Salamander Follies!

We spent a delightful Monday morning sitting on our favorite rock overlooking the stream that runs through the Valley of the Elk. The water shone like a ribbon of molten silver in the morning light. Several white-tailed deer crossed the valley below us, their tawny coats almost perfectly camouflaged against the golden brown background.

We reluctantly hiked out of the Quehanna Wild Area on Monday shortly after noon, having spent almost exactly 24 hours at our campsite. We left the woods for as good a reason as we went there, as a wise gent once said. Which is to say that we had other lives to live elsewhere. (But we didn't necessarily have to like it!)

Spring was springing out all over! On our hike back to the car, we revisited some of the ponds and puddles we had seen the day before. They were teeming with gelatinous masses of eggs, some with little black spots (soon-to-be-tadpoles) wiggling around inside.

One of the particularly active puddles featured a really great spring show: the Salamander Follies! In a session no doubt arranged specifically for our viewing pleasure, several salamander contortionists performed an intricate dance that seemed a cross between a burlesque and a World Wrestling Federation match. It was a splendid show, one of the best I've seen!

The song to accompany this spring fling is Catherine Zeta-Jones' performance of I Can't Do It Alone, from the musical Chicago. (Which I highly recommend, by the way, as every song in it is excellent!)