 |
| I guess we're really Boring with no heads. |
Yesterday, we all converged on Wally's apartment for a visit. He lives about halfway between Theo and us, so it was a good meeting place for all. We had a pleasant visit and it was during lunch that Theo said something interesting. We were chatting about this and that when he said, "I just realized how boring we are as a family. We've just talked about tax laws, zinc, and computer security." He had a point. Those were't usually topics that most (any) people found interesting, but we were perfectly happy discussing them. Let me introduce us--We're the Borings. :)
After lunch, we moved onto the main goal of the afternoon--taking a family picture for the Christmas letter. We didn't have anyone to take it so we used the timer on the camera while it was sitting on top of the car. A method that worked pretty well. While we were doing this, something occurred to me. It would be awfully hard to set a phone camera up to take a picture like this. They really don't have a base to stand on their own. Maybe that's one small reason for the vast world of Selfies. Someone has to be holding the camera to take a picture. Actually, I think there's a lot more involved with Selfies, but that's a discussion for another time.
Then it was time for us to part ways. The brothers wanted some "bonding time"as they call it or as it can also be called--time for playing video games. Ward and I left in search of a place to take a hike.
We stopped at a place we had driven by many times on the way to Wally's place-- Soldier's Delight which had a nature center (closed) and hiking trails. Never really figured out why it's called Soldier's Delight but it may have something to do with the King's soldiers naming it that. Hopefully, the nature center will be open next time we stop and we will get a better answer to this interesting name.
Here are a few pictures from our walk.
 |
| This area was made into a National Environment Area trying to preserve some of the rare plants that grow here. Also, as you can read, this used to be an area of chromium mining. |
 |
| A Haunted Hike was scheduled for that evening and these "spooky eyes" were set up along the trail. This one is housed on greenbrier vines. As you can see, they are no more that eyes cut out of a cardboard tube with a glow stick inside. |
 |
| Mushroom that had just pushed its way up through the forest litter. |
 |
| A shaft opening into one of the old chromium mines. |
 |
| Blackjack Oak |
 |
| Oaks are the primary tree there, so the changing leaves had more oranges than reds and yellows. From this point you could see a lot of far away places on a clear day. It was not a clear day. |
