me, my redhead, and so on: DANGER in Durham!

To start out the blogging experience, I thought I might share with you some of the adventures that abound here in Durham. However, as you can see from the above sign, North Carolina is not without its (extreme) dangers. So hold on to your hats. (Or your tripod, as I am so skillfully demonstrating.)

Jess has been quite busy using his new graduation gift (no, we’re still in law school, he’s not THAT smart ;) – graduation from Cornell, delayed gift as research was involved). We’ve visited the Blue Ridge Parkway and Stone Mountain State Park, both a couple hours to the north-ish, as well as some local “hot spots,” Eno State Park and Duke Gardens and Trails.

Some of the dangers lurking in the tepid waters of Eno State Park include the quickly moving Turtle Families. Below is Daddy Turtle. In three cases, we spotted what we deemed a “family” of turtles – three turtles, descending in size. When they spotted us, Mommy and Child skillfully slid into the water, but Daddy stayed atop to protect his brood. This fellow let me get really, really close. Pretty sure we could have had a good fight should I have been inclined to poke him with a stick or something similarly dangerous. Check out those claws!

Other dangers include a family of a different sort, but still in possession of four legs each. This family welcomed us to Stone Mountain State Park but proved relatively harmless when the red headed paparazzi leaned out of the window with his turbo lens to capture them.

In other dangerous sightings, we have a bunch of squirrels here at our apartment complex. As it is surrounded by trees, these squirrels make lovely homes in the leafy tree tops. Currently, they’re busy gathering acorns to store for the winter. They've also made a sport of sitting on the edge of the road, big acorn in mouth, staring at me, that is, of course, until I near them in my vehicle, at which point they decide that now would be a good time to cross.