Picnic On The Parkway

There's a coolness in the air on the mountain this morning. Down the road, cabbage and pumpkins are being harvested. Trees are starting to drop the red leaves that now show on their extremities. And fall is just around the corner. Leaf season bring a steady flow of traffic on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's tourist season and the spectacular views of red and gold covering the mountains and valleys bring people to picnic and just enjoy the foliage.

Our home is slightly down the mountain from the Groundhog Mountain Lookout, a picnic area and observation point on the Parkway. It's a wonderful parklike setting with picnic tables and lots of grass. Two of the beagle sisters favorite things. We didn't think too much of it when they spent most of last Saturday away from home. Sunday there was a message on the phone when we returned from church saying "double trouble" had been spotted at the lookout. So up we went to bring the wanderers home. Sure enough there they were running around the lawn, playing with the children and enjoying the chicken offered by the picnickers.
"They're so cute"
"Well behaved, they didn't jump on us." No, they don't jump, just sit and look with pathetic brown eyes until some sort of morsel is given them.
"They like Kentucky Fried."
Loading them in the car we brought the fugitives home. I know it probably won't be our last trip to the lookout to retrieve them. They now know where the chicken is and it's just a pleasant jaunt through the woods.

I was told a story of an elderly mountain man who lived near here going up to the lookout and entertaining the visitors with tales of Groundhog Mountain. He too was fed by the picnickers. Maybe his spirit has infected the dogs... naaa, they're just being beagles.