Potluck

This is the salad I made to take to the potluck yesterday.  This is a 9x13 pan and there were no leftovers.  :-)

Mountain View Drum Circle

Whoever wants to join in meets at the gazebo in the park for a drum circle.  No drum?  Not to worry because there are plenty of percussion instruments available to try.

Galen has participated several times.  I went and listened today and took photos but may join in when we return to Mountain View in September.  We'll be spending the summer in Colorado and head that way on Saturday.

On the Square in Mountain View, AR

The Square in Mountain View is the place to be on a Saturday night even if you are a sleepy dog named Little wearing plastic bags tied together for a leash because your owner forgot to bring one along from her home in Fifty Six, Arkansas.

A free Saturday night show has been organized on the courthouse stage.  It has become quite popular in only a few weeks.

Wes, Mary, and Mike on the courthouse stage.  Mary is only six and stopped by to play a couple of tunes and do some jig dancing.

But there is still plenty of music going on in other parts of the courthouse square, in the pickin' park, and on the porches of Minnie's and the music store.  Galen is playing his washtub with  the youngsters at Minnie's.

See the people in line in the background?  Most of them are buying ice cream cones, the vice of choice in this dry county.  This past holiday weekend there were literally 1000 people downtown on Saturday night and 25 people in line at this ice cream shop and the one across the street.  The fact that Stone County is a dry county means there aren't drunks spilling beer on you and causing trouble.  Imagine that - anywhere from a hundred to a thousand people of all ages enjoying themselves almost every evening all summer long without booze.   

May - Giraffe

This copper giraffe was made by Skip and Racheal Mathews at the Folk Center using nothing but air and a flame to color it.  It is quite an amazing process and it was hard to choose just one piece to bring home.  Our RV park is right next door to the Folk Center so it won't be hard to get back there and grab one of the beautiful blue and green butterflies or cross or cute little frog.  Skip and Rachel can be contacted at www.coppercolorists.com.

May - Tango

Tango pulls the merry-go-round swing at the Folk Center and is an absolute sweetheart but a bit of a pickpocket.  He thinks he might like to try chomping on a cell phone if he could just get the chance.  He's come close a few times.  He loves hugs and getting petted. 

He also loves cranberry chews but this is what happens every time he has one.

We'll bring a carrot or apple next time we visit him.

May - National Knife Cutting Championship

We went to the Folk Center, in the rain, to see the Knife Cutting Competition and found it to be very interesting - interesting enough to watch it in the rain in the morning and return in the afternoon for the finals.  The photo above is of the course, a timed course.  It starts and ends with cutting through a 2x4 with an assortment in cutting challenges in between.

This man was the winner today and he's holding a knife that was chipped by a competitor when he missed the 2x4 and hit a screw in the table.  There is a 5 point deduction for that.

This is a view of the course taken from the other end.  Note the straw to the left of the single water bottle.  It is one of the most hated cuts of the course because the straw has to be cut above where it bends.  A grape sitting on a tee also gave most of the guys a problem.  The single water bottle is cut in half vertically and the 10 bottles are cut in half horizontally.  (The record for horizontal bottles is around 20.)  The hanging ropes must be cut between the red tapes but the dowel needs to be cut on the tape.  There are no second chances to make the cuts.

This is a video of part of the course.