This morning after breakfast, Brandon and walked around the campground, a lovely area with lots of memories for me. I've camped there so many times that I kept seeing old familiar campsites.
We stopped to admire the mountain Laurel in full bloom. I've used up my quota of "wow"s for the day, and it's just lunchtime.
The closest animal encounter I had was with a lonely love-starved dog outside a restaurant in West Jefferson, Va. Steve and I were sitting on the lawn listening to live music, and the dog walked over to me with a tennis ball in its mouth. He lay his sad little head in my lap and wouldn't leave. There was no safe place for me to toss the tennis ball, so I just sat there enjoying the music.
The most dramatic animal encounter was on our second day, drinking through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. I was cruising along at about 40. Suddenly a huge bird--perhaps an owl--swooped right in front of me, clearing my facemask by inches. It filled my field of vision. I could see grey and brown stripes. I'd estimate it passed about six inches in front of my face. I didn't have time to react at all. I don't think I even braked.
Steve was right behind and said, "Wow. How close was that?"
I said I was glad the bird calculated that trajectory correctly because I never could have.
A couple days later, along the Parkway, a deer started to cross the road, well ahead of me. She hesitated. I hit the brakes. When she saw I was slowing, she decided to leap across the road in two graceful bounds.
We haven't seen any bears yet, but Brandon says one became a nuisance recently behind the inn's kitchen.
No comments:
Post a Comment