On Super bowl Sunday morning, Carl and I decied to hike Little Bennett Regional Park in Gaithersburg. The park has an extensive, if not particularly challenging trail system. The area was hit by 3 inches of rain and flooded last week, then froze over after several Alberta Clippers moved through. The hiking alternated between mud and sheet ice a good portion of the time.
Several miles in you come across the remains of Wims Field, an baseball field used by a Negro baseball league many years ago. A mile or so after that the trails converge to an area where you have to ford a river, but with all the rain and snow the water level was too high. So, we backtracked and decided the brave the dreaded Ant Mound trail.
The trail is lined with giant ant mounds and common sense would say that, even in the cold of winter, you should avoid the voracious little beasts. But, no - inquisitive Carl had to investigate the makings of one of the mounds while I stopped to tie my boots ...
When turned around he was gone - nothing was left but a single Michael Jackson-like glove on one of the ant mounds, and his wallet containing his latest retirement checks. Oh, well - I grabbed the checks and bravely soldiered on.
Later, at Mike and Kathy's Superbowl Party, the New Orleans Superdome held a 37 minute long moment of darkness to memorialize Carl - one minute of blackout for each of ant hills along the notorious Ant Mound Trail.
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