“Way Down Upon the Swannee River”

What a fun weekend at Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center! Even though the temps were a bit cold in the early morning hours, it was well worth it for the beautiful daytime weather – absolutely perfect! I guess the moral of the story is this: if you are going to camp when it's cold, camp where you have access to electricity to plug in heaters, electric blankets, etc.!

Fun activities included use of the playground, bike riding, and target practice with a BB gun supervised by Chase and Abbey. We also toured the museum and bell tower to learn more about the writer of our state song. At the craft center, the kids got to help out the blacksmith and see how stained glass is made. Some of us went into White Springs for lunch Saturday where the locals where having a small swap meet, and got to sample some outstanding local bbq! I know Roy and I enjoyed talking to the one gentleman about the finer points of smoking meat – makes me drool just thinking about it!

In addition to the pictures above, I have decided to include a video clip as well for your viewing enjoyment. Folks, you just don't get to see belly dancing like this often, so I had to share it!

As always, thank you hunters, and huntress Kristi McCarey – outstanding job! Last but not least, thanks to Roy Smith for suggesting this park; I think we'd all agree we would like to camp here again sometime!

Yatahey!!!

Chief Bald Eagle

Weeds

One of those random thoughts that comes to me from time to time…..

I recently took a short walk in my backyard to check how all my landscape was doing. With all the recent cold weather and freeze conditions, I hadn't cut the grass or done much else back there for 3 or 4 weeks, so I just wanted to see how my plants had done during the freezing conditions. To my surprise, I found that quite a few weeds had started to infest my landscape. I was amazed at the quantity and variety – lots of different, ugly, flourishing weeds! I guess weeds are like cockroaches – they survive no matter what the conditions are! I realized I needed to mix up some Roundup and get busy spraying those weeds before they completely took over.

Why am I writing about my gardening issues you are asking? The answer is pretty simple really. As I observed the havoc these weeds were wreaking on my landscape, it suddenly occurred to me that there was a great analogy staring me in the face. Think of the beautiful landscape as your kids, and the weeds as bad influences. As this analogy started to crystallize in my mind, I started asking myself questions. Both of our kids have laptop computers – when was the last time I spot checked their email or checked on what they are looking at on the internet? Do I know who their friends are and what's going on in their social circles at school? Is the music they are listening to in line with the standards we have set? How are they doing with their studies in school? Am I encouraging them enough for their successes, and listening to them enough in their defeats?

Even though I began my walk in the backyard without any thoughts of parenting, I was reminded that just like my yard, I need to be vigilant to have any chance at keeping the "weeds" out of the lives of my kids. What really makes it tough is that the weeds often come disguised as attractive, or at least non-threatening. So not only do we have to watch for the obvious bad influences, but also, the not-so obvious "weeds". To defeat the weeds, we as parents have to tend to the needs of our kids and stay engaged – there is no magic cure that easily, and instantly removes weeds. Only by spending time and being involved, do we have a chance of keeping the bad influences, or "weeds", at bay. If we take an extended break, or just think everything is OK without really checking what's going on, the bad influences, just like the weeds, are much more likely to infiltrate the lives of our kids and take over. And we all know, once there is a heavy infestation of weeds, they are very tough to get rid of.

So, the question we have to ask each day is this: what kind of weed control should I do in the lives of my kids today? Hmmm…..please excuse me – I have some gardening to do…..

Yatahey

Chief Bald Eagle