When you go into the woods, sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you.
Accordingly, Mrs Petronius and I have decided to invite Ms Chu for a holiday weekend down to our cabin in the mountains. Just an opportunity to introduce Ms Chu to the multifaceted identities of some genuine Southerners, and sample some of our local cuisine.
A chance to relax and get acquainted. Show her around town. Take in all the diversity (we have 57 varieties of Baptist churches). Take in a ball game at Appalachian State, and watch the Mountaineers beat Michigan or Iowa or some other Yankee school. Do a little shopping. A visit to Foothills Branch Outdoors to pick up some fishing gear, and then some trout fishing on the Watauga River. Meet the neighbors. Just us girls. Amiable, good-humored, harmonious hill folk. Full of sweetness and light. Although now somewhat diminished in pride and work ethic, compared to former times.
We could take our EBT cards down to the Harris Teeter, pick up some groceries, pack some ham sandwiches, and then go hiking up the Dan'l Boone Trail into the Pisgah National Forest. Such spectacular scenery! And solitude. Why, you can hike all day and not see another living soul!
Eric Rudolph hid out in those hills for over five years, avoiding the biggest manhunt in American history. Of course it's easy to get lost back there in the woods, if you don't know what you're doing. Stumble on a rock, sprain your ankle and it's difficult to get back out before dark. And you have to watch out for bears and panthers. Wildcats. Poisonous snakes and scorpions. Wild boar. Timber wolves and coyotes. Big-horned elk. And there's thick fogs. Cliffs, ledges, rock falls, gorges, gullies, and caves. Rapids and flash floods. Flimsy, swinging rope bridges. Abandoned pit mines. Old rock quarries. Deep pools. Turquoise lakes....
Folks have been lost in those woods. Weekend campers. Strangers. Hippies who come down to commune with nature, smoke a little ganja, and urinate on each other. Poke fun at the ignorant, stupid hillbillies. And then carelessly wander off. Never heard from again. It's been known to happen. At least, that's what I've been told.
Anyway, we're extending the helpful hand of mountain hospitality to Ms Chu. And we won't accept "No" for an answer.
When you go into the woods, sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you.
Accordingly, Mrs Petronius and I have decided to invite Ms Chu for a holiday weekend down to our cabin in the mountains. Just an opportunity to introduce Ms Chu to the multifaceted identities of some genuine Southerners, and sample some of our local cuisine.
A chance to relax and get acquainted. Show her around town. Take in all the diversity (we have 57 varieties of Baptist churches). Take in a ball game at Appalachian State, and watch the Mountaineers beat Michigan or Iowa or some other Yankee school. Do a little shopping. A visit to Foothills Branch Outdoors to pick up some fishing gear, and then some trout fishing on the Watauga River. Meet the neighbors. Just us girls. Amiable, good-humored, harmonious hill folk. Full of sweetness and light. Although now somewhat diminished in pride and work ethic, compared to former times.
We could take our EBT cards down to the Harris Teeter, pick up some groceries, pack some ham sandwiches, and then go hiking up the Dan'l Boone Trail into the Pisgah National Forest. Such spectacular scenery! And solitude. Why, you can hike all day and not see another living soul!
Eric Rudolph hid out in those hills for over five years, avoiding the biggest manhunt in American history. Of course it's easy to get lost back there in the woods, if you don't know what you're doing. Stumble on a rock, sprain your ankle and it's difficult to get back out before dark. And you have to watch out for bears and panthers. Wildcats. Poisonous snakes and scorpions. Wild boar. Timber wolves and coyotes. Big-horned elk. And there's thick fogs. Cliffs, ledges, rock falls, gorges, gullies, and caves. Rapids and flash floods. Flimsy, swinging rope bridges. Abandoned pit mines. Old rock quarries. Deep pools. Turquoise lakes....
Folks have been lost in those woods. Weekend campers. Strangers. Hippies who come down to commune with nature, smoke a little ganja, and urinate on each other. Poke fun at the ignorant, stupid hillbillies. And then carelessly wander off. Never heard from again. It's been known to happen. At least, that's what I've been told.
Anyway, we're extending the helpful hand of mountain hospitality to Ms Chu. And we won't accept "No" for an answer.