Holy Sh*t it's hot here in June

This is the temperature guage in my car.  Yes only 105, but it feels hot enough to melt lead.

I can't recall a day in June that hasn't been in the 90's and we've still got July and August to deal with.

I haven't watered the grass once and it still looks ok.  It's a type of hybrid that takes the heat very well. All the other plants here need a tremendous amount of water though, and we're not getting much help in that area from Mother Nature.  Dry as a tic's eye, as they say down here.

Speaking of Ma Nature, I hear the corn in Illinois isn't measuring up and lots of fields didn't even get planted.  Look for late harvest wheat surplus as that seems to be the planting option.  The old adage of corn needing to be knee high by the 4th of July tells me that production is going to be WAY down which should add more supply side pressure to feed prices,  and will surely flow through to fuel and meat.
What else have we been doing?  On Thursday evening we head down to the local park (Gulley Park), have a picnic and listen to music.  Most of the bands are country-oriented, bluegrass or folk music.  Jack likes to run down and look at the instruments.  He's a fan of drums right now, but really likes guitars and girl singers.

We had a few good races on Beaver Lake in the J24 and I believe we dropped to 2nd place overall for the season.  Next races aren't until late August so that will be on hold unless we can put together a few private races between friends.

We went to look at the progress on the Crystal Bridges Museum that's being built here.  It's going to be one of the largest, if not THE largest collections of American art in the US.  It's funded by Alice Walton (of WalMart).  I have photos of it, but the camera's battery is dead so I'll have to download those for you next month. 

We went to a wine tasting at the performing arts center a few weeks ago.  Had a few good wines, some laughs and even met some new people.  We're  trying to connect with a couple we met there who have a kid around Jack's age.  They seemed like alot of fun.  So, we'll see.  I heard the comic Louis CK say something funny, but true.  As you get older, it feels wierder and wierder to make new friends.  Tough to explain, but it's a bit like dating, but not in any kind of good way.

I have a funny story to tell you.  We tried to ignore the relentless heat and go camping down by the lake in Fort Smith for Father's Day (my idea).  I imagined cool lake breeze blowing through the tent and Jack and I gazing up at the stars.  Jacqui requested that I pick up an air mattress for the tent (sacrilage) but I complied and even had an electric pump to inflate it. However, just as I laid-out the mattress, Jack approached from the rear with a GIANT rock and heaved it onto the virgin vinyl bed, yelling Hi-Yah! Like a Russian throwing the shot-put, he lauched the thing with such force, that it made, not one, but two, holes in the mattress. Did I mention that it was 94 degrees? I quickly patched the hole (I had not identified the second hole underneath yet), stuffed it into the tent, and inflated it. I then loaded all the sleeping bags and other items into the tent and we headed out for the trail on a hike.  The route was the begining of the 165 mile-long Ozark Highlands Trail. We hiked five strenuous miles and it was hot and muggy.  We knew though that the state park there has a good pool with lots of stuff for kids Jack's age to play with, so after the hike, we hit that before heading back up the hill to the campsite.  I started a fire to cook dinner and hopefully roast some marshmallows (yes, I know it was still 94 degrees).  Knowing that fires can take a while to get going, I also started up the coleman grill and threw on a few sausages while Jacqui followed our son around as he got filthier and sweatier.  I wish I had a photo of him walking around in just his diaper with sandals and carrying a dirty rock that, due to his sweat, was turning him into a muddy mess.  I noticed that the air mattress had deflated due to the second hole, but patched it, re-inflated it, and stuffed everything back into the tent.  Did I mention that it was still 94?   We ate our food in silence, with perspiration pooling in our plates, and, I imagined what kind of damage our relationship might take with the three of us in that tent.  All I had to say was, "Ya know we could probably just leave all this stuff here and be back home in about 45 minutes to sleep in airconditioned comfort".  Ten minutes later we were on the road, laughing and making plans to come back in the morning to break down the camp and try that again in the fall.

The rodeo was in town recently and I kept Jack out of school to go the the Rodeo Parade.  It was a bit too hot to stand in the street by the reviewing stand where we were last year, so we found a shady spot around the corner from the finish line and watched everything go by.  It seemed funny because they had to walk through this little neighborhood.

This year there was a concert after the rodeo.  Jacqui and I took Jack, and we met up with some friends there.  Nothing too crazy happened, no loose bulls, and we didn't see anyone's skull get crushed like last year.  After the rodeo, Jacqui took Jack home and I stayed and saw Eastin Corbin perform his hit "I'm a little more country than that" along with a bunch of other songs that kind of all sounded the same. 
 
Well, that's about it for now.  I've got to get outside and blow-off some fireworks to compete with the neighbors.  Hope you like the stories, and we'll hopefully have more to share in July, after spending time in St. Louis, Chicago and Michigan over the holiday.

May is all about the boy

Despite $4.00 gas we did some driving in the month of May.  Fayetteville to St. Louis to let Jack jump around with his cousins Tyler and Carter, then on to Chicago to celebrate Kentucky Derby day with our friends, the May's.  We took a side trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo and looked for ducks and fish in the pond.  This walkway was a new addition since the last time we were there.  We liked it.



We got back from Chicago and went to the Tulsa, Oklahoma aquarium.  Jack's still a big fan of the sharks, hermit crabs (which they let you touch), starfish, and the turtle exhibit.  In the photo below you see him feeding them a shrimp, using a little pole with a clothes pin on the end.  We lost the clothes pin in the tank.  Sorry.  If Nan is reading this, Mamma says "no frog giggin".

When you're in Tulsa, you have to let Jack ride on the carousel at the mall.  The guy that runs the ride did take out a dirty carney rag to wipe down the horse before he got on.  Sorry, no photo. Jack likes this ride much better than riding on real pony or a camel. You also have to let Jacqui go to look at shoes. 

Jack had a bit of a meltdown in J-Crew while Jacqui was trying on some clothes in the fitting room. I had to ride the escaltor with him five times then play on these cars to calm him down.  Note to self: don't bother putting money in the rides because he just gets out yelling "make it shtop".

The photo below is from a side trip to Alpena, Arkansas to go to the "museum". 

I went to a bassmasters tournament talk.  That's when some of the top anglers come out to talk to the fans about their technique and their gear choices.  The top anglers make millions in prize money and millions more in endorsements (notice the shirts).  Did you know they don't usually use traditional fishing line?  They're using carbon fiber "thread", and their poles are built in three sections and made from three different materials all so they can "feel" the fish nibbling.  They took questions from the crowd and each angler picked a little kid from the audience to ask the first few questions (Do you catch a lot of fish?  Do you use a bobber?).  The crowd laughed and these guys answered the questions very professionally.

It seems the tables have turned at Jack's daycare.  After being on the receiving end of several biting incidents, we got word that he had hit one of his classmates in the face with this red car you often see in his hand.  The I let them know I'd talk with him.  They said one of the kids wanted Jack's car and continued to try to take it out of his hand. They don't tell you who, but for three days he was saying  "Roman is a slyper".  We didn't know what it meant until I asked one of his handlers what "slyper" might mean.  She said that they talk to the kids about not "swiping" or taking each other's things. Hmmm, Roman - swiper - hitting.  Got it.  I talked to Jack and he seemed adamant that Roman deserved his ass-kicking.  I agreed that it was wrong for Roman to swipe.  I suggested they might try to share next time.  We'll see how it goes.



Jack made a Mother's day card at daycare for Jacqui.

I think this is a this is supposed to be Fonzie, in Puerto Rico, wearing drunk glasses, with vampire teeth.  

Back on the road again for the first annual Chicago Tribe Trip to St. Louis.  Got to spend some quality time with the gang, had some good fun at the zoo, enjoyed some local beverages (king-dewey anyone?), sampled some of the night life, and thankfully didn't have to fill out any police paperwork when JG got mauled by one of the locals named "NayNay".

While in St. Louis we went to the Children's museum where they had a construction site for the kids to play in.  Ollie and Jack are working on this dirt pile dilligently.

There was some type of fashion show going on in the lobby of the hotel when we got back.  Nicholas was not amused but his dad thought it was awesome.

Here is a photo of Nora rehersing what it would be like to be in the Oval Office calling the Kremlin.  Please don't read too much into what is going on in the chair in the background.

In the photo below, we thought we'd get one last photo of Jack at the St. Louis zoo standing with some razorbacks.  It didn't end up being the kind of photo you'd send to grandma.

I think this was taken at the Naturals baseball game.  The kids were supposed to run around the bases.  We were in line to make that happen but Jack was loosing his mind, so we had to leave.

To close out, we took a trip down into the river valley about 2 1/2 hours to Petit Jean State Park and hiked the Cedar Falls Trail ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FiexgJLp10 )  .  It was a short but strenuous hike, though you are rewarded with the opportunity to walk under a 65ft waterfall and cool off in the swimmin' hole ( Notice the red car and rock that he's planning on bringing to school.  Watch out Roman.  

Hope you like the photos.  Next up in June: Father's day float on the Buffalo River, Jack's first camping trip, racing the J24 on Beaver Lake to defend our lead in the standings, wine tasting at the Walton Arts Center, more moonshine stories.

April in Arkansas and the beginning of tornado season

April went into the record books as the most tornadic month down here in the past 75 years . We had a few sleepless night due to the threat of "tornadic activity" in the area. I think the season runs from late March to October. The tornado warning radio went off three separate times one night with broadcast messages.

 I also noticed that even when the cable tv is off, the cable box still flashes "EAS" to notify you that the Emergency Alert System is broadcasting instructions for your area. Here's our drill when the emergency radio siren goes off: get up and mute the siren; view the screen on the radio to determine where the weather currently is and how fast it's moving; if it's more than 50 miles away and moving 25mph, go back to bed and wait for the next siren; if it's less than 50 miles away, listen to the broadcast to determine how fast it's moving so we can decide how much time we've got (most move across land about 25mph, so storm cells 25 miles away will take about 1 hour to reach us); if it's close, get Jack and get into the walk-in closet. The closet is an interior room with a door and no windows and should be sufficient for anything other than a direct hit. Most of the tornados stay in the river valley 50 miles to the south or 50 miles to the west, and they seem to cease when they reach our elevation and the broken terrain. In this most recent event there were 5 fatalities in various areas about 45 minutes south of us.

Sailing was cancelled on April 3rd due to high winds (steady 30kts and gusting over 40), which would be reason for excitement in Chicago's racing community. We decided to take that opportunity to head about 2 1/2 hours south into the river valley to hike Mt. Nebo ( http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/mountnebo/ ). We have ranked it among the top 5 most beautiful places in Arkansas, and in the top 2 best hikes. We should note though, that the "money-shot" view from Mt. Nebo State Park, is marred by a giant nuclear power plant seen in the base of the valley, where it takes water from the Arkansas River.

 Here, Jack is 30lbs of sleeping baby, and I am building my core strength.  This is the view into the Arkansas River Valley from Mt. Nebo state park's lodge.  There's camping here and I think we might try to break out the tent (and air mattress for Jacqui) in June.

Family photo time.  We didn't intentionally try to be matchy-matchy, and in this photo I'm the only one wearing a camo hat.  Jacqui left hers at home.

Easter went well. We took Jack to our Clabber Creek neighborhood egg hunt. He still doesn't trust the guy in the Easter Bunny suit, and he's more interested in picking up rocks than eggs, but did enjoy the moon walk. On Easter Sunday Jack searched for his easter basket and hidden eggs, and we hosted dinner after church for a few friends and had a some adult beverages.

 Here you can see we've substitued cheerios for chocolate in the eggs.  He likes them thought is was fun to see raisins in there too.  You can also see his red-neck egg basket (milk carton) that they made at school.

The boy is on a sugar-high and bunny hopping all over the house.


Our garden is coming on strong. The herbs made it through the winter under a cover of plastic and now are thriving (oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives, and mint), though the mint is out of control and will be removed this month and put in a pot. Jacqui planted arugula, spinach, cilantro, basil and tomatoes. We found that nobody sells Arugula in the stores down here, and it grows so well that we've been having it in salads for a few weeks. We lost the tomatoes in a late season cold snap, but have since planted a few more which were promptly hammered by a hailstorm.

We took a drive to Prairie Grove Gardens a few towns away, to pick up the new tomato plants (Arkansas Traveler, Black Stripe and Early Girl). While we were there, we met a gypsy woman who had a thick eastern european accent. She proclaimed the following about Jack: He's not going to be happy in life unless he's a doctor or a teacher, because his personality requires him to dominate and to serve others. To which I replied: "That's interesting. Can I pay for these plants now?" Now I'm wondering if there's a gypsy curse on my Tomatoes, like that episode of Gilligan's Island.

We enjoyed our road-trip to Chicago for Kentucky Derby Day at the May's, but for some bizzahhh reason I don't have a single photo from the party.  We look forward to seeing y'all in a few weeks over Memorial Day weekend, and I promise to take a few then.


Possible topics for the next update: more racing on Beaver Lake, more hiking (and flooding) down in the river valley, Demolition Derby at the Springdale rodeo, photos of me in my camo waders, Old-Fort Rodeo Days in Fort Smith, U of Arkansas granduation, Memorial Day Tribe trip to St. Louis, and what ever else we run into.

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).

February Fun

We have to keep reminding ourselves we live in the south, which is not easy when you get this kind of snow. The first storm of 2011 gave us about 6 inches, shut down all of northwest Arkansas, and got Jacqui working from home for two days. We made a snowman (he's a Cub fan and a Bud man). Spent time coloring ( http://www.youtube.com/user/eyevid101?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/FEakx9Tf2ag  ) playing with trucks, and reading lots of books (latest favorites are: Curious George, The Mitten, Sea Creatures, Flotsam, and Colors). The list changes from week to week but there's always a few favorites. The snow melted in a few days when we got back up to 65 degrees and Jack realized that you can play in the melted snow and run through puddles if your dad says it's ok (it's always ok) http://www.youtube.com/user/eyevid101?feature=mhum#p/u/1/dx-JugSf5ec .

Then, about a week later, we got another storm which set a record for the state and had Jacqui working from home for another few days. A total of 22 inches in 24 hours. Now, I may have mentioned before on this blog, Fayetteville gets an annual snowfall of 10 inches, which usually comes in storms of 1 or 2inches at a time over a 5 month period. This deeper kind of snow is unheard of here. Removing it is not in the plans for most of these people. They just wait for it to melt. No snowblowers, no plows on your neighbors pickup, no shovels. Jacqui saw a farm tractor with a plow on the front plowing the main highway.

In fact, I called the kid who cuts our grass, asking if he had a snowblower, and he said "Snowblower? I got a leafblower. It's gas powered, I could try that". So, for your viewing pleasure, I have posted a southern-style snow remover for your enjoyment at http://www.youtube.com/user/eyevid101?feature=mhum#p/u/5/kvAmt_hqjk8

Jack saw the kid working on the snow and said "Robot?". You always answer yes when there is a question about robots. We took the wagon out and wheeled around in it. Jack learned about blowing snow, cold snow, snowballs and icicles.

Jack has been working on his singing skills. He likes to sing the words to the ABC song, the Hot Potato song, the Frer Jacque song, and the BINGO song. Though with that one, he says "BINGO, no bingo, LOGAN!" and you substitute the name of someone in the song and spell their name. Good for a 45 minute drive if you don't have a headache.

I've been using my experience and training provided by Chicago's great Arts And Business Council B.V.A. program to benefit a local charity called Havenwood House.  I did some grant research and found sources for over $125,000 (a huge amount down here), which I provided to the board of directors and voluteered to do the grant writing.  Thanks, can you help us stuff some envelopes and run a silent auction for our fundraising event? Whatever it takes, I guess.  The event was a great success and we met some new people.  We determined that somebody put us at the event table together because we're all from the East (Jersey, PA and MA), AND we're all Catholics in Baptist land!!!

We had our first Chicago visitors of 2011, Scott and Kristin, and some decent weather.  Here they are posing with a GIANT statue of Jesus on the hill in the background.

We took them for a drive to Eureka Springs, with a slight detour up an old dirt road, which the GPS assured us was the correct way to the historic Crescent Hotel. 

Around here you want to be very careful about taking those wrong turns as you may run up on a back woods meth lab or someone's moonshine operation or pot farm.  We backed down the hill and made it to Eureka to walk around, take some photos and have a few adult beverages.
 

Hope you like the pics and videos.  Next up: Jack's birthday (March 6th), Bon visits, Razorback baseball, Jacqui's dad visits, and anything else we can think of.

Ozark Christmas, etc.

Merry Christmas

We celebrated Christmas four separate times this year. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think when January rolled around, we were happy to start thinking of something else. Jack will be turning 2 in March, and he's still not quite sure what to make of the holiday. He liked the tree, with its star on top ("ishtarr"), liked the songs (yelling" "jingle-all-a-way - HEY"), and likes all his new toys, he's just not getting what the rest of it is about.

Jacqui's Mom visited us in early December to celebrate here. We got to exchange gifts, and she got some quality TuTu time with Jack. As you can see in the photo above, she got him his first red wagon. He's begun to figure out that you can ride in it AND stuff it full of things. His uncle Jimmy got him a jet ski which he's scooting around on. For some unknown reason, it plays the theme song from T.J. Hooker. He won't let go of that football though, so his steering isn't too good.

We also did some traveling to visit relatives, making stops in Mesa, Arizona to visit Jan and Curt (Jacqui's dad), and to New England to visit the Lyons clan. While in Mesa we went for a hike in the Superstition Mountains along the Lost Dutchman trail. A great hike with lots of cactus and rock formations to look at. As you can see here, Jack has decided his nap is over and he's ready to get out of that back pack. While he's asleep he's 27lbs of heat, which in Arizona, makes for a bit of a challenge. When he's awake, he might swat me on the top of the head, throw his hat, or yell for some attention. No worries, they promised some cold beer when we return.

Once back in Arkansas we celebrated Christmas day with some light flurries, and showed Jack what Santa and his Nana and Pa had for him (no coal this year). Among his favorites: a tricycle, a firetruck, a dump truck. Also currently obsessed with a basketball hoop that his godmother Michelle Callahan got for him. If any scouts are listening, JT can dunk!

After opening gifts we quickly dressed and threw the bags in the car for a quick ride to XNA (Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Fayettville) and the flight to New England (via Chicago). Had just enough time for a good lunch at Tuscany in Chicago's Terminal A, and to change Jack, before boarding the next flight. The northeast was preparing for a blizzard (the snowpocalypse of 2010) when we arrived. Made a quick stop to load up on liquor and food, but sister Chris and Ed had planned well in advance with lots of fire wood and great food and drink. Chris shows us she's still got the toddler skills by playing this made-up game with Jack for about an hour. Jack did get to go out and play in the snow a bit, but blizzard means high winds, and he wasn't much of a fan of that. The snow was fun to throw in the air, but he really didn't like it pelting him in the face on its way back down.

We celebrated with Nana and Pa and the grandkids and had some laughs with the annual theatrical show. I can't tell if the kids plays are getting shorter, or if all the yelling and sugar high makes it go faster. Jack seemed to like the attention of the stage, and got his first experience to run from behind the curtain to see "the audience". Just like Spiderman on Broadway though, the show was cut short due to injury and hurt feelings. Better luck next year.

Jack got to spend some good quality time with Uncle Tommy who agree to sit while we went out for dinner (Persian food - awesome). Nana and Pa took alot of sitting duty too, though Jack may have worn-out that welcome when he took the sacred statue of Mary out of the Manger and threw her accross the room. Sacrilage!

All the snow had us thinking we'd like to go skiing and we decided a nordic experience would be good, due to the wind. Jacqui picked an inn in the woods up in NH (see photo below) that had a trail system leading up to a mountain overlook near Mt. Sunape. We packed some gear and headed out, and with the exception of a few deep snow face plants, we had a great afternoon on the trails.

Back home, Jack was developing a bad cold which turned into sleepless nights, fever, coughing and lots of snot. By the time NYE rolled-around, our plans for celebrating were shot (though I did get a chance to step out and have dinner with my friends from home, thanks Jacqui).

Dinner was at a local favorite, "The Olympia" and its famed Zorba Room. The restaurant is featured in the Oscar nominated movie "The Fighter" which tells the story of a couple of local boxers, (Micky Ward and Dicky Ecklund). We saw the movie while we were in town, and though it doesn't paint a pretty picture of the area and its inhabitants, I'd say Christian Bale's performance was pretty close to a spot-on impersonation of Dicky, who I once had the displeasure of meeting.

Dinner turned to drinks and dancing back at

Pete and Kathy's home. In the photo below

I think Kim is showing us some karate moves but I can't explain the antlers on Kathy. Had some good laughs and still got back home to kiss Jacqui to begin a happy New Year.