Summer makes you dream of...a cooler time of year

When the weather is, well, like it is outside - with its heat advisories, hitting triple digits and making us sweaty messes - it's always refreshing to find these pictures from springtime.  Back to a time when we were young and innocent - or rather, when we were in denial about the summer weather about to hit us in mere weeks. 


Our cats definitely miss getting to hang out on the screen porch at our old house.  I miss it, too, but what they don't know is that a screen porch is in the works at our new place!  Have I introduced my cat, Greta, to you?

Dandelions and little purple things on the edge of our old yard.

These pictures were from a walk around the neighborhood at the end of a pretty day.

And the wisteria was in bloom.  It's nice to look at these pictures while we are in the middle of dry Texas landscape!

These folks had a gorgeous yard overgrown with all sorts of colorful flowers.

Below is the mural at Laurel Park, the park in the Belhaven neighborhood.

Here's a montage of flowers made out of plastic soda bottles!  

This is one of my favorite spots in the world.  My parents' house in Hernando.  My Mom's bird feeder and her favorite May Pops.

I don't know what those purple flowers are but they pop up everywhere in our yard at home.  They smell so good and the color always stands out against the lush green grass.

Here's a close up of them.  Anyone know what these little wild flowers are?

Below you can see the old barn and pasture where my horse, Buddy, used to live.  He was the man in my life for a very long time (at least during high school!).

Now my dad keeps his tractors in the barn.  He's recently been finding old vintage tractors and refurbishing them.  He rides them in the local Christmas parade and is a part of a local tractor club. 

There he goes!  A common site is Mr. Gene on his tractor getting ready to till in the garden.

But this part of summer also gets me thinking (and longing for) of crisp fall air - regardless of the fact that it doesn't really hit until October or November but I can still dream! 

I will be back in action come Monday with lots of new adventures to share.  Have you had some fun summer adventures, too? 

Hope you've been having a good week!

Downtown Pine Bluff...the little town that was.

I only seen certain sides of Pine Bluff, Arkansas when I visit my sister and her family.  When Walter and I drove through town, the Downtown area caught my eye, so we made a point to go back after our afternoon exploring the Delta Rivers Nature Center.

This is the old 1924 Saenger Theatre - looks like it is 4 floors worth of stories and places to explore.  This can be said of all these old buildings, it's just such a shame none of them are in use.  It's such a gorgeous building.

 

Notice the murals painted on the walls of the building.  My previous post showed the larger murals that decorated the town buildings and here are even more.  There's one person in the photo who is not part of the mural.  Can you find him? 

 

 

Apparently Pine Bluff was a burgeoning railroad town (there is a railroad museum nearby we didn't have time to visit) and like so many places, it dried up as trains made way for automobiles and other industry replaced agricultural life. But Pine Bluff has always been a paper mill town and still is.

Murals painted on the buildings followed us all the way to the corner of the street.  Below is a great one:

 

Below is a great old art deco theatre where many a resident stood in line to see the latest picture show.  For whatever reason, I didn't take a better photo of the aviation mural on the side of the movie house.

 

It's times like these, that I wish very hard to be independently wealthy so I buy and revitalize these lovely old gems.

 

 

Ah, current movie prices.  If only!

 

Pine Bluff had a film festival at one time.  Would have been a great place to experience an indie flick.  (Who knew the word "today" used to be hyphenated?)

 

 

 There's the courthouse in the distance.  It's really a pretty Downtown.

 

Cool old drugstore sign.  It looked like it might still be open for business.

 

Pop's Barber Shop was still open for business.

 

What draws you to explore a town or city? 

Next time we head that way, we're going to visit the Railroad Museum.  It looked really cool!

City Murals

Or town murals, depending on your point of view.


Hope you are having a good Monday.  We are having a great time in Dallas right now - I have so much to share with you from our trip!  But first...


Changing the topic back to Mississippi:  when we were in Grenada for Mother's Day, I was drawn to the lovely murals on the sides of Downtown buildings.  What amazes me is both the scale and the skill!  Murals are definitely eye catchers and I have to get a closer look whenever I run across them (I've been taking pictures of them in Dallas, too.)


Murals are such a colorful and meaningful way to personalize a city or  community.  They give the area new life and share a bit of personality with outsiders.  It always makes me feel like I'll be amongst kindred spirits!

Nearby were more murals, located across the street from Orleans Bistro on Main Street that included old town scenes and businesses.

Another view:

And, below, during my recent trip to the "Fair City" of Philadelphia.  Right now I'm realizing perhaps it would have been a good idea to do a little research and find out who painted these lovely pieces...ah, hindsight!  (I'll ask and report back!  Promise!)

My sister lives in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and the Downtown area is a veritable ghost town - what a shame!  Walter and I explored the streets and came across some terrific murals that depicted scenes and people of historical significance for the town.

Arkansas has some major Delta areas, too, and below is the man who invented the mechanical cotton picker.

A Closer look at what the wall says:

Here are some other historical figures.  Not every wall explained who they were but it's something worth looking up and discovering why they were chosen to be immortalized on the buildings (at least, it is to me...and no, haven't done that yet).  The lady on the left looked like she was an early doctor. 

I liked this mural a lot.  These two men below are apparently part of movie history.

Here's a closer look at their names and the faces

A mural for the early 20th century car club...
what a novelty cars are! 

And on the building in the same park is another mural of old Pine Bluff.  These murals were commissioned and done in 1992.  It would be great if another revitalization could happen there.  

Happy Nanih Waiya Day!

Halito! (Hello in Choctaw, pronounced "huh-lee-toe")

Today is the 3rd anniversary of the acquisition of Nanih Waiya (Na-nee Why-uh) from the state of Mississippi, Choctaw's oldest mound and also the nearby mound that is the tribe's point of origin.  I've blogged before about visiting the Mother Mound and cave.  Wish I could be there today but a rip-roaring sinus infection needs my attention.  (Ho hum...)

During my most recent visit last week, I spoke with several people at the Institute of Chahta Immi (or Choctaw Learning) about learning the traditional Choctaw language and spoke to a talented and smart young man who is helping put together a comprehensive dictionary of their language from the three dictionaries written in the 1800s.  What an exciting project!  They are expecting it to be published in 2012.  I would love to learn the Choctaw language.

Speaking of the Fair, I spent an afternoon wandering around with my close friends Heat & Humidity.  Good grief, it was bad that day!  I felt bad for the folks in traditional dress that danced and danced - they must have been miserable.  But they did such a great job.  

This is the story acted out about how the possum got his funny-looking tail.  
Kids in the audience were asked to help out.  It was really cute.

 The Raccoon played a trick on Possum and he set fire to his tail.

Young ladies line up before the dance begins.

Parents and Grandparents teach their children the Choctaw language and instill traditions in the home.  They have very small children taking part in all the traditional dances as well.  

 If I remember correctly, this was a wedding dance.

 Below is some video I took with my phone - I believe this was the Raccoon dance.  It was fun to watch as they played chase during the dance.

I was very excited about eating traditional foods.  When I spotted the Choctaw Kitchen, I knew I'd hit the mother lode.

 Fry bread drizzled in honey.  This is so good.

 Hominy which was cooked with a little chicken 

- it is seasoned simply with salt and pepper. Good!

And the food item I was most excited about:  Banaha.  Oddly enough, it is cooked similar to a hot tamale:  boiled in a corn husk.  I really want to do some food research on that!  The one I had was kind of dry but good - made with all proteins cornmeal and black-eyed peas. 

Banaha is not heavily seasoned like tamales are, but I bet would be some kind of delicious if it was.  It's a heavy protein meal, which is explained here, that sustained farm laborers.

I have learned so much from my research work with the Choctaw tribe, which, truth be told, merely scratches the surface of all the incredible aspects of their lives and culture.  It's been a rewarding experience for me.  I hope that if you ever get a chance, you can go visit the reservation to either attend the Choctaw Indian Fair or the Choctaw Heritage museum. 

We'll be heading to Dallas soon.  Both of us are stoked about a change of scenery.

Hope you have a terrific Friday and a restful weekend!