Bad Blogger. Bad Blogger.

Wow. I have been a bad bad blogger. Nothing in a week? I need to get on it.

I haven't been thinking about anything too deep. I've been quickly plugging through the Artemis Fowl book series by Eoin Colfer. It's easy reading and keeps my mind in a fun place. Pure summer indulgence reading filled with high tech fairies, an evil teenage villain and stabs at humans' Earth eco mess. I wonder when the movies will come out.

Last week, we went to see the synchronized fireflies. They don't synch in a way that is off/on off/on. It's more like it is all dark for about ten seconds, then one firefly lights up, then hundreds light up...blink, blink, blink, blink...fast and furiously...then quiet.

The males blink trying to attract the females down on the ground. To explain it to Blue, we said that the boys were looking for girlfriends, that one would blink and the others would be all like, "Oh, I better blink, too, or I'm not going to get a girlfriend."

The Smoky Mountains are well known for their plentiful water, but with all the rain this year, the creeks and rivers were really MOVING.


This is one of my favorite creek pictures. It's where Jake's Creek hits the Little River. The photo, though, is of Jake's Creek. There was something very magical about it. Maybe it has something to do with all the green moss, underbrush and flowing water. Look carefully because there's a good chance that there's a fairy in the pic.


We couldn't find a house-sitter, so Sally made the trek with us. She did very well for a 15 year old dog. Since we were in a National Park, we had to keep her on a leash at all times. We couldn't take her on any of the trails, either, but that was for the better because she was limping after a mile. She had a fantastic time sniffing out the campsite! So many people asked, "Is that a wolf?" We forgot what a stir she causes when we take her places.


And since we had to take Sally, we realized that two adults, a 52" 75lb child and a dog would be over-stuffing our little 3-person backpaking tent. So for the full American experience, Chad went out and bought the mac-daddy Coleman that sleeps 6, has a closet and a little zip-door so one can reach the cooler from the inside of the tent. I could stand up in it. It was a bitch to set up. No wonder most Americans don't camp. The instructions were so idiot proof that erecting the tent was hard! Beer helped.

Blue took this photo of me. Since he took this photo, I have had my hair cut off in the fit of the Aquarius moon (dangerous thing that Aquarian moon). My long locks are in a hat, which is how I wore it all the time...boring. Nice photo though. Blue shows some talent with the camera. And yes, I wear long skirts when I hike. It's very comfortable.




I will leave you with some parting shots...