I saw a bear! Thank goodness it didn’t savage me. And some deers that were almost mooses, but not quite. Reached the summit of another peak also. Photos on their way (hold back your excitement, dear readers, I can see you are frothing at the mouth).
I realised the other day that I hadn’t heard any magpies since I’ve been here. Then I wondered if they had magpies in the US at all. Then I discovered they did, but they were fake magpies. The magpies in the US and Europe are similar to the Australian Magpies in marking, which is how the Australian Magpies got their name. But they’re from a different family. So, no magpies over here. But I did find some mp3s of magpie calls.
For those of you who have never experienced the joy of being dive-bombed by an angry Spring magpie (they’re always angry, and their territory must be well defended), I am sorry. But if you ever do, remember that wearing an icecream carton on your head with eyes drawn on the back will stop them from swooping you (they only come from behind) even if it will make you feel silly.
And for those who have never experienced the joy of having a hoard of baby magpies squawking outside your tent as you try and sleep in – I am sorry. It is a truly memorable experience, and makes you really want to try out magpie-pie.
No climbing this weekend. Apart from that tree. My fingers are beginning to feel better though. We hiked in the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area (in West Virginia), and had campfires (with no marshmallows or damper). Long drive in on a dusty pot-holed road. Heavy dew overnight. Camping on an island (calling it an island is probably a bit of an over-dramatisation, you’d be expecting something exciting that could be raided by pirates, and has coves, and buried treasure; this was more a bit of land that happened to have a stream flowing either side of it, a stream that was so full of rocks that you could walk over it quite easily; it was also full of fish that would nibble on your legs if you stood in it).
Esscuse me… I say esscuse me miss… do you have any spare change? I say esscuse me…
Time keeps doing its thing, and somehow I only have a couple of weeks left working here. One of the things I won’t miss about living in this area, are the Old Town Alexandria panhandlers (called panhandlers rather than beggars because we’re in America, I’m not sure why). From the tall scary dude; the old guy who is always walking along waving his crutches around; to the short gap-toothed lady who has been ‘pregnant’ for a couple of years now (should I perhaps tell her she’s just fat?), and all the others. I’m sick of all of them, and their incessant requests for my money.
One of the good things about the rainy weekend was spending time at the Pancake House outside of Fayettvile, with it’s ‘truck-stop like atmosphere’. When you asked for pancakes, you got 3 enormous dinner plate sized pancakes, covered in butter, and as much whipped cream and maple syrup as you could possibly want (me, I didn’t want any, and in fact I ended up getting a waffle instead, which was also enormous).
I have decided that Walmart is a scary scary place though. Apart from all of the fat Americans running around, I’m having trouble reconciling myself to the fact that there are crossbows and guns on display just next to the manchester.