Trail of the Dead

Okay, so it's not really the trail of the dead, but being the day after Halloween, it's only fitting, right? I've taken a couple of days off from work to spend some time at the old homestead in Virginia. Today, I went hiking on the Doe Run Trail, outside of Martinsville. A beautiful, warm day; not like November at all. I did some searching around for the geocache (referenced October 14), but without a GPS, it's pretty much a needle in a haystack. Will try again next time—and perhaps leave one out there myself.

I did run up on a big old copperhead while going along the creek. Fortunately, it had the sense to slip into the water and swim away, and I had the good sense not to follow it.

Now, coming up here last night was deliciously spooky. After the trick-or-treaters were pretty much done (about 8:30-ish), I got in the car, headed up north of the border (yes, the NC/VA border, about an hour's drive), and decided to visit the old "Secret Place" that my brother and I used to frequent back in the late 80s/early 90s. It's an old dead-end road in the county where one used to be able to find the spooky ruins of some old houses, which we explored in depth. The way back to them is blocked off anymore, but the road itself is still pretty much the definition of creepy. Drove back there with the soundtrack to Night of Dark Shadows playing, got out, had a smoke, and savored the atmosphere for a while. It's pitch dark back there except for one opening in the trees where, many miles in the distance, you can see the lights of Martinsville. It was just the place to spend a little quiet time on Halloween night.

Perhaps I shall make a tradition of it.