We were having a ball in it, and Elaina had the tiny kitchen all set up just the just way she wanted. It was our second day in the Asheville area, and the weather forecast promised another unseasonably-mild autumn day. Sitting at a picnic table outside the camper at first light, we were already working on our second cup of coffee. As the new dawn greeted the forest around us, illuminating a spectacle of scarlet and gold leaves, Elaina whispered so as not to disturb the other campers.“Honey, what do you say we drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway this morning? Everyone is saying that it’s utterly gorgeous.”“Sure,” I said, admiring the natural beauty all around us, “I guess it’s safe.”“What’s safe, Tom? We don’t know how safe we are sitting right here. We can’t just lie down and die. We’re going to go right on enjoying ourselves. Yeah … sure, we still have to be vigilant, but that’s it.”I pulled a Carlton from my pack, tapped the end of it on the wooden picnic table.
