GAAAAACHHHHHHHKKKK...

Went to the mountains this weekend.[1]

Had fun.[2]

Got sick.[3]

[4]

[1] Not what NWerners would call mountains, but pretty durned spiffy: the Blue Ridge chain in NC. My wife's sister and husband have a cabin up there, one mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway that's pretty amazing. 3700ft elevation, on the top of ridge that regularly get 60mph winds. Views north and south, unobstructed for dozens of miles... the top of the peak nearest to the cabin is 3960ft. Given that the tallest peak east of the Mississippi is just over 6000ft, and the vast majority of the mountains are similarly under 4000ft, you can see quite a distance... well, except for the humidity in the air. (Blue Ridge is called that because the mists make it look blue, and the Great Smoky Mountains really do look like they're coated in smoke. Nothing like the clear vistas of the NW when the cloud layer is absent - these mists are there nearly all the time, clouds or no clouds.)

[2] It was about 70, dry air, and few nasty bugs like mosquitos. (Where I live in Raleigh, it's skeeter hell. I walked outside onto our porch one night last summer for no more than three minutes. I got 19 bites on my legs.) My wife and I went for an afternoon hike on a virgin trail that had just been completed a couple of weeks ago, a couple miles each way down through these amazing moss glens, up over piney knolls, and skirting farmlands with grazing cows of all shapes and patterns. The part my wife was happiest about? Coming face to face with a juvenile Eastern Rattlesnake. We rounded a tight corner with a large tree on the inside edge, me in the lead. As I passed the tree, I heard a rustling in the leaves at the base, so I stopped to turn and see what cute little critter was cavorting in the woods. Instead, I saw a 2.5-3' long rattler pulling back to orient on a strike. Worse, me stopping had put Leah within striking range as she stopped behind me, and the snake was starting to orient on her. I immediately said "Keep walking", and extended my arm to it, both to point it out to her, and to regain its attention with the hand motion. It retargeted my hand, and we walked quickly away from the immediate area. She was *thrilled* that she was that close to such a beastie. I grew up with diamondbacks in Eastern WA, so it didn't thrill me quite the same way, but it was novel for her.

[3] Thought it was allergies at first... my brother-in-law had planted Kentucky 31 fescue around his cabin, and it's sufficiently close to the rye grasses I'm so allergic to, that I was convinced that must have been what caused my runny eyes and dripping nose. But then it kept happening as we drove home. I spent most of last night in a sneezing fit broken up by short periods of sleep, and woke up this morning with a lump in my throat that feels like a sandpaper coated egg. No speaking, but I can grunt really well. I think it's time for more soup.

[4] Footnotes: they're not just for breakfast anymore.

GAAAAACHHHHHHHKKKK...

Went to the mountains this weekend.[1]

Had fun.[2]

Got sick.[3]

[4]

[1] Not what NWerners would call mountains, but pretty durned spiffy: the Blue Ridge chain in NC. My wife's sister and husband have a cabin up there, one mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway that's pretty amazing. 3700ft elevation, on the top of ridge that regularly get 60mph winds. Views north and south, unobstructed for dozens of miles... the top of the peak nearest to the cabin is 3960ft. Given that the tallest peak east of the Mississippi is just over 6000ft, and the vast majority of the mountains are similarly under 4000ft, you can see quite a distance... well, except for the humidity in the air. (Blue Ridge is called that because the mists make it look blue, and the Great Smoky Mountains really do look like they're coated in smoke. Nothing like the clear vistas of the NW when the cloud layer is absent - these mists are there nearly all the time, clouds or no clouds.)

[2] It was about 70, dry air, and few nasty bugs like mosquitos. (Where I live in Raleigh, it's skeeter hell. I walked outside onto our porch one night last summer for no more than three minutes. I got 19 bites on my legs.) My wife and I went for an afternoon hike on a virgin trail that had just been completed a couple of weeks ago, a couple miles each way down through these amazing moss glens, up over piney knolls, and skirting farmlands with grazing cows of all shapes and patterns. The part my wife was happiest about? Coming face to face with a juvenile Eastern Rattlesnake. We rounded a tight corner with a large tree on the inside edge, me in the lead. As I passed the tree, I heard a rustling in the leaves at the base, so I stopped to turn and see what cute little critter was cavorting in the woods. Instead, I saw a 2.5-3' long rattler pulling back to orient on a strike. Worse, me stopping had put Leah within striking range as she stopped behind me, and the snake was starting to orient on her. I immediately said "Keep walking", and extended my arm to it, both to point it out to her, and to regain its attention with the hand motion. It retargeted my hand, and we walked quickly away from the immediate area. She was *thrilled* that she was that close to such a beastie. I grew up with diamondbacks in Eastern WA, so it didn't thrill me quite the same way, but it was novel for her.

[3] Thought it was allergies at first... my brother-in-law had planted Kentucky 31 fescue around his cabin, and it's sufficiently close to the rye grasses I'm so allergic to, that I was convinced that must have been what caused my runny eyes and dripping nose. But then it kept happening as we drove home. I spent most of last night in a sneezing fit broken up by short periods of sleep, and woke up this morning with a lump in my throat that feels like a sandpaper coated egg. No speaking, but I can grunt really well. I think it's time for more soup.

[4] Footnotes: they're not just for breakfast anymore.