riddles on hawk mountain

we spent a glorious day hiking on hawk mountain today. julie, micah, trixie, trixie's friend m. and i headed out on a four-plus mile loop, but it turned out to be much more difficult hiking than we thought -- basically, most of the hike was through boulder fields created during the last ice age. very cool, but as it turned out, too much for micah. so a mile or so in, julie and micah broke off on what we thought would be an easier and quicker way back to the visitor's center (in the end, they got back after we did, having climbed practically straight up a rock face -- which, wouldn't you know, was the only part where micah *didn't* melt down. in fact he *loved* it; the simple walking along the wide, smooth path along the ridge, not so much...).

the girls and i continued on our original route, but cut maybe half a mile off by taking a short-cut near the end.

trix and m. are two peas in a pod: brainy girls on the nerdy side, pretty much oblivious of the girl culture swirling about them (and to the extent they are aware, pretty much disdainful of it). they both read, a lot, and mostly in the fantasy/magic/anthropomorphized animal genre.

they are also both great hikers.

here's what we did to pass the time:

what is black and white and read all over? (i realize that one only works orally.)

what walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?

railroad crossing, look out for cars, how do you spell it without any r's?

the person who made it doesn't want it, the person who bought it doesn't need it, and the person who is using it doesn't know they're using it.

so you're driving a bus, and the bus driver is wearing a green shirt. at the first stop, 5 people get on the bus; at the second stop 3 get off; at the third stop 2 get on; and at the fourth stop everyone gets off. what color are the bus driver's eyes? (also better orally.)

but this one was the best, a riddle from my childhood that totally stumped me, but i was *sure* these two girls would find the answer obvious. alas they didn't.

a father, who is a doctor, is driving with his son to the hospital where the father works. while crossing a railroad track, their car is hit by a train and the father is killed instantly. the son is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. the surgeon walks in and says, "i can't operate on this child, he's my son!"

trixie immediately suggested that the boy had two fathers, but the other possibility totally eluded both of them.

sigh.