Blatherings of Boredom

Today's forecast high was 83F: overcast with a chance of rain. It felt awesome most of the morning--I went to the market and then helped a friend rip out her garden.

So we headed to the mountains after lunch. The earlier rain and persistent heavy fog kept the pollen down. Temps were nice and low up there--possibly below 70F. Also, I'm glad there was only one cyclist on the parkway--the fog was pea soup most of the time.

We just hiked a bit south on the AT from Reed's Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway. About .8mi to a spot that apparently has great views when it's not in the middle of a cloud. It was breezy and slightly chilly up there--I was grateful for the sweatshirt I threw in. Kiddo wanted his jacket, too. Poor manbeast finally had to admit he was cold and wanted Ronan back up in the Ergo to keep him warm.

It was nice to be able to hike. Only one spot of asthma threatened, but it was after i moved a giant spire of ragweed away from my head while trying to keep a hold on Whiskey's collar as we passed a sodden boy scout troop. Albuterol helped, fortunately. I know some folks don't like the new propellants, but the old ones triggered my reactive airways. It's nice to have asthma rescue meds.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocelyndale/sets/72157624601090235/

When you have a God Hates Shrimp sign, you just gotta use it at all available opportunities.
( or loan it to a friend )

Title says it all, y'know?

Ronan's first composition and performance!

	Will work for breastmilk Poor baby. He doesn't know about child labor laws yet. (ten months)
	swings! yay! (ten and a half months)

A few more in the linked gallery.

And for those who wonder what most of my pics look like (thanks to mr. I WANT THAT SHINY THING), here is a quicktime movie/slideshow

ETA: I almost always putter around with the computer's sound muted. I had no clue iPhoto included music. I'm now laughing my ass off.

A certain poodle has been pleading for attention, claiming he is unloved and neglected.

Does this look like an unhappy dog?

We went for a drive today. Buckled the dog and baby in, crammed Tom in the backseat, gave Brandon shotgun, and we headed to the hills.

First stop was Nellysford, where the guys had barbecue. We then took 151 to 666 to 56, drove past Montebello up to the Parkway. We took the parkway south to Irish Gap, mostly to show Brandon the signpost for the spiral curve which shows a stick figure flying off a motorcycle.

Driving back north, we stopped at the Yankee Horse pullover, which is where Wigwam Falls cascades down through the hollow. Of note: cool salamander.

Tom and Ronan. Ronan seemed intrigued. Brandon and a rock. Me, in need of henna..

Tom and Brandon are going to the Dawning tonight for the In Tenebris CD release party. Ronan and I are staying here and playing games like "Boobie, boobie, who's got the boobie?" and "King of the Boobie" and "Duck, Duck, Boobie".

We had a short, easy hike today on the AT. We hiked from the Three Ridges overlook on the parkway to Reed's Gap. It was relatively level and followed an old hogwall and other remnants of Appalachian farm life.

nannar got to ride along with the stinky dog, since nothingoth was being a lazybutt and hadn't had lunch by 2:30, when we were leaving. (Okay, we made explodingcat sit in back with jericho, but that's because they both drool on long car rides.)

We saw a lot of damage from the Thanksgiving ice storm (the one that didn't hit C'ville)--treetops sheared, lots of downed trees/trunks/branches.

Jericho was thrilled, as usual. He really loves hiking.

Boy took an overexposed picture of me where my belly is still not overly visible . . . I need to teach him how to work the camera so that I can actually have some decent shots. Admittedly, it's hard when the sun is as bright as it was--makes it hard to see the LCD to know how the settings are working. ;) I have to throw my belly out and lift my boobs for anything to be visible. And the stake beside me has a white AT blaze, also over-exposed.

We joke that we're section-hiking the AT . . . a dozen steps at a time. ;)

explodingcat has been feeling fairly fatigued lately. Overworked, overstressed, underslept . . . so our hikes may have to be scaled down. To that end, I'm looking for more destination hikes and fewer "tramp through the woods" hikes. For a while, this will involve just picking viewpoints on the AT which aren't too far from a parking area, nor with much elevation change.

On Saturday, we went for what I consider a leg-stretcher. We parked at the northern picnic area on the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked the spur trail to the AT. It was about a quarter mile to the AT and then another half to three-quarters of a mile to our viewpoint--cliffs on the trail.

The picnic grounds are full of old hog walls. The spur trail runs near an excellent specimen for a little bit.

Once we were on the AT, we had minimal uphill climbing, mostly just a nice walk in the woods. At one point, though, Jericho decided to leave his calling card *right in the middle* of the trail. I wasn't carrying a shovel or bags, so I stepped off the trail to grab a bunch of chestnut leaves. And then I screamed, because this is what I saw immediately under my foot, which was in the air mid-step. I'm sure I woke it up. I backed away and turned on the camera, which then got to zoooooom in: sleeping babe. I told Tom to keep an eye out for momma while I snapped a few shots, then we backed off, picked up Jerry's waste, and moved on.

When we got to our destination point, we sat for a bit, enjoying the wind. We admired the rocks, not so much for their quartzite banding as for their bird droppings.

We eventually got chilled and headed back, peeking at the fawn briefly before moving on. It was still there, cozy in the weeds.

Tom got stuck in a tree and I had to leave him in the woods. Jericho went back for him, though, and we all came home together.

Pope Jericho would like you all to watch a small public service announcement presented by Professor explodingcat.

Quicktime video
right-click save-as
option/alt-click download