Monday, August 05, 2013

Another Saturday Night

Saturday night I went mini-golfing with Sean right at closing time. We were out running errands all day so decided rather late in the afternoon to go mini-golfing after dinner. We went so late that the first place we tried was closed. But mini-golf isn't what I want to talk about. It's what happened after.

On the way home, we decided to go for a hike. It was about 10 PM at that point and dark. Here's a list of reasons why that was a bad idea:

  1. I was wearing flip flops
  2. Sean was wearing flip flops
  3. Sean's headlamp batteries are going to die soon
  4. We had no other flashlight
  5. Our only method of defense? Pocketknife.

What's really bad is when, historically, you haven't really hiked that much in the daylight (let alone at night) and the experienced hiker you're standing next to whispers "I saw some eyes to the right of us."

 

My follow-up question? "What kind of animals are out here?"

 

Oh you know, just BEARS, MOUNTAIN LIONS

and deer.

 

However other than hearing some occasional branches break and flashes of paranoia, the only living creatures we saw were millipedes and a bat. (Millions of millipedes!)

At the top of the mountain it was beautiful though. It wasn't a perfectly clear night but it was nice enough to see tons of stars and sort of get lost in their vastness and distance. My favorite thing to do when I look at the stars is find the Big Dipper. I know where it is from my house in California, from campgrounds, in Boston, in Connecticut and here. It's my favorite constellation and a reminder of home and how close everything really is, even if the people I love and care about are spread hundreds or thousands of miles apart.

And, just in case you were wondering, we made it back down without incident.

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