Haha. Well, not really covered in snow. In fact, it was blazing hot last Sunday and I couldn’t wear the sweater I brought with me–which meant that my shoulders got sunburned. I got my first two sunburns of the year this weekend–they’ve both faded now, but it was a good reminder to hunt up the sunscreen. Oh, the joys of being a really fair-skinned person living in the sunny South.
So, my mom and I went letterboxing Sunday afternoon along the Pine Mountain Trail. There are actually four letterboxes along the trail, but we were short on time, so we just went after two. It was so nice to be outside on such a beautiful day–and I got some of my need for mountain views out of the way. I know that Pine Mountain isn’t the Grand Tetons, but I like it.
Our first hunt started off from Dowdell’s Knob–FDR’s favorite picnic spot. When we stopped at the park’s visitor center, we learned that there will soon be a bronze statue of FDR sitting on a car bench at Dowdell’s Knob. Apparently, they used to pull the seats out of their cars when they had picnics there.
Here’s my sad attempt at a halfway panoramic view:

In the right corner of the picture, you can see the edge of the grill that FDR had built for his picnics. (Or not, since I didn’t format the picture correctly and part of it is cut off–I’ll work on that later today.) This is the highest point of Pine Mountain, and it’s so pretty. When I was little, our parents would point out about where my grandparents lived in the valley below which was neat.
So, Mama and I set off down the trail–and I do mean down. We followed the clue straight to the letterbox–at which point, Mama shouted, which was just too funny, considering that we’re being all secretive and stuff. Anyway, we got a real treat with this lbox, since it contained a hitchhiking lbox–from California. So, now I have to find a good home for it. What an excuse to go letterboxing! 007 you are warned!
Then, we had to hike back up to the car–you know what I said about Dowdell’s Knob being the highest point? Well, guess what that means? Yep, it’s all uphill on the way back. We hadn’t noticed how far we walked on the way in, due to a rather spirited conversation (hee), so we got a good bit of exercise in.
The rest of the letterbox clues started at the visitor’s center, so we went there and hiked out to Buzzard’s Roost. There were longleaf pines all along the trail, some of which were very old. Longleafs are very slow-growing, and they used to cover the mountain–but since fire has been surpressed they have a tougher time of it now. They look like Dr. Seuss trees when they are young. I should have taken some pictures of them, now that I think of it.
Longleaf pine ecosystems are fragmented now, but at one point they spread across the South and contributed incredibly to the economy. In addition to its ecological and economic importance, longleaf pine forests contributed to a sense of place–a landscape heritage. Today, the Longleaf Alliance (out of Auburn University) seeks to coordinate partnerships to manage and restore longleaf pine forests. Janisse Ray’s Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, a book long on my reading list, also weaves longleaf pine ecology into the history of her family. You can also read some comments by Ray on the Longleaf Alliance’s website about her feelings about longleaf pines.
We found the second letterbox just past Buzzard’s Roost. It was a beautiful day, and standing near the edge of the rocks that make up Buzzard’s Roost was exhilerating. Someone, somehow, had hung three wind chimes in a tree about three feet out from the rocks–which could be annoying to find out in the woods in some areas, but on Sunday just contributed to the goodness of the day. When letterboxing, it’s nice to imagine the trees singing.

On Monday, everyone had gone off to work by the time I woke up and had breakfast. I walked around, looking for birds and taking pictures.
My brother adopted these two kitties who were dumped out at a gas station. They are too cute, but you have to watch them because they will follow you out into the street. I had to fuss at the yellow one and chase him back into the yard twice before I could get away!

As usual, the picture really doesn’t do the views justice, but this is looking out from my brother’s front yard.

After looking at the kitties, I walked down the road to the pasture where the cows were. There are two little calves who look like Judy–well, one only has one black eye. They are so cute! Very tiny little cows. I took some pictures of them, but you can’t see them very well, so I won’t post them. I also saw a Northern Flicker and a bunch of Meadowlarks for my life list. It was interesting, there were so many birds and so much birdsong. I don’t think there’s as much here in Athens–but maybe it’s just so noisy here that you can’t listen as well, too.
This is a picture looking up the road towards my parents’ house from the pastures. I’ve spent so much time walking and riding my bike up and down this road–although when I was little, it wasn’t blacktopped. The road was gravel-paved and there were lots of pot-holes about where the trees start. When I looked at this picture, I thought it was funny that I always say that I grew up in a hilly area (which is actually true), but if you just looked at this picture and the earlier one, you wouldn’t believe me at all!

When I walked back home, Blackjack was out near the fence, so I took his picture too. He’s my mom’s pet. I don’t think he was too happy with me, since I didn’t feed him an apple or any sort of treat. Doesn’t he look like a sweet baby.

I’m sure that most of these pictures are not very interesting to most of you, but I like having them somewhere that I can see them. Even though they aren’t the best pictures, they remind me of where I grew up, and my memory can paint them in better than any camera.