As we arrived in Gatlinburg last week and checked in to the cabin rental company, we received a welcome packet.  The packet was fairly typical: map of the area, coupons, check-out instructions, etc.  There were also a couple of warning sheets to keep us safe during our visit.

The first page warned us of bears.  Black bears, grizzly bears, brown bears – I really don’t know which kind as I didn’t give it much attention.  My parents had a friendly visit from a bear several years back, so I know they’re here.  No matter the color, I’m no match for a bear, even if I did watch a Steven Seagal movie the other night and I’m feeling kind of tough.

So, I paid little attention to this first warning.  Bears, big, hungry, ferocious - I get it.

But the second warning stopped Jul and I in our collective tracks.  This warning prepped us for another local pest, but not the kind of pest that towered over you.  This little pest is about the size of a travel tube of toothpaste. That’s right, the Smoky Mountain garden variety ‘scorpion’.

Excuse moi?  Scorpions?  Here?  In our cabin?  In our shoes?  Well, Jul and I read through the flyer paying attention to every last word.  It turns out this variety is about as harmless as bees – just pesky.  Apparently, the rabid kind that harm small children and the elderly are found in arid places like Arizona.

With that knowledge, Jul and I hopped down from the countertops and let out a sigh.  And so it was that we forgot about it for the duration of our 2 week stay.

Now, we are pretty thorough when checking out.  With four kids, traveling is akin to herding cats, but we do our best and have a little system wheras Jul combs the place first, then I follow up.  If anything turns up missing down the road, of course, it’s her fault as I didn’t comb too hard knowing she had just been through – I’m kidding.  So today as we checked out, Jul looks near a rug, pulls up a rolled corner and there it is – a ferocious, dead little twirp of a scorpion.  This tough guy was not much bigger than a pretzel.

Jul and I looked at each other with knowing grins – our trip would have been much different had we seen a scorpion on the first day of the trip.  There wouldn’t have been any blankets, pillows or shoes on the floor.  Somehow, I doubt we would have relaxed as much as we did.  Especially 2 feet away from that corner of the rug where we played more than a few hours of Xbox.

My next response was to unpack half the car to grab the EOS and take a ‘wanted poster’ mug shot.  The thought did cross my mind to take one of those deep-sea fishing expedition photos whereas I stand proudly holding my catch.  But the little guy was lying there so peacefully, it didn’t seem right to disturb him. Good scorpion, play dead.

Author | Dave Darby

Dave Darby is a husband, father of 5, son, entrepreneur, speaker and well, a renaissance man who frequently needs to dump his brain on thoughts about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.