Blue Ridge Highlights Day 4

Wednesday July 31

I had hoped to spend some time today noodling around the local small town, but we got rained out. So, instead we did indoor activities to pass the time, including my calling all the children down to the basement to make cards for their grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary.

We had earlier heard rumor that one of the dads discovered a dead scorpion in a utility room of the cabin. He lives in Texas (and knows scorpions), so reacted calmly, but instructed the rest of us to be checking our shoes and sheets for the "stinging, carnivorous arachnids which are most active at night" (description I read online--oh my!). I have lived only in non-scorpion geographies, so this was much more alarming to me. I'm thinking, 'Oh, there are scorpions here, I guess that means we have to pack up and leave.' While others are saying, 'Don't worry, if one gets you, it's just like a bee sting.'

Dead scorpion

And then we found a dead scorpion in the kitchen! I warned everyone that I'd heard that the critters often play dead, so be careful, but it really was dead. As all of us present were standing around it, discussing what to do, 13-year-old A--- came walking in, didn't hear what we were talking about, and stepped right on the scorpion with her bare feet! You should have seen her Aunt C---- become Bionic Woman and pick up her niece in one fell swoop and get her to safety while the rest of us screamed. (For a good laugh, read the latest in the scorpion drama at Conversion Diary.)

Dinner: Burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, green salad, and ice cream sandwiches.