Sorry Frost, sometimes you have to make decisions in order to survive. R. & I went to Cave Springs Nature Center today. It had been an absolutely beautiful day…no humidity and the temperature was in the high 70s. So we took advantage and decided to go on a not too strenuous hike. I, of course, packed as if we were headed to the Himalayas, with 4 bottles of water and printed maps of the hiking trails. We went to the wrong nature center first and ran into a couple who openly chuckled at my print-outs after we asked if we were at the right site. I laughed too (maybe a little too loudly) and then sheepishly folded & put them away.
Don’t look at what’s in my right hand. It’s nothing.
Cave Springs was so sweet & wonderful. Hidden gems scattered throughout…including spider webs (which I wouldn’t really consider gems, but they were definitely hidden). At one point, we came upon a fork in the path and, on a whim, decided to go right. A few yards in, we stopped at an impasse created by a spider web four times the size of my head. Or so it seemed after I came-to.
R. ducked under and waited for me to come. Now, at this point, two thoughts went through my head. Well, three actually. First, the romantic side of my brain suggested that due to the size of this web, no one had actually hiked this path for months, maybe even years. Who knew what lay beyond. An important piece of history that no one has uncovered until now? An indigenous Indian tribe undiscovered for 600 years that has no idea how technologically advanced we are? Maybe. And then on the heels of that thought was Robert Frost gently urging me to move forward in my exploration.
My last thought (and ultimately, my final one) was of my brain’s arachnophobic/paranoid side. Did the descendants of the ‘Granddaddy Spider’ plot this entrapment? He was the eight-legged fiend who lived in my basement bedroom in college. Granddaddy was so large & hairy, that when the arch of my foot landed on him while putting away clothes, I actually thought I had stepped on a sock. But surely he didn’t have enough time to spread word to his relatives of the human-monster hovering over him during his final moments. I mean, I saw him die. right. there. in front of me. Has his family been tracking me? Waiting until I had a blissful, cerebral moment with nature to catch me off guard? The answer is…
Of course they were. And I’m sure R. was proud to have such a cunningly smart wife to have deduced that. We doubled back on the trail while he sarcastically mumbled something about me needing to apply for the FBI.
Another curious park feature are the ruins of old homes that used to be in the area. Apparently, Harry Truman picnicked here quite a bit in his teens and also, a country club complete with a golf course, homes, and a lake were built in the 30s & 40s. The lake is now dry, however an algae-covered pond remains.
Personally, I love how this pond looks. At first glance, you almost miss it…or you think it’s a field or something. And then you see the thin layer of algae on top. You never think about how many shades of green (or any color, for that matter) there are, until you see it presented in nature.
It wasn’t until we were almost out of the park when we noticed a peculiar looking plant growing on all sides of the trails. Could this possibly be poison oak? Yet another attempt to bring havoc onto my life by Granddaddy Spider IV, foiled. I’ll squash you like I did him, just you wait. Just. You. Wait.
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[…] Camping / Hiking – and facing my fear of the granddaddy spider of 2001. […]
[…] So we drove north to the Vermont/Massachusetts border and walked along the Robert Frost trail. Anytime I think of Frost, I always revert back to my almost collision with the Grandaddy Spider of year 2000′s descendant. He almost got me, but I’ve been on my toes since that fateful day in my basement bedroom. Clic… […]