15 People Have Died Here (OR) Take That Off Your Head

Yes, I went away to the mountains for a week with my husband, my mother-in-law, and my preadolescent son. And, yes, we all arrived back home in one piece. (Except for the car, which arrived home, but with not with all of its pieces intact. But I digress...)

This is a picture of us at Whitewater Falls. It was taken by a stranger. Little does my family know, but the presence of that stranger may well have saved all of their lives.

See us all smiling? No, wait. Maybe I am the only one smiling.

See Alex carrying a strip of fabric and a big stick? (Like Isaac, he carried this wood up the mountain by himself.)

Notice my feet poised to run. Because I am really thinking that I could strangle one of them, beat one of them with a stick, and push the last one over the cliff.

But then along comes another happy vacationing family.

Makes me wonder if Abraham had been in a Hebrew National Forest if he would have gotten to the point of strapping Isaac to the altar. Just about the time Isaac asked (again) why he always had to carry the wood, and why were they going up this mountain, and were they there yet for the fortieth time, and Abraham was ready to just tie the kid down and light the match, along comes another father and son up the trail.

Wait, it was another Father and Son who did intervene. Wow. That wasn't where I saw this post going, but my family should be glad that there is a Power greater than me. I know I am.

Aside: There is an old Lane family legend concerning a first born son and a visit to a National Park Site with a strip of cloth tied around his head that is relevant to this story. (I personally have no memory of this, but it has been collaborated and retold so many times over the years that I am convinced of its authenticity.) Instead of lamenting that we never saw the inside of the Lemon House (?) we should be glad our mother did not strangle one of us and we all lived to tell the story.