Rain, Rain, Go Away

The Raining Waterfall

We’ve been out for a full 7 days and it has rained for 6.  At first, we were just happy it wasn’t snow. Then the rain started to dampen our spirits a little bit. After 6 days, we were just plain sick and tired of all the wet.

We had heard about a waterfall in an area called, The Grayson Highlands. You might not believe us, but it was the perfect place to be on a rainy day. We pretended the raindrops were simply coming from the spray of the waterfall and we forgot all about the actual rain for a while (even though we were still standing in it). After climbing to the top and looking out over the loud stream of water, the rain began to come down somethin’ fierce.  We decided we better find some shelter.

Wild Ponies

That same day, the rain turned off for a spell while we hiked a hilly section of the Grayson Highlands. As we came to the top of a rise, we were met by a herd of wild ponies. Now, I don’t know if you knew this, but ponies are not baby horses. Newborn horses are called foals (colts for males/fillies for females), young horses are called yearlings, and a pony is a miniature horse (we done learnt all this in an upper-division college course: My Little Ponies 301).

Since these ponies were considered wild, they don’t get haircuts like most other horses you may have seen. Their manes were long and covered their eyes. Their bodies were uncombed and kinda shaggy. They didn’t even have jobs! They just roamed the hills all day eating and writing existential pony poetry. Here’s one we heard:

Do I like to eat thistles?

Nay

Do I like to eat sticks and dead leaves?

Naaaaay

Do I like to eat granola?

Yay

Justin really liked naming the ponies. There was Biter (he liked to bite), Sleepyface (he liked to sleep), and Nibbles (I reckon I don’t recall what Nibbles did). Then there was also Rainbow Dash, Snuzzle, Firefly, and Sundance. Don’t ask me where he came up with those…

The Wright Kids

The other day we met up with a family of kid musicians. Sage was the eldest and she played fiddle and mandolin. Baruch played guitar and banjo. Levi played bass (and could also eat his body weight in banana pudding). Selah was the singer for the group. Well, they all sang. They all sang REALLY well--and you wouldn’t believe how incredibly they played.  We couldn’t even keep up!

They were really young (compared to us) and when we asked them how they got to be so good at their age, they said, “Practice.” I guess we’d better go get our lesson books out again and keep practicing. Maybe one day we’ll be half as good as they are. Here’s a picture of them:

From left to right it goes: Justin, Sage, Selah, Levi, Baruch, and Joe

 Well, we gotta run. Joe left his tent open and it's starting to rain again. Catch ya later!