Bears and Mountains and Snakes Oh My!

We went to Smoky Mountains for the labor day weekend. A couple friend from Atlanta also joined us. If truth be told, I didn't want to go on this trip.

Case in point: Our black suitcase which has been in our bedroom since the last week of June.

Last week of June, DH went to Utah for 3 days. One week later, he went on a 2.5 week trip to India. Then I had to be in Marco Island for 3 days and 1 week later, I had to be in Naples for a week.

The suitcase has never left the bedroom. Now it is still there waiting for the packing for the cruise.

And all this travel had made me want to curl up into a ball and sleep through the entire long weekend. Enrgetic hubby had other ideas. I agreed to tag along as long as I could sleep in the car and not do any trip planning. The terms were agreed to by both parties and we set off on Friday. We have been to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone etc, so Smoky Mountains pales a little in comparison for us with regard to beauty. But bears and mountains? Never a bad deal. Plus, it was a good time with friends.

But something happened during the trip which made it very memorable.

We were on a hike to see a waterfall. I was walking a bit ahead and my husband and the other couple were behind. At one point they were far behind, but they soon caught up. Or in other words, I really slowed down. I just kept plugging along and suddenly I heard my husband call my name.

LOUDLY.

I stopped immediately. And looked down.

One single step ahead of me was a snake.

I didn't realize it was a poisonous rattle snake. Moments later, he told me that it was shaking it's rattle and ready to strike. I was close enough for the snake to feel threatened. When I heard that, I felt my whole body going weak and had to sit down on a nearby stone. I felt the trees around me spinning. It was a while before I could get up and continue walking.

The rest of the vacation went on without incident. I came back and read about rattlesnakes in wikipedia. Considering that we were kind of in the middle of nowhere (more than half way up the hill) and it would have taken a while to get proper medical help, the possibilities were very sobering. A loss of limb being one of them.

I thank God for his protection, that we are back safe and sound. But I realize how tenuous is the thread that separates life from death and how in that one instant our lives could have been irrevocably changed. That in one step, concepts like death, loss of limb suddenly could have gone from abstract "happen to other people" to concrete reality.