Down from the Mound / Things in the Road

Down from the Mound

There are several impressive views from the top of Saul’s Mound at Pinson Mounds State Park in Tennessee. But the one I often remember the most is the view of the steps going back down.

Evidently, I’m not quite in the shape that I should be in, because by the time we get about three fourths of the way up the steps, I’m ready to stop and take a break. But I must not be the only one, because there is a bench at each landing where the steps turn to go in another direction. So in a way, it gives me a sense of accomplishment to look down at all those steps we just climbed.

And at least going back down is easier than coming up was.

Photo location: Pinson Mounds State Park, Tennessee
A three-exposure (-2, 0, +2) HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, edited in GIMP

Things in the Road

Last night was another night of getting home relatively late for us. We did get home by 9:30, but because that is after Jaylin’s bedtime, we consider it to be late. And on those late night drives, you never know what you are going to see in the road. Here is last night’s list:

• Swimming pool - Not a full size in-ground pool, of course, but rather one of those plastic wading pools. Just the other day, I saw someone who had to stop and tie their pool tighter to the top of their car. Looks like someone else should have done the same thing.
• Armadillo - We see dead armadillos along the road all the time. But every now and then we see a live one as well, as we did last night. I’m always a bit cautious when seeing live armadillos, because they look like they could do some damage to your car. And their movements (and the fact that so many of them die in the road) seem to indicate that they aren’t very high up in the brains category, so you can’t always be sure that they will run away from the car.
• Snake - I’m never sure what kinds of snakes we see in the road, because I don’t really slow down to take a look. This one looked to be between two and three feet long, so it wasn’t among the biggest we have seen before, but not all that small, either. He wasn’t moving very fast, if at all, so he may have already suffered his fate. Again, I didn’t stop to check.

I did manage to avoid all of these obstacles successfully. Even though I may not have been trying to avoid the snake – I usually take aim at those. And this time around we didn’t see any deer, which I am especially watchful for, because they really can do some damage. Although they do seem to be slightly more evolved than the armadillos are. And no racoons, skunks, possums, coyotes, cats, or turtles on this trip, either. In some ways, it was a slow night.

So even when you are tired, it pays to keep your eyes open at night. Because you never know what you might see.