When you’re roadschoolers, lessons (and teachers) show up in the most unlikely places. 

Take, for example, Machete Man.

We were off exploring a river in southern California, teaching the children the valuable life skill, skipping rocks.

Suddenly, crashing through the underbrush on the the other side of the river was a wild bearded man wielding a machete. He plunged out from the brush and into the river toward us, followed closely by another man with what appeared to be alien detection technology in hand.

Christy immediately began doing what any mother of seven who has seen too many movies would do–gather the children, count to seven, and run.

But not Steve!

Steve walked right up to Machete Man and, with the bravado only a man’s man could muster, shouted, “Hey! Do you work for the government?”

Assassins! Spies! Rebels forming a military coup!

No. Surveyors preparing to reroute the river.

Well. At least we got a little spontaneous surveying lesson out of the anti-climactic experience.

What?! You didn’t expect me to ask a man wielding a machete to stop and pose for a photo did you? And yes, waders can be intimidating.