March Maligned

St. Patrick's Day is here, you see.

We'll pick some shamrocks, one, two, three.

We'll count the leaves and look them over,

And maybe find a four-leafed clover.

One week we get nearly two feet of snow, and the next we are consistently seeing temps approaching 70 degrees.  Spring has arrived and, as is our tradition here, we drove up to Eureka Springs for the St. Patrick's Day parade.
 

I wasn't aware that the kazoo was from Ireland.  I would have thought maybe a drum, a whistle or some type of bagpipe would be more appropriate.  These guys were good though, and will play anything but Yankee Doodle.

This is the Eureka version of kick the can.  You can't tell in this photo, but the parade route is all downhill, and the route is lined with kids and cars, but he manages to keep the keg from crashing into anyone, or anything.  Maybe it's the freedom of movement offered by his schoolgirl skirt (ask any Scotsman, that's not a kilt).  

 We celebrated Jack's 2nd birthday with a cake that Jacqui made (it was awesome).  Jack has been a fan of airplanes lately, so Jacqui used her culinary skills to make an airplane cake, complete with jet engines made from chocolate Rolos and chocolate cherries.

Bon visited, and her gifts were a big hit with the little man.  He's still got some things that he plays with regularly, though for some reason, has not been much into us reading to him this month (he might still bring you one of his "baby" books that he knows really well).  He continues to be a fan of Legos, and is a champ at building a tower, a house (just a square), and "a preshent" (a square block made from Legos) that he then gives to himself (an only child).   When he's outside, he wants to be chased around, kick a ball, hit the ball off the tee, play with water, or dig a hole (but has not learned to STAY OUT OF THE GARDEN). 

Jacqui's dad Curt and his wife Jan visited on their way from Arizona to MI, and brought some great gifts as well.  Here, Curt tries to show Jack that although you may drive for show, you put-put for dough.  Jack's also learning you don't use the clubs as hatchets, or baseball bats, or hockey sticks.  All lessons I'm sure we'll be continuing through adolescence, and if he’s anything like me, by then he’ll probably be using dad's irons to hit rocks off tees into the neighbor's fence.

We took our first hike of the spring, just a few miles in and out along this creek. It had a waterfall to sit by and enjoy lunch. Saw some wildflowers coming up and the dogwoods are blooming.  The rest of the trees are still a few weeks away from blooming up in this area, though just 45 minutes south of where we live, many are in full bloom.  Maybe next week we'll head down to the river valley (south of Fort Smith), or over to the delta, to show you the rice fields, the cotton in bloom, or maybe a gator.

I think this is the first time he ever said cheese when a photo is being taken.  In case you're wondering if it's safe to sit here, it is.  The worst spiders and the sankes don't come out for another couple of months.  This is rough country, which is probably why it was favored by outlaws.  Back in the day, nobody in their right mind would follow you into Arkansas on a horse.  Did anybody see the movie True Grit?  The book was written by a guy from the Ozarks, and is about this area (though it was shot in Texas because you can't easily get camera crews into this area). I watched a bit of Ken Burns' new PBS special on the civil war, and he talks quite a bit about the Ozarks.  We've heard that after the war, the area was full of rebs who just couldn't let it go, and who would run "border raids", robberies and other such mischief.





 We ran into a couple in their 80's by the trail head who asked us "are y'all goin up to see Earnst?" Adding, "He's a be givin away somethin', I'm sure". Well, I've become quite good at deciphering most of the swamp talk down here, but didn't have any idea what they were talking about.  It was only later as we were driving away that we realized they were talking about the author of the guide book we had with us (a gift from Tom and Suzanne).  However, after seeing this house (one of the landmarks on the way to Earnst's), we decided against the side trip.

The boy is becoming "as country as a turnip green", here sporting a pot belly and a redneck t shirt. His diet now includes hush puppies, breakfast sausage, biscuits (no gravy), sweet potatoes, and taquitos (a Tribe staple from south Texas). We've been going out for fish on Fridays, as we're in the middle of Lent, and will try him on catfish again (not much success there).

Hope you enjoyed the update.  Next up: our celebration of the first Sunday after the first fourteenth day of the Paschal Full Moon that is on or after the vernal equinox (that's Easter).