Today I ran in the Cumberland Gap Historic Park. Its the best place to run - historic, scenic, and has a bunch of trails. It has hills, but not too many. So, I was running and another runner passed me going in the opposite direction. As he passed me, he said what sounded like, "Copper ahead, up there". I thought he was warning me that there was a policeman up ahead. I don't know how fast the thought I was going, but I was pretty sure I was well under the speed limit. Then I realized he was saying, "Copperhead up there" - as in a copperhead snake. I waited until he was well past me so he wouldn't think less of me, then I backtracked and got off the trail and onto the paved road.
This comes just days after hearing that there was a bear sighting about 100 yards from where I live. So I've been a little skittish anyway. The whole time I've been in Kentucky, I've just assumed I would eventually be eaten by something. Its just a questions of when, not if.
So in a little while I go onto another trail. Obviously my panophobia (the fear of everything) is in high gear. Then I almost step on a turtle who is sitting in the middle of the trail. I hurdled the turtle. (A good name for a children's book, although you would probably be sued by the Dr. Seuss estate for copyright infringement on his book "Yertle the Turtle".) I know they don't move fast vertically, but I thought maybe they have some great leaping ability. Seriously, that thought went through me head in a split second. I cleared him by a good amount. It turns out they have absolutely no leaping ability whatsoever.
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