New Market and Skyline Drive

Jul 10, 2011 14:19

Starring Nephew0, sister, sister-in-law, pop, no Nephew1, or D.
Wildlife espyed:

Wild turkey: 1
Black bear: 0
Chipmunk: 3, squabbling
Snails in shells: 2
Butterflies: like, 50
Gnats: 1 bajillion
Black bear: 0
Deer: 1
Roadkill: various
Catbird: 1
Junco: 1
Swifts: many
Invisible singing birds in foliage: many
Black bear: man, I wanted to see a bear

Snapshots from the weekend:

- the 1.4 mile hike to Dark Hollow Falls in Shenandoah National Park somehow expanded to like 100 mental miles coming back up the hill. I stopped at the top of the falls, let the 8 year old nephew and his Mom bop on to the bottom, while I trudged back up, knowing they would have to wait for me.

- the rusty pitted heavy iron railing at the top of the falls was delicious. I know this because an orange and black butterfly walked around on it, relentlessly tasting it, and was not interested in fleeing even when I put my face up close to watch. It was simply too good to leave. Butterfly probosces are a weird business.

- my sunglasses made it look cooler than it was, and when I got up top, they had tiny speckles of sweat on the inside surface where my lashes had wicked sweat away then bumped the lenses.

- Nephew was hassling big black ants on a tree, following them his fingers, impeding them, grabbing at them. "If he bites you, I am gonna laugh so hard," I warned him. Half a minute later, nephew says, "Ow!' and tries to shake off the ant who has his mandibles buried in his finger. Yes, I laughed. This did not deter him from, at another tree, locating another giant ant to hassle. "It hurt, but it was kinda cool."

- Top of the hill, the sign for NO STROLLERS had a junco perched on it, singing. Pretty sight, all white on the undercarriage and dark gray on top. Nephew tried to see how close he could sneak.

- Man on the trail had just seen a black bear and cub, but we didn't see a thing. Lots of noisy boyscouts in the park, though. Good day for boyscout spotting. That is adult and multiple cubs, I guess.

- In bloom was milkweed, raspberry fruit was coming on, queen anne's lace, chicory, goldenrod, and various other sneezy things. Something smelled divine, and we think it was the milkweed. This meant a regular zoo's worth of butterflies and bees.

- Parkway-closing accident at Thornton Gap, just when we were trying to exit. Waited an hour for it be cleared, parked at a rest stop in the park where nephew put on a black gnat-attracting baseball cap and led his "legions of pets" in a march/run around the exterior of the car. He was trying to get them to come inside the car so he could take them home. I have no words for this.

- K had a mix tape for the trip, including items by Gomez and Mumford & Sons. I actually recognized something like "not your fault by mine, and it was your heart on the line.." by the latter. Nephew not a fan of chicks singing to acoustic guitars, and since my brother was involved in the music selection process, there was a fair amount of chicks with guitars, which caused him to howl from the back seat in protest. You should have heard the exasperated miserable noises when Willie Nelson sang, "The Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady. Nelson is like a chick because he has braids? Can you hear when a singer has braids?

- On the whole the nephew was good and patient for being 8 years old. Played table hockey with two pens as goals and beads as pucks with the lad, and he was very entertained.

aunties, road-trips, holes in the bug ocean, sisters, relatives, family, adventures

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