"that old fear, and that old pain"

"'Lord,' I said. 'Lewis, you're out of sight.'

'Who knows,' he said. 'But I believe in survival. All kinds. Every time I come up here, I believe in it more. You know, with all the so-called modern conveniences, a man can still fall down. His leg will break, like Shad Mackey's. He can lie there in the woods with night coming on, knowing he's got two cars in the garage, one of them an XKE, a wife and three children watching 'Star Trek' as he lies trying to get his breath under a bush. The old human body is the same as it always was. It still feels that old fear, and that old pain. The last time I was near here...'"

-- James Dickey, Deliverance

Mushroom Trail

Seen on a recent walk around my neighborhood.  I can only guess I'm being lured into a cooking pot.  It's been a surprisingly wet summer here in Frederick -- last two summers I swear everything turned brown by the end of July and stopped growing.