Saturday, December 1, 2007

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Today I decided I was in major need of a quiet few hours in a bookstore. So far on this trip I have not noticed a single significant bookstore in passing and thought I'd Google Barnes & Noble and see if there was a store in Chattanooga TN since the town is blocking my path toward Birmingham AL. Success. Well, sort of. I found a listing for a store in Chattanooga at Hamilton Place, the largest shopping center in the state. So I Googled a map, drove there, parked, went into the mall (huge), walked up to the mall map kiosk, found the listing for B&N. With an asterisk. Found the note for the asterisk at the bottom of the sign. The store opens in 2008. What the %$*!? - why couldn't that little bit of info have been on their web site?

Oh well, at least all that hoo-haa led me to an easy traverse of Chattanooga and a delightful ride down AL route 75 through some quiet rural farm country with a distinctly southern flavor.

Night camp: Wal-Mart in Oneonta AL

Crayfish Chimney

Late one afternoon I sat upon my camera case beside the path where it wound through the darkest part of the woods, down near the pond, and watched a crayfish building his "chimney," the land entrance to his underwater tunnel. He had just started to work above the ground when I first arrived. He came up through the moist black earth, carrying a ball of it between his two enormous fighting claws. Using the claws as hands, he spread the soil around the hole to form the base of the chimney. He then backed down the hole and after several minutes came up with another armful.

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