April in Arkansas

April brought us some unseasonably warm weather.  The Easter egg hunters didn't seem to mind.  In the photo above, Jack's pre-school class (he's in the center with blue bucket and check shirt) gets their instructions on how to hunt.  You can click on this VIDEO, and at one point, you can see him pick up a shovel full of sand to pour into his basket like it's a sand pail. There may have also been a dog turd, a stick, and a few stones in there. A pretty good haul.

We took a walk through the new Crystal Bridges Museum's trail system.  You can see part of the museum in the background.   There was an installation of civil war uniforms, and I took the moment to tell Jack his "team" wore blue uniforms and was called The Union Army, and the other team was called The Confederate Army.  I'm sure someone in the crowd muttered something about damn yankees.

There is some artwork along the trail.  Here you see Jack with a big bronze hog.  Yes, he has to go to the bathroom, and no, he would not go when we were inside the museum.                                           

Spring rains are here.  Bring out the rain boots and fireman coat.  He keeps asking for a fireman hat.  When he wears this to school, they give him a red plastic hat to wear, otherwise he refuses to remove the coat.  The spring storms also signal the start of tornado season.  We've already had two watches for systems within 35 miles of us.  You may recall from an earlier post, that you get a "Watch" when doppler radar notices conditions capable of producing tornados (that usually gives you about 35 minutes to prepare).  Then, if one is actually spotted on the ground, you get a "Warning" to seek shelter immediately.  We were looking up at the sky, and you could actually see them forming and breaking up, and forming and breaking up again.  So, we decided with them forming right on top of us like that, we would have very little notice, if any, of an upgrade to "Warning".  We'd be the ones calling in the warning when it ripped the roof off.  So, we sat on the floor of the walk-in closet for the next 20 minutes. 

The Fayetteville Farmer's market has started up, and there is quite a bit of fruit and veg for this early in the year.  One old farmer we talked with said it was the earliest he'd had strawberries in 20 years of growing.  Here, Jacqui is modeling  Birkenstock footwear and a third trimester belly (only 3 months to go).

There are usually three of four "bands" playing.  These kids are one of our favorites.  As you can see from the sign, they call themselves Farmer and The Markets. They have a Youtube chanel you can check out, or you canmsee some links to their videos here:
All I Want Is You
Little Lion Man
Chicago

This is the look Jack gives you when you mention that the Sox are at the bottom of the AL East with only 10 wins.

We took a short hike up in Bella Vista (about 40 min from us), and here Jack is saying he JUST wants to put his foot in the creek.  Just a little bit.  This turns into both shoes off, and me, with both shoes on, in water half-way up my shins.  He also likes throwing stones into the water and watching leaves and sticks float down the creek.  No sign of snakes.

I did see this one on one of the bike trails the other day, and stopped to take a photo with my phone.  It's one of the most common ones in our area, and is not poisonous.  It's called a North American Racer (link to Arkansas snakes ).  There were a couple of UofA girls that also stopped, and one of them, apparently a good country girl, said she'd like to grab it by the tail and swing it around her head like Annie Oakley.  I said, "I'll give you 5 bucks if you let me post that on YouTube".  She didn't take me up on it. 

I have a related story that also illustrates this difference between city people and country people.  We went on a hike last weekend, and at the trail head, we said hello to a girl and a guy who were putting their kayaks into the stream.  It's very scenic, and the trail runs along the top of a bluff about 20 feet above the stream.  The trail was just a tight single track, and despite it only being spring, the vegetation was already encroaching on both sides of the trial.  It was thick, and buggy and there was that sweet smell of honeysuckle hanging in the air.  Jack was stopping every 10 feet to pick up a stone to throw in the water, so with all of that, I knew it wouldn't be long before we decided to turn around and go back.  Just then, we heard the girl call to us from the stream below.  She said, "Hey, can you see that snake?"  We grabbed Jack by the hair, and turned to go back.  She said, "not up there, it's on the other side".  We looked over to see her buddy jump out of his kayak, and belly flop into the water to catch the snake with his hand.  He grabbed it in the middle, and flung it up on the opposite shore and started splashing water at it as he retreated to his boat.  That's "country" for ya'.

We may have more stories for you next month, as we head to Gulf Shores Alabama, a.k.a. The Redneck Riviera, for a few days of fun on the beach.  Until then, we hope you enjoyed the pics and our View Of Life In The South.