now, not here. Period. End of story.

Sanderson and I went to our respective cabins for a short rest before our morning activities. It really sucks to fight monsters for four hours when you could be sleeping and having the typical nightmares of a demigod.

I closed the door behind me and crashed into bed. Ugh. Did I mention the statue of Zeus looking like a hippie in the middle of the cabin? I was tempted to ask the cleaning harpies to eat it or something, but I didn’t think dad would appreciate it, especially with his humorous reputation (extreme sarcasm there).

I thought I would never be able to fall asleep, but I was wrong. I slipped into the land of dreams, or nightmares; pick your translation.

***********************************************************************************

My dream took place on the edge of a cliff. Below the cliff’s edge, there was only black void. About half a football field away from me, two beings, each forty feet tall, were conversing. One was so dark I could see no features, and the other was dressed in black and red robes. Its face was a swirling vortex, occasionally sucking in pieces of surrounding rock.

“I have it under control,” Swirly Face rumbled. “The monsters will distract the gods and their children from our real plan.”

“If you say so,” the dark being said with a sigh. Its voice was feminine and soft, but it had an edge to it that told me it could speak harshly as well.

“Trust me, you need not worry,” Swirly Face said reassuringly. “We are both eternal. Even if our minions fail in their plans, we can easily crush the gods underfoot. We will avenge our fallen sister.”

Swirly Face was about to say more, but I didn’t catch it. The whole world seemed to be shaking.

***********************************************************************************

Godric, a deep, raspy voice whispered in my head. Come to me. Your precious little camp cannot keep you safe.

I sat bolt upright in my bed, gasping. The whispered words echoed in my mind.

Dawn had just arrived. The sun’s rays seeped through the hills into the valley. Usually, today was a day to kick back and relax, since it was Saturday, being an off day. But today was special. I suddenly recalled the capture the flag game at noon and my armor and weapons I needed to polish and practice with.

I changed out of my pajamas and headed towards the combat arena.

I always felt in my element when I was fighting. Even though I was a relatively new camper at Camp Half-Blood, few could contest me in a sword fight. I was also one of the few good shots in archery other than the majority of the Apollo campers.

I strapped on my armor and practiced my moves on the straw-and-rubber dummies for approximately thirty minutes.

“Hey, Godric,” said a voice behind me.

I whirled around and almost decapitated my best friend. “Whoa there, Sanderson. Don’t come sneaking up on me like that. I might accidentally cut your head off.”

“The head cutting-off part is hardly my fault,” Sanderson muttered. “Anyways, I decided I’d come here to practice, since both my sword and my sword skills are a little rusty.”

“Alright,” I said. “I’m ready to destroy you.”

I always tease him about his close-range fighting, but one has to give him credit. Children of Apollo are not meant to be front-line swordsmen. He does have a few good moves (that I taught him, thank you very much).

After an hour or so we went next door to the archery range, where Sanderson scored all bullseyes and it was basically the combat arena but the script was flipped.

“Hey, punk,” said a voice next to me. “You are so gonna get pulverized in capture the flag today. This is your one chance to surrender.”

I turned and found Clarisse in full battle armor, as she always was, glaring at me. After returning a few days ago from her mysterious, top-secret quest, she has been grumpier than ever.

“I’m not surrendering, and definitely not to you,” I said. “I’d rather eat a bottle of wax.”

“Alright, just don’t blame me if you lose.” Clarisse huffed and walked away, but a smile flickered on her face. I had a gut feeling that she had some trick up her sleeve.

The conch horn sounded and everyone shuffled off to the dining pavilion.

“ATTENTION, CAMPERS!” Chiron pounded his hoof on the marble floor as everyone was seated. “Capture the flag will begin at precisely noon! Standard rules: the creek is the boundary line and each team’s flag must be placed in a prominent position where it is clearly visible. No guards within twenty feet of the flag. Magic items are allowed. And remember, no killing or maiming, unless you want extra chores!”

The conch horn sounded again after breakfast and everyone cleared the tables and headed for the woods.

I drifted over to Sanderson, who was mingling with the rest of the Apollo cabin. I hung out with the Apollo cabin a lot since I rarely have cabinmates.

“Clarisse has something up her sleeve,” Sanderson said as I neared him. “I heard her say something about it to her cabin mates, but I didn’t catch what.”

“Could she be bluffing?” I speculated.

“Unfortunately, no. It wouldn’t be like her.” Sanderson said.

“I’m not letting her pulverize me,” I growled. “Not for a million dollars.”

The teams were the Zeus, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, Aphrodite, Iris, and Hebe cabins versus the Ares, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, Hecate, Nike, and Nemesis cabins. We slightly outnumbered them, but they have the best fighters (Ares), the best strategists (Athena), and that naughty magic cabin that could cause us no end of trouble (Hecate).

Our team had a vote and we decided to put our flag atop Bunker 9, which is a secret bunker used in the Civil War by the Hephaestus cabin. By the way, mortal history reflects demigod history. It sounds confusing, and it is, but in summary, any war that the demigods have will carry over into the mortal world.

“You lead defense.” Connor Stoll, the head counselor of the Hermes cabin, tapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll go offense.”

“The last two times you were on offense, we got destroyed,” I said. “We’re reversing it this time.”

“Fine,” Connor relented. I knew I had to watch out. Those Hermes kids know how to prank and steal. By forcing him out of offense, I probably just earned myself the top spot on his prank hit list.

“Alright,” I said. “I’ll lead twenty of us to the right, and Sanderson, you lead fifteen people to the left as a decoy. Just make sure to arrive ahead of us and do as much damage as possible. Good luck, everyone.”

Sanderson grumbled something about not wanting to lead the decoy as we parted. The conch horn sounded and the game of capture the flag was on.

***********************************************************************************

After waiting a few minutes to give the decoy party a lead, I led about fifteen others into the woods. I veered to the right and after twenty minutes or so of jogging through the trees, we reached their flag.

Unfortunately for us, the banner was placed on top of Zeus’s Fist, which is just a pile of rocks that looks like a fist from one particular angle. There were only a few guards around the pile of rocks, but that didn’t matter much. It would be a heck of a challenge to climb the thirty foot high pile. That meant the only person who could get the flag was me. As a son of Zeus, I had some pretty sweet flying and electrifying powers.

In the distance, I saw some of the Ares campers clashing with Sanderson’s decoy. The guards near the flag weren’t paying attention in the slightest.

“This is a trap for you, Godric,” a Hephaestus camper said to me. “They want you to fly.”

I frowned. “It’s wide open. Why shouldn’t I go?”

“I sense a trap.” Another Hephaestus camper pushed through, Jake Mason by name. During Leo Valdez’s absence, who is the primary head counselor, Jake took the job temporarily. “There’s a few shards of metal floating in the air, perhaps caused by the Hecate cabin’s magic.”

“How do you know?” I demanded.

He shrugged. “Just like you know the exact wind speed of any location within five hundred miles, down to five decimal places.”

“Alright,” I said. “I’m going to try something. Stand back.”

I raised my sword to the sky and a streak of lightning ricocheted off of it. The bolt hit the invisible trap and exploded. After the dust cleared, I was about to launch into the air until a Hephaestus camper stopped me for the second time.

“The magic is too strong.” Jake put a hand on my shoulder. “The trap is still intact.”

I stared at the flag. “So… if I can’t fly up there or blast the trap apart, how do we win? It’s impossible.”

“Our job is going to be a lot harder than we thought it would be,” Jake said gravely. “Based on what I know about automatons, we’re going to have to find the makers of this trap and force them to dismantle it.”

***********************************************************************************

Now I knew why Clarisse had been so cocky in the morning – cocky enough to ask for my surrender. She, alongside the Hecate cabin, had designed a death trap designed specifically for me (it’s probably against the rules, but Clarisse could care less). I silently vowed to pay her back some time later… with interest. Compound interest.

No Hecate camper was in sight, and we certainly didn’t have time to tramp around the entire woods before our flag would be taken.

“Scatter,” I commanded. I didn’t need to explain what that meant. Everyone scattered throughout the woods in ones and twos.

I saw the glint of a helmet flash around a tree and I dropped down to the ground and hid behind a bush.

It was Clarisse, leaning on a tree and polishing her electric spear.

I sneaked closer to Clarisse and jumped out of the bushes. A few moments later, I was sitting on top of her with my sword to her throat.

“What do you want?” Clarisse asked sharply.

“About the trap around the flag,” I replied. “How do I disable it?”

She stared at me blankly.

“Come on,” I said impatiently. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“I – I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t.”

I hesitated, considering that perhaps she actually didn’t know about the trap until a sickly grin spread on her face. She tried to conceal it, but I saw it before the grin faded.

“Aha! So you do know!” I yelled. “Come on, tell me.”

“Tell you what?” Clarisse snorted. “You can’t make me.”

“Actually, I can,” I corrected her. I summoned a strong electric shock. “How’s that?”

“Ow!” Clarisse yelped. “I still won’t tell you.”

I raised my hand as if to conjure a lightning bolt from the sky.

“Okay, fine,” she grumbled. “You have to find a member of the Hecate cabin.”

“We know that already. So… where can we find the Hecate cabin? Tell the truth, or you’ll get it hard,” I warned.

“The trap is for testing purposes,” she said. “It’s related to the project to save the camp.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “But you still haven’t answered my question. Where are the Hecate campers?”

“In the Labyrinth,” Clarisse muttered. “Under the flag.”

I stared at her. Nobody had dared to enter the Labyrinth for a long time. Few had lived to tell the tale of the horrors of the maze. I couldn’t believe that the Hecate cabin had volunteered to do that.

Clarisse (curse the villain!) took that moment to punch me in the gut and slip out from under me. Before I could get to my feet, she was long gone.

News, Science

The Resent Total Solar Eclipse

April 24, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Lucas David

Last week, I flew to Texas to see the total solar eclipse, only to find the sky obstructed by heavy clouds that blanketed most of Texas. The forecast showed the possibility of blue sky in a couple different directions, hours away from us, but we couldn’t know for sure which of them (if any) would have a clear view of the eclipse. So that morning, my family and I picked one at random, and got very lucky. Only two or three clouds thick enough to obscure the sun actually passed over it during the eclipse, and none of them during totality. As the moon covered more and more of the sun, the sky darkened as though there was a sunset on all horizons, and the dazed and confused crickets began to chirp.

Once the sun was completely obscured, we could take off our protective glasses and see the eclipse without any layers of separation. The sun was blotted from the sky, the dark cavity in its place haloed by the sun’s corona. The corona itself looked about two and a half times the diameter of the sun (864,575 miles) in length, which means that that halo was really about 2,161,439 miles of plasma flying from a ball of gas 333,000 times the size of the earth and into an endless void.

Having tasted a total eclipse once, I’ve concluded that I’ll have no choice but to go to Egypt in seven years to witness the next one, hopefully with a recording device capable of giving a detailed view of the eclipse this time.

Stories

Strange – A Ghost Story

April 5, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Aleena Haimor

Noise. Loud enough to deafen someone if it wasn’t in their head, although it was in her head.

But, it was still…noise. And it was strange.

That was all 14-year-old Amara heard as she walked through the school halls; the invasive thoughts of the people around her barging into her mind, unwanted.

Why couldn’t she be normal?

Amara was telepathic, so she could mentally hear the thoughts of people around her, and also manipulate them. And so far, she was the only telepath known to man. Everyone else in her world was…ordinary. They didn’t have powers that could destroy, like Amara’s. And worse, she couldn’t control it.

The bell rang and the students filed out to lunch. Amara’s stomach growled. She followed them, trying to ignore the sounds that filled her head.

Amara walked up to the lunch lady, who placed a tray into Amara’s waiting arms. She sat alone in a corner of the lunchroom and picked at her food. Her appetite was gone. The mashed potatoes and lunch meat that Amara’s school gave out every once in a while were disgusting.

Why was her luck horrible this year? She had hurt people with her powers, and had lost her best friend Maria.

Well, killed her.

It was an accident. Amara’s powers went rouge and somehow, her best friend was dead, even though her manipulating and telepathic powers were supposed to only harm the mind. It’s not like they had anyone to compare it to. And now, her best friend was buried six feet under in their local cemetery, in a cheap coffin at a funeral that barely anyone had attended, no matter what Amara wanted to think. Only a couple wilted roses laid on Maria’s grave.

A tear trickled down Amara’s cheek. She quickly wiped it and got up with one thought in her mind:

I’m a monster.

She headed for the garbage can.

Someone tapped Amara on the shoulder as she was about to throw the food away. She turned around to find no one there. Then, someone shoved her forward and the world went black.

Amara opened her eyes in a dim room. Her eyes darted to the flickering lamp that resided in the corner, then they widened as she realized that she wasn’t alone. A translucent girl sat on a stool, staring at Amara. She looked like…a freaking ghost. Ghosts shouldn’t exist, telepaths shouldn’t exist, Amara’s world was upside-down.

But it couldn’t have been, because the ghost-girl wasn’t just anyone. When she smiled, Amara gasped.

It was Maria.

Arts and Culture, Science

Lise Meitner and her Scientific Discoveries

April 5, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Olive Pea

“Life need not be easy, provided only that it is not empty” stated Lise Meitner. Despite being at a disadvantage in many ways, Lise Meitner earned the impressive title “Mother of the Atomic Bomb”. She was a determined physicist who made many discoveries such as the radioactive element protactinium, and nuclear fission. She has paved the way for women in all science research fields.

Lise Meitner has a captivating life story. She was born the year 1878 to a well-off family in Vienna, Austria. Lise got a tutor for school in physics, and at the age of 27 in the year 1906 she earned a PHD in physics at the University of Vienna. Lise was the second woman to do so. In 1907 she moved to Germany to work with chemist Otto Hahn. Her laboratory was at the University of Berlin, and since she was a woman she received no pay for her work. Not to mention her workspace was a damp, converted carpenter’s shop! Since she could not get a paying job, she lived off of a small allowance from her parents.Together, Lise and Otto Hahn discovered many Beta emitters. In 1914, she helped wounded soldiers of WWI by taking their X-Rays. In the same year, Otto Hahn started working on developing chemical weaponry for Germany.

When Lise concluded helping with the wounded soldiers and Otto finished working on Germany’s chemical weapons, they both went back to studying physics. They discovered the highly radioactive element, protactinium (element 91), while studying the mineral pitchblende in the years 1917-1918.

In the summer of 1938, Lise had to flee Nazi Germany because she was Jewish. Otto tried to get her a passport, but it was rejected. She packed only two suitcases, and had to leave her life’s work behind. Dirk Coster, a friend of Lise, assisted with her escape to Sweden. Lise could now only secretly communicate with Otto Hahn via letter, which slowed everything down in their research. During Christmas in 1938, Lise and her nephew, Otto Robert Frisch, discovered nuclear fission. Nephew Frisch later wrote, “We took a walk up and down in the snow, I on skis, and she on foot, and gradually, the idea took shape.” In 1942, Lise was invited to work on the Manhattan Project, and rejected. She said, “I will have nothing to do with a bomb!”.

In 1939, Otto Hahn took all credit for the discovery of nuclear fission, even though he and his collaborator, chemist Fritz Strassmann, only provided the evidence for it. He stated, “In all our work, we absolutely never touched on Physics. Instead, we only did chemical separations, over and over again.” In 1944, he won the Nobel Prize and at the time, most of the credit for Lise’s discovery. He probably did this due to political danger in Germany, with Lise being a Jewish exile, and his illegal communication with her. This put a lot of strain in their friendship, but they still remained friends somehow. She did not speak against him publicly, but she would express her view to him in letters. Lise once wrote to Otto, “You all worked for Nazi Germany, and you did not even try passive resistance. And millions of innocent people were murdered, and there was no protest. You first betrayed your friends, then your men, and your children, in that you let them give their lives in a criminal war, and you betrayed Germany itself. Perhaps you will remember that while I was still in Germany, I often said to you, as long as only we have sleepless nights, and not you, things will not get better in Germany. But you had no sleepless nights. You did not want to see. It was too uncomfortable.” Lise settled in England and remained there till the end of her days.

Lise Meitner’s hard work, determination, and discoveries have greatly impacted science today. Her fascinating, even empowering against-the-odds story has inspired and paved the way for many scientists, especially women, to this day. In fact, element 109, first discovered in Germany the year 1982, was named Meitnerium in her honor.

Arts and Culture, Student Life

Crochet 2: Simple Stitches

April 5, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Lydia I. Matinov

Welcome to the second part of my Crochet series! Previously, I wrote about starting out, and what is needed to begin. I also wrote about how to crochet a braid (chain). This time, I am going to teach you how to make some simple stitches, and practice them.

Before we begin, there is a VERY IMPORTANT thing I need to point out. There should always be at least one loop on your hook. You cannot do a stitch without it. If you don’t have a loop on your hook, it probably fell off.

First off, we have the most common stitch: the single crochet. Abbreviations are used very often in crochet, so I will refer to this stitch as “sc”. If you need to remember what an abbreviation means, there is a chart at the end of the article. Once you learn sc, then you will be able to learn all the other stitches.

Now, remember the braid we made in the previous article? Well, we need to make another one that’s 10 stitches long. If you need help, find “Crochet: The Beginning” in the Arts and Culture tab, or search it on the home page. Let’s get started!

Insert the hook into the second to last stitch in the braid. (The one right next to your hook)

Yarn over, and pull through the stitch. Leave the loop.

Yarn over, and pull through both loops.

Continue these steps into the next stitch, and then again in the next, and so on. This is IMPORTANT: If you are NOT on the first row, or are crocheting in a circle, insert the hook into 2 loops in the stitch. They will be right next to each other:

Every time you reach the end of a row, do a chain stitch (1 braid stitch), turn, and start a new row. Eventually, you’ll have a perfect square that can be used as a coaster. This square is a very nice way to practice stitches.

Next, let’s learn a half double crochet (hdc). This one is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

Half Double Crochet (hdc):

Yarn over.

Insert the tip of your hook into the next stitch.

Yarn over, and pull through the stitch.

Now there should be three loops on your stitch. Yarn over again, and pull through all three.

Great! This stitch is used to make your round taller. Practice it a few times, and let’s learn a double crochet (dc).

Double Crochet (dc):

Yarn over. (2 loops on hook)

Insert the tip of your hook into the next stitch. (3 loops on hook)

Yarn over and pull through the stitch. (3 loops on hook)

Yarn over and pull through 2 loops. Leave the last one. (2 loops on hook)

Yarn over and pull through both of the loops on your hook. (1 loop)

Fantastic work! The next stitch we will learn has 2 names: Treble Crochet, and Triple Crochet. The abbreviation for both is “trc”, so that is how I will refer to it.

Triple/Treble Crochet (trc):

Yarn over twice.

Insert tip of hook into next stitch.

Yarn over, and pull through the stitch. (4 loops)

Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops. (3 loops)

Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops. (2 loops)

Yarn over, and pull through both loops on the hook.

Yay! This stitch is very easy to master after learning a dc.

Next time, we will learn the basics of amigurumi, which is crocheting stuffed animals. You can purchase stuffing at Joanns, Michaels, Amazon, or any craft store. If you want, you can also stuff your projects with yarn scraps. Anyways, before we begin stuffies, there are 2 very important stitches to learn: increase (inc) and decrease (dec).

To increase, you simply make 2 sc in the same stitch. Decreases are a little bit harder.

Decrease:

Insert hook into the front loop only(flo) of the next stitch.

Insert hook into front loop only(flo) of the stitch after that.

Yarn over, and pull through both of the front loops.

Yarn over, and pull through both of the loops on your hook.

Make sure to practice all of these stitches, and you will become the crocheting master! Can I have an autograph before you become famous?

News, Science

Solar Eclipse Facts!

April 5, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Layal Hilal

Have you ever seen a solar eclipse? Solar eclipses are amazing phenomena and are once-in-a-lifetime experiences…or twice-in-a-lifetime! In fact, during a time period of about four minutes, a solar eclipse will occur on April 8th, 2024. And in order to properly prepare for this eclipse, I will be sharing some facts about solar eclipses and warnings in general, and some specifically about the solar eclipse happening in April.

There are two types of eclipses; lunar, which occur when the earth is positioned between the sun and moon and it gives the moon a reddish tint. Lunar eclipses are also known as “blood moons” and, honestly, the name definitely makes sense. The other type of eclipses are solar, which occur when the moon comes close to the earth and it completely or partially locks the sun from view for a few moments.

Solar and lunar eclipses follow a “path of totality”, and the only way to see a total eclipse is if you are along the path of totality. This year, the path of totality in America is in Texas, Mexico, and several states in the far eastern side of the U.S. The eclipse will still be viewable from states such as California, Oregon, Colorado, and Nevada, but it will only be viewable as a partial eclipse.

**Total Solar Eclipse:** *Photo courtesy of NASA Science*

**Partial Solar Eclipse:** *Photo courtesy of WSTM*

Although eclipses are beautiful and amazing, they are, like most things are, dangerous. Never look at a solar or lunar eclipse without special eclipse glasses unless the eclipse has entered the totality phase. If you do look at an eclipse that is not in totality with a naked eye, you may injure your eyes really badly. Make sure to be very careful!

In general, eclipses are pretty rare. But for a total solar eclipse to happen for a full four minutes? It is going to be amazing and you do not want to miss it. If you can’t visit a place that is in the path of totality, make sure you still get a good view of the eclipse from wherever you will be, and don’t forget to get solar eclipse glasses. Remember to only look at an eclipse with your naked eye if it has reached totality.

I’m pretty sure that by now, you’re wondering “What is a solar eclipse exactly and why is it so special?” Well, solar eclipses only occur when the moon’s orbit carries it close to the earth, so close that the moon actually seems to block the sun from view and it casts a shadow on a certain part of the earth.

Usually, the shadow—from the eclipse—falls onto an ocean, and, naturally, it is extremely difficult to get out onto the ocean to see an eclipse. So when an eclipse does fall onto land, it is very special.

I hope you can see the eclipse, wherever you are, and I really hope you don’t look at the eclipse before it’s in totality! Remember, the solar eclipse is viewable all over the U.S., but only in totality from a few places. It occurs April 8th, and don’t forget to get some eclipse glasses. Have fun!

Stories

The Midgard Serpent – Percy Jackson Fanfiction ~ Ch. 2 &3

April 5, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Emery Pugh

Chapter 2

Percy

For the first few seconds, the waters were calm.

Then something massive appeared on my radar. As a son of Poseidon, I had perfect sea bearings, and I could sense things underwater without seeing them. That’s exactly what happened just now: I detected a ginormous… ah. I hate snakes.

“Percy?” Annabeth must’ve felt my tension. “There’s something wrong, isn’t there?”

“We need to get out of here. Now.” I summoned a current to carry us out of the water and conjured another one to push back against the sea serpent, though the serpent was so huge I might as well be trying to move a mountain.

Really, I’ve had too many experiences with snakes.

“I know what the Midgard Serpent is!” Annabeth exclaimed all of a sudden. She looked at me. “It’s not Greek Mythology. That’s why I couldn’t think of it.”

“Great,” I said. “Because I don’t have enough Greek enemies. I need more.”

She sighed. “The Midgard Serpent’s real name is Jormungandr. Now do you know?”

“Please speak English.” I urged Annabeth as far as possible from the sea. I sensed the serpent was less than a quarter mile away. “I don’t know what a ‘Yor-man gardener’ is.”

“I didn’t expect you to know anyways, but –” Annabeth started.

“ROARRRRR!” Poseidon’s underpants, that thing swims fast.

The Midgard Serpent towered over us and shook the water off itself, making the droplets soak us to the skin (actually, I didn’t get wet at all, being a son of the sea god, but Annabeth got the full treatment). It opened its mouth, showing off one thousand shiny, razor-sharp teeth. Two fangs jutted from Jormungandr’s upper jaw, each one as long as two cars put bumper to bumper. Its body was thicker than a school bus – the long side of the school bus, not the short side. The serpent’s skin was mottled blue and green, as well as patches of brown and yellow. Its body extended for such an enormous length that I couldn’t even detect where the end of the tail was.

To describe the Serpent of Midgard in simpler words, it was very scary.

“Let’s run,” I squeaked. Annabeth was already a step ahead of me. Scratch that. She was more than a step ahead of me.

“ROARRRRR!” The huge serpent slithered onto the beach and into the trees in our direction. Fortunately for Annabeth and I, the trees blocked the serpent’s path. In its rage, it ripped up a dozen trees and chucked them into the forest, landing not far from us. I could sense that it reentered the water, seething from missing an opportunity to have roasted demigod for snack.

“That was a close call,” I said as I stopped to catch my breath.

Annabeth nodded. “If that’s what is allowing the monsters into camp, we have no chance. Getting close to that thing would be suicidal.”

I shuddered. The Serpent of Midgard was not something you wanted to go near. I’ve faced plenty of horrible monsters and powerful gods before, but Jormungandr was a whole new level.

SPLASH!

A huge sphere of water landed twenty feet away from us and exploded.

“Don’t touch the water,” I warned. “It’s poisonous.”

Annabeth frowned. “How do you know?”

“I just do,” I said. “Wait a minute. How deadly is Yor-man-gardener’s poison?”

“Don’t say his name,” Annabeth cautioned. “Names have power, even if you don’t pronounce them correctly. You might have just given away our exact position.”

“Alright. But how deadly is his poison?”

“Deadly to the touch.”

“Poison makes everything worse,” I muttered. “Anyways, the serpent can apparently spit venomous balls of water. That’s –”

Another gigantic water sphere sailed through the sky. We took off.

“Run!” Annabeth yelled. Like I needed the reminder.

The sphere of water landed less than fifteen feet behind us. The poison was so deadly that even the trees began to wither and die from touching the green-tinted venom water.

We kept running until we couldn’t, and then ran some more. After we were so tired we couldn’t take another step, we kept running. My brain was going haywire: GET AWAY FROM THAT SERPENT! PUMP MORE ADRENALINE! GO, GO, GO! My body would respond: I’m so tired, I can’t. I really can’t. My brain would reply: I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! GO! PUMP ADRENALINE! RUN FASTER! Apparently, Annabeth had similar thoughts, since she kept up with my pace.

“We’re lost.” Annabeth gripped my shoulder. “I – I’m out of breath. Stop.”

I was so winded I couldn’t talk. For a while, we stood in silence, catching our breath.

In the distance, I heard the ripping up of trees. That couldn’t be good.

“We’ve got to find the sewer entrance,” I gasped. “We can’t run like this forever. That serpent is too fast.”

Annabeth shook her head. “I… I have no idea. I don’t even know which direction to go.”

“We gotta try our luck, then,” I said. “Let’s go roam around.”

***********************************************************************************

We dashed from tree to tree, but nothing of the sewer entrance came into view. We might’ve passed it, but we couldn’t see more than five feet in front of us because of the extremely thick growth of plants.

The sounds of thrashing became more distant. We took another break.

“Annabeth,” I said. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” she murmured. That’s not good. Annabeth always had a plan, or

“We’ve gotta keep looking.” I pulled on Annabeth’s arm. “Or we’re snake chow.”

I was exhausted, but I knew we had to keep searching. I’ve done so many things tougher than this, I thought. That did nothing to motivate me.

Think positive, I told myself. Okay. What is one thing that’s positive about this serpent-filled excursion? Annabeth was with me.

RIIIIPPPP! The sounds of Jormungandr approaching were closer than ever.

“There!” Annabeth shrieked. “Come on!”

“Is it the sewer grate?” I yelled back over the roaring of the serpent.

“Yes! I see it!”

She was right. Through the trees, I caught a glimpse of some sort of a grate. I promise you, this is the only time I was and ever will be glad to plunge into a sewer.

The last thing I saw before entering the tunnel was Jormungandr with his mouth open, roaring in fury.

Chapter 3

Hector

The first thing I would like to say to you is this: do not emulate my life. All the adventures and stuff might seem like fun, but it’s not. In fact, I envy you for being able to live a normal life. Anyways, enough said. If you still want to live a life like mine, it’s not my fault. The best I could do is warn you.

***********************************************************************************

I’m going to my ninth school in thirteen years of schooling. I’ve never been to a school more than three times. That’s because I have these incidents every year. Sometimes, I keep them secret. And other times, they get found out, and in that case, I get kicked out.

Today, I’m turning 16. I’m not hyped about it, especially when I had a dream a couple days ago informing me that my life would change forever on my birthday.

“Time to get up, honey.” my mom’s soothing voice washed over me. Mom is really the only good thing in my life. “It’s your birthday today! You’re sixteen! Aren’t you excited?” She smothered me with a hug and kissed me on the cheek.

I feigned a smile. “Yeah, I’m excited.”

“Come on, then, Hector.” Mom started to walk out my bedroom. “Breakfast is ready.”

With a tired sigh, I changed out of my pajamas and took a seat at the dinner table. We were generally poor, but still managed to get along. Unfortunately, that meant no special birthday meals. It was the same fried eggs every day. I’m not complaining or anything, but compared to the spread of some of my rich classmates…

Despite the plain meal, I wolfed it all down faster than you can say, Wow, Hector ate that plate of eggs really fast! Well, maybe not that fast, but you get the point.

I grabbed my backpack and ran to the car, where my mom was waiting for me. Our car was a twenty year old rusty, broken-down Honda. It might’ve been nice when it was new, but now, it was far from luxurious.

Mom hit the gas before I could even buckle up. We were running late. School started in just a few minutes.

We didn’t talk the whole way there. She obviously knew something was bothering me, but she never pushed me to talk about it.

After what seemed like hours, we arrived at the school. I glanced at the car clock and realized I only had a minute or so.

“Love you, honey.” Mom pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Love you, too, mom,” I replied. I opened the car door and stepped outside. Looking back, I saw her wipe tears out of her eyes. I wondered whether she knew of my vision about my life changing forever.

I bolted for the school as fast as I could, afraid that I would never see my mother again.

***********************************************************************************

My first class was math. I hated it. Actually, I’m fine with math, but doing it first thing in the morning was not my preference. Plus, my classmates were always stealing my pencils, tying my shoelaces together, and being annoying in five thousand other ways.

The bell rang right as I rushed through the doorway and took my seat. I should mention that there is one non-annoying classmate. His name is Garret, and he’s what you might think of as the weird kid at school; he chews on pencils, furniture, aluminum cans (don’t ask me why), among other items. All the other kids either stayed away from him or bullied him. Since I was the only one who befriended him, I was also a target.

Our teacher, Mrs. Blake, hadn’t arrived yet, which is typical. A few kids were sitting quietly at their seats, including myself and Garret, who was gnawing on a particularly yummy Ziploc bag, he told me.

The rest of the class was split into boys and girls. The girls were gossiping in one corner and the boys were engaged in an all-out free-for-all wedgie contest.

Looking back, I wish I never came to school. I should have hid in the bathroom like I did when class gets monotonous.

One of the big kids, named Kane, came over to me. I knew trouble was coming. “Come on, Garret,” he sneered and grabbed his arm. “Join the wedgie contest!” A few bystanders laughed.

“B-but,” Garret sputtered. “I-I don’t want to!”

Kane dragged Garret across the room. This wasn’t the first time this happened. I wanted to do something, but I was frozen in my seat.

“No!” Garret wailed. “I’m eating a Ziploc bag!”

Kane grinned and snatched the half-eaten Ziploc bag out of Garret’s hand and ripped it to shreds. He clamped a hand over Garret’s mouth to stop his wailing.

I rose from my seat. “Stop, Kane. That’s enough.”

“Sit down.” Kane gave me a dirty look. “Unless you want to get pummeled.”

I strode over to Kane and looked him in the eyes. Through gritted teeth, I said, “Let him go.”

“Why should I listen to you?” Kane tossed Garret aside. “Get out of my way!”

“Until you get out of Garret’s way!”

“Why do you stand up for that freak?” Kane hissed. “You could be cool. Instead, you defend him.”

I lunged for his neck and threw him to the ground. We were both surprised, since Kane was much stronger than me. He tried to throw me off, but I held on firmly. I let go of his neck and grabbed his arms.

Dark tendrils of energy swirled around my hands. The ground cracked. A bony hand arose from the fissure, and then another. In a few moments, a full grown skeleton stood.

“Hector!” a voice screamed. “What are you doing!”

My surge of strength evaporated. The whole class was frozen in shock. The tendrils of dark energy dissipated. The skeleton collapsed into a heap of bones and sunk into the ground. Even Garret stopped gathering the Ziploc bag shreds.

“Hector,” Mrs. Blake said firmly. “Go to the office. Now.” She turned to Garret. “Garret, escort him.”

I slowly rose, leaving Kane still stunned on the floor. Garret scooped up a few more shreds of plastic and followed me out of the classroom.

***********************************************************************************

I didn’t go to the office.

Leaving my possessions in the classroom, I ran to the front gate and jumped the fence. Garret trotted after me, gasping, wheezing, and munching Ziploc bag shreds along the way.

“Hector!” Garret cried. “Wait up!”

I looked at him through the bars and sighed. “Fine. I’ll help you up.” In a flash, Garret was over the fence at my side. I didn’t know he could climb so well.

“Whoa. Never mind, then,” I said.

“Where are you going?” Garret asked. “You’re supposed to go to the office.”

“I’m done with school,” I said bitterly. “At least this one. I’m going away.”

“You need to follow me.”

I stared at him. Garret never offered to take the lead. He had a timid character and only answered questions in the classroom if he was forced to. And now… he’s trying to direct me?

“You must,” Garret stood up straight. Again, he never did that either. He always slouched. “If you want to survive, you have to follow me.” He glanced back through the school gate. I followed his line of sight and saw Kane and his gang strutting towards us.

“Get away from us, you loser!” I shouted.

“Work on your trash talk!” Kane snarled. “The teacher gave me permission to check on you. As I expected, you didn’t go to the office.” He smiled evilly and looked at Garret. “How’s it going, little satyr?”

“What’s that?” I blurted.

“A half-man, half-goat,” Kane said casually. “Satyrs are quite good for eating.”

An instant later, Kane sprouted to seven feet tall. He grew razor sharp teeth and impossibly muscular arms. He grinned and ripped through the iron bars separating us like they were paper. His friends did similar transformations and laughed like maniacs.

“Let the fun begin!” Kane cried gleefully.

Arts and Culture

Book Recommendation: Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan

March 1, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Meru S.

Destinies merge in Pam Muñoz Ryan’s lyrically written novel, Echo. And it all begins with a harmonica.

One fateful day, while playing a game of hide-and-seek with his friends, a young boy by the name of Otto loses his way in a forest where he is hiding. With him, he has only a harmonica, and a book that he discovers is strangely unfinished. Wandering astray amongst the trees, Otto injures himself and falls unconscious. When he wakes, he encounters three young women whom he recognizes as characters from his book.

A cruel witch had enchanted these sisters, Ains, Zwei, and Drei away to a world where time did not pass even though the sun would rise and set. When the witch had cast the spell, she had spitefully called the sisters her ‘little piccolos’ owing to their beautiful voices. Therefore, the only way they could escape was if their spirits were transported from that world by a woodwind instrument. In her spell, she proclaimed that they must also save a soul from death to be completely free. So Ains, Zwei, and Drei, each in turn, play a melody on Otto’s harmonica, their spirits entering into its depth, and bid him to pass it on to another when the time was right.

Decades later, Friedrich, a German boy living with his father in the town of Trossingen, discovers the harmonica in a machine junkyard. Its smooth sound captivates and comforts him during the early years of World War II. When he and his uncle hatch a plan to rescue Friedrich’s father from the Nazi soldiers, the harmonica gives him the courage to withstand hardship and brave the dangers.

It is the summer of the year 1935. Eleven-year-old Mike and his younger brother Frankie have been living in an orphanage in Pennsylvania since their loving grandmother grew too old to care for them any longer. Though they both want to stay together, they know that it may come to pass that they may be adopted into separate families. Aware that his brother would be upset to leave him, Mike is determined to prevent this from happening. One day, a kindly friend buys two harmonicas for the siblings to replace the ones confiscated at their arrival at the orphanage. As Mike breathes into his instrument, all his worries melt away.

Ivy is a young girl living in Southern California. She eagerly awaits the day when her class will perform together on the radio with harmonicas. But then her father is offered the job of a farm supervisor in Orange County, hours away from their home in La Colonia. Ivy’s mother regretfully informs her that they must move the very next day. Though she is utterly dismayed to miss the performance and leave her close friend, Araceli, Ivy cannot but submit to the opportunity. As she and her parents adjust to their new home, the cheerful sound that her harmonica produces brings back happy memories of past years before her brother enlisted in the military and her family was whole.

Author Pam Muñoz Ryan has mixed the perfect amount of sadness, joy, and love into Echo. Readers will be engrossed by this flowing tale of music, fantasy, and even slight touches of mystery combined.

For more information, please visit-

Pam Munoz Ryan – New York Times Best Selling Author

Stories

Rainy Day – A short story

March 1, 2024March 1, 2024 thelighthousetve

by Olive Pea

A short story inspired by the rainy weather of February.

The cold, gray sky served as a blotchy canvas for the slightly quivering trees, who were reaching up towards the weeping stains that were clouds, as if to comfort them. The joyous chattering of the birds was quite inappropriate and harshly contrasted to the solemn landscape.

The smell of rain filled me with a sort of sadness; the kind that makes you yearn for travel and adventure, and causes your imagination to paint bright colors onto that dreary, gray sky.

As I stood there on the icy cement, the usually bright blades of grass drooped down as if the heavy burden of sorrow weighed upon their backs; the piles of wood slept as though they would continue to do so for a hundred years, while the birds hopped about and inside them. Even the garden tools sat there, so still and silent, seemed to pass the time in a bored manner waiting to be used.