Last night I set out to watch the meteor shower, fucked off to the mountains etc etc you know the deal. Was cold enough to break out the field tunic for probably the last time until autumn; it was nice, I needed that comfort and security.

Anyway, no sidetracking, important thing: In the same patch of woods where I found a bucket list flower in September, the indian pipe/ghost flower, I walked up on another flower I have been searching for in the wild my entire life. One of our native orchids. I've wanted to find *any* of our native orchids in the wild, and I had never been lucky enough to. Until last night, and this pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule) was just there, chillin. I lost my absolute mind. The population is considered globally secure, but they have very low pollination rates, flower infrequently, and take a very long time to mature. In Alabama they have a status of "S3", which means in the state there is an estimation of 20-100 occurrences of specimens in the wild. The range is measly, vouchered specimens only having been collected in Blount, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, DeKalb, Jackson, Lawrence, and Madison Counties. I was beyond ecstatic to see this one. It was not tucked very far away off the beaten path, I sincerely hope it doesn't get poached.

I also, quite literally, almost got my skull stomped in by a very angry deer while I was bedded down in some grass for the meteor shower. I had to run. From a deer. I think I would have rather encountered a bear, I was at Bear Den Point after all. But, that's neither here nor there compared to the orchid.