A dark, cold, and damp morning. As I was pulling into the parking area at McMahon’s Mill, I had the strange thought that I should see fishermen, bicyclists, and hikers standing around steel barrels with fires in them on strike and picketing the conditions. I often have strange passing ideas like Read More
c&o canal
Christmas Morning Tea on Arthur’s Rock 2019
For those of you reading this that don’t know, it has become a tradition for me to go to what I call “Arthur’s Rock” early on Christmas morning for a cup of tea. Arthur’s Rock is located close to McMahon's Mill on the C&O Canal and is a spot he and I often stopped at for lunch, a snack, or just Read More
The Toads – Another Appalachian Animal Allegory
(A note to readers: Arthur and I would often tell stories to each other, or more commonly make up stories together. Most of the time these tales were absurd and silly and reflected the excessive amount of imagination and curiosity that he and I shared. Other times I used them as fatherly lessons in Read More
The Rescue of Her Royal Highness, Princess Yellowspot Longtail Salamanicus
(Or Another Appalachian Animal Allegory) It was a dark and stormy day, well stormy anyway, but quite warm for December. After a rainy afternoon of wandering about in the forest looking for things to photograph, dodging excitable whitetails, and enduring the malicious behavior of those reprobate Read More
Vampire Socks
Allegany County Maryland section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park Mile Marker 184.5 (Cumberland MD) to Mile Marker 135.90 (Pearre MD) “Vampire Socks”- A pair of very warm socks, usually made of wool that are kept in the bottom of a sleeping bag. These socks are worn Read More
Zeus and the Sock Monkey (Emergency sub-species)
There have been some questions by you readers of these words of mine about the prevalence of sock monkeys in photographs and on or about our persons when we are out and about. This is one of those Arthur-humor things that got out of hand for many years and became a part of our life Read More