saturday at the shoals / mysterious bones

Eager to enjoy Saturday’s lovely weather, Nicholas, Derya, Alissa (our honorable out-of-town guest), and I headed over to Glendale shoals for most of the afternoon.

Though Nicholas (who should be thanked for some of these photos, btw) and I had brought our photo gear in case we happened to stumble across anything interesting, we had no idea we’d find this unsettling and mysterious array of carcasses placed on the rocks, about a half-mile from where we’d parked.

Creepy, right?

We decided the carcasses were too small to be deer, and guessed that perhaps they were goats. It was hard to tell, though, as all of the limbs were missing and the one remaining skull was underwater. Does anyone know of any goats or other animals missing from the Glendale area recently?

It was pretty clear, judging from the way that we found the bones in this area outside of the stream’s current and from the odorous skinned-animal hide lying nearby, that these carcasses were dumped here by humans and not carried by the stream. I’m still hypothesizing as to where they came from: Viking-style farm-animal funeral? Satanic ritual? Some starving person killing for food? Either way, I think we were all a little creeped out. Is this the kind of thing for which one should call the cops? Any suggestions for who we should contact to ensure the carcasses are properly removed?

Anyway, once we got the bones out of our sight and their smell out of our noses, Nicholas and I managed to have some fun frolicking in patches of wilting kudzu.

Autumn foliage also provided for some nice, senior-photo-style portraits.

Derya, dance team captain, voted best hair.

Alissa, student council president.

Rachel, lit-mag editor.

Nicholas, figure skating team captain,
co-chair of gay/straight alliance.

My advice: get outside and enjoy the season before its over.

And oh, I’m headed home to the Great White North for Thanksgiving! I’ll be in Michigan from tomorrow until the following Tuesday, and potential destinations include Ann Arbor, Detroit and its suburbs, Petoskey, Chicago, and Kalamazoo. Whoever calls me first gets dibs! Except my parents (they bought my plane ticket), who are obviously first in line. I’ll see all of you crazy Michiganders soon!