Sunrise in Tishomingo

After enjoying a beautifully misty sunrise along with my duck friends in Tishomingo State Park, it was time to head north once again. Today I decided to take an alternate route running parallel to the Underground Railroad Route about five miles to the east (I know, pretty risky for the directionally challenged one) because I wanted to more closely follow the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway to the place where it joins the Tennessee River. This happens right at the point where Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee all converge. Pickwick Lake to be precise.

I took this photo as I crossed the Tennessee River at Pickwick Dam. Although I bypassed Shiloh, I much preferred seeing this, particularly after following the Tenn-Tom Waterway all this way. Of course, this man-made wonder didn’t even exist during the time of the Underground Railroad, but the Tennessee River sure did and played a crucial role in the escape route to the north.

As I rode today, I reflected on the relationship between my fundraising mission and dog encounters. As I have said before, a big part of this adventure is to make you aware of the need to preserve public radio, a great national treasure enjoyed by millions of discerning listeners like you. The family dog is charged with the responsibility of preserving its family’s property. We are both determined to succeed. Now I have no interest in disturbing anything in that dog’s world, but he doesn’t know that and can’t take any chances.

I can respect that. I have to keep reminding you that this is a FUNDRAISING adventure for the same reason. Having said that, and given the frequency of dog encounters on this trip, I am proposing a dollar-a-dog pledge level. If I can raise one buck from enough people for every dog that chases me on this trip, we can keep public radio around for a long time. What inspired this idea was the unusually large number of dogs I encountered on Wednesday. I was chased 17 times! I outran 15 of them and the air horn stopped the other 2. So far I have not had to unholster the pepper spray even once.

I have learned how to predict the frequency of dog encounters by studying the maps. State roads are the least likely places to find loose canines. Moderate to heavy traffic tends to inspire dog owners to fence in their pets, lest they become road kill. Encounters on county roads are more likely, but the road I traveled on Wednesday was the perfect storm – one named after a local politician without any sort of numerical designation (only referred to by locals as “the north road”) a place you know you’ll be on your own and every dog along the way will consider the section in front of their yard their property. So check those maps before you ride and get yourself an air horn.

Thanks as always to those of you who have made a contribution to this campaign. If you get a chance, let one or more of our corporate sponsors know how much you appreciate their support of public radio. It’s good to be in Tennessee – I’ve traveled about 550 miles since leaving Pensacola on April 6th. Check back in with me tomorrow.

Large versions of all my blog pics can be found at my photo gallery.

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