Andy made crepes for breakfast. I mixed up some
cottage cheese and blueberries for the filling. Yum. Andy made a full pot of
coffee, anticipating Spence’s arrival about 0830, but he did not show up.
For some reason, this morning I got the notion to
take pictures as I walked around. Maybe every ten yards or so, if I wasn’t
distracted, I would snap. Now I remember I also did that on the boat and while
walking around European cities. It did not show much that I don’t usually pay
attention to, but I did take some that I have never done before.
When we walk up to the campground from the host
site, I usually pay attention to the left of this picture, the sidewalk toward
the toilet building and parking lot. Today I looked up the driveway toward the
gate and Big Creek Road.
I walk between these four trees multiple times every
day and have never really looked at them this way.
This is the kind of thing I normally take a picture
of. (I know, I ended the sentence with a preposition. It’s the way I talk.) The
air mattresses are stacked outside to dry and the pillows are spread out on a
tarp in Site 5.
This is the forest floor near the group site, taken
from the horse trail. I should marvel over this more often as the Great Smoky
Mountains are a wonder of biodiversity.
Spence and Linda showed up at our site with their
lunches. I heated our stew and we all sat in our screen room to eat. Spence had
been in Gatlinburg in the morning, getting a truck fixed, I think.
This little boy had just fallen down with a big
cluster of grapes, most of which scattered on the ground. He hurt his arm on
the gravel and almost started to cry. Uncle Andy quickly offered to put a new
arm on him. It was hard to tell whether the little guy was going for it, but he
forgot about the arm while probably wondering, “Is this guy for real?”
His big sister was hiding behind the boulder,
playing police-and-bad guys with some other children when we came by. We called
it cops-and-robbers when I was a kid.
Of course, I’ve been taking a lot of pictures of sun
shining through leaves lately. Maybe I haven’t captured this particular branch hanging
over the bridge though.
I take a picture like this nearly every day the sun
is shining.
Maintenance Spence and Linda had just finished
cleaning the toilet building in the tent campground. Spence objected to me taking
a picture of him when he was working. If I take a picture of him taking a
break, he complains that I never take a picture of him working.
I usually take a picture of this branch when the sun
is shining on it. They never look as good as real life though. Too much detail
is washed out by the sun. It is along the campground road.
I noticed these growing along the path from the
horse day-use parking area. It wasn’t time for another snap, but the sun was
shining on them. I never would have noticed them otherwise. They are tiny,
about this size of a straight pin. I could barely see them without zooming in
with the camera. They are growing from a patch of moss on a log. I’ll have to
try for a sharper image tomorrow.
Here’s another thing I have never taken
a picture of. It is the water faucet in the horse camp. It was time to snap
something.
When we were not walking around, I worked on
entering receipts into Quicken and balancing statements. The big excitement of the
day came after dark. We had closed all the shades and Andy was taking his boots
off when we got a knock at the door. An excited young man said that a horse and
buggy had fallen off Big Creek Road down past the horse camp and they wanted me
to call a ranger. He also said the doctor in the group site was going to help.
I called dispatch on the radio to report and said we
would go check it out and call back. We drove the car and Andy had the presence
of mind to take his flashlight. I left mine safely back in the motorhome. Just
at the horse camp entrance, we came upon a group of horses and riders making
their way up the road. They said they were not with the others, but had come
upon them a while back. Then we encountered two men walking. They were not hurt
and did not want a ranger. One of the men said he wanted a ride down to the
stop sign. Our back seat is full of “stuff” so there is only room for two in
the car. Andy got out and said he would walk while I drove the man home. He
lives in the old house across the creek from the park entrance.
We had not gone too far when I saw a light off the
down-mountain side of the road and stopped the car. A man, a horse, and a grown
boy climbed up over the edge of the road in my headlights. I asked if they were
OK and they were not hurt. The horse kept sticking its head in the car window.
The man kept dropping his cell phone and I was afraid I would run over it if I
moved the car.
I called dispatch again and reported that no one was
hurt or wanted help and I was driving the man home. We met the doctor and his
son as they were driving back up the road and asked the man if he wanted the
doctor to check him over. He said, “I don’t need no doctor”. I relayed the
message, “He don’t need no doctor”. Then he told me that some hikers had
spooked the horse and that caused the accident.
The others walked. The man wanted Andy’s flashlight,
but Andy was not willing to part with it. That made the man angry and he told
Andy to go away, he wasn’t needed. Apparently, he fussed at Andy all the way
down the road. After I dropped off the man at his house and made my way back up
the road, I met the boy with the horse. He apologized, “My dad is drunk and
he’s been cussin’ your husband”. Next, I encountered Andy and he got in the
car, livid and ready for a fight.
When we got back to our site, we chatted with the
doctor in the group site. I told him the men were drunk and he agreed,
“moonshine, made it himself”. Andy cooled down a bit and we talked about other
things for a while. Ken raises cattle and said he would come over tomorrow and
invite us to his house for some grass-fed steaks. Now that really cheered Andy
up.
Andy came up with some new song lyrics today. You
can guess the tune.
The Smoky Mountain Maintenance Man
He’ll be
comin’ round the mountain when he comes.
He’ll be
comin’ round the mountain when he comes.
He’ll be
comin’ round the mountain. He’ll be cussin’ and a shoutin’
He’ll be
comin’ round the mountain when he comes.
He will
bring his big weed eater when he comes.
He will
bring his big weed eater when he comes.
He will bring
his big weed eater and the campground will be neater.
He will
bring his big weed eater when he comes.
He will
clean the campers ashes when he comes.
He will
clean the campers ashes when he comes.
He will
clean the campers ashes and where they wipe their asses.
He will
clean the campers ashes when he comes.
He’ll be
ridin’ on his mower when he comes.
He’ll be
ridin’ on his mower when he comes.
He’ll be
ridin’ on his mower and the grass is gettin’ lower.
He’ll be
ridin’ on his mower when he comes.
He will
fire up his blower when he comes.
He will
fire up his blower when he comes.
He will
fire up his blower, but with age he’s get’n slower.
He will
fire up his blower when he comes.
He’ll be
drive’n on his Gator when he goes.
He’ll be
drive’n on his Gator when he goes.
He’ll be
drive’n on his Gator sayin’ “see y’uns later”.
He’ll be
drive’n on his Gator when he goes.
One the radio
I did not pay much
attention to the radio today. Andy responded to the campground vacancy report;
we were full again.
There was a search and
rescue going on somewhere in the park, maybe on the Chimneys trail. I did not
hear what happened, but it took them hours to get a rescue party gathered at
the trail head and hike up with the litter. Maybe just as long to reach the
patient. Our very own, Rescue Ranger Heath was part of the team, as usual. He
reported reaching the patient and within a few minutes reported that they were
heading back down the trail with her on the litter. Much later, I heard him say
that they did not need an ambulance; she was leaving in her own car. I’m
guessing it was a broken bone and her husband/partner was going to drive her to
a clinic to get her patched up.
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