Day 9 - Sunday, 6/28/09 - SETTLED

Temperature only 88 degrees and breezy here in Mt. View, AR. What a relief!

Bob twice caught two bluegills with red bellies. He's very excited. Doesn't take much to make him happy.

Laundry day. Catching up on wi-fi while the laundry spins.

We are camped on a feeder stream to the White (pron. "watt" here in AR) River. Wading and swimming in it is blissful. It's full of little minnows which follow us around in schools. Later we regret not having gone skinny dipping - there was not a soul down there but us. Like we were living on our own private island. What a joy.

PARADISE #1!

Bob manages to scoop up a bullfrog tadpole. It's already warty and kind of gross, but fascinating all the same.

One side of the stream is lined with a solid rock wall with little indentations in it. Perfect for birds' nests.

We have borrowed a canoe to take farther downstream. After making it about halfway down to our destination, the canoe springs a leak. When we return it, the woman says it's no problem and that the leak was probably caused by kids dragging the canoe in shallow water. Whew! I thought we'd get in trouble.

I had actually accidentally dumped Bob in the water in my hurry to get ashore. He won't forget that for a while.

Supper is a perfect catch - catfish, clams and shrimp at Jo-Jo's Catfish Wharf. They have green tomato relish which has the texture of pickled watermelon rinds with a little kick. Yum. It's served with all the hush-puppies you can eat. They make wonderful breakfasts.

In March and April of last year (2008), the White River flooded. There are pictures of it everywhere in Mt. View. The residents were undaunted. Photos show people continuing to play poker in the muddy waters.

In the evening we go to The Jimmy Driftwood Barn. Jimmy Driftwood was a local musician who built a big performing venue in the 50's which still continues to pack audiences in today. It is not unlike the old variety shows of the past.

One particularly memorable act is an Arkansan dulcimer player with a Michigan-born and bred husband. She jokes that "It took him forever to say "own" instead of "ahn".

A striking thing about this area is that in our three days here we have seen one Asian, one African-American, and two Latinos.