Week 49
We had our two Monday classes (Teachings of the Living Prophets in the morning and Doctrine and Covenants in the evening) and, as always, enjoyed them both.  Then it was off to FHE for face painting and a movie.  We didn't stay till the end, but enjoyed watching the creations take place.

For Soup Tuesday we had loaded potato soup--a fabulous, hearty soup.  Unfortunately it was in the high 80s that day; not very soup-conducive.  However, the next two days were in the 60s and would have been perfect for hot comfort food.  Today it hit 90 degrees!  This just isn't the fall weather we're used to.  A few trees are starting to change color, but it really doesn't look like autumn yet.  But the humidity has been way down and the mornings are pretty cool, so I guess fall is trying to come.

Wednesday was really exciting--we had our teeth cleaned and got our flu shots (not at the same place)!  I forgot to mention last week that the orthopedic surgeon wants Kerby to rest his tendon, so he's back in the boot for 2 months.  He needs to do his stretching exercises two or three times a day to keep flexibility, but wear the boot the rest of the time to take pressure off the tendon.  Not very fun, and the boot nearly drives him crazy, but it does seem to be improving slowly.

Friday was Fall Break, so we went two hours south to the Chickasaw Cultural Center.  http://www.chickasawculturalcenter.com/ just in case you want to check it out.  It was an absolutely perfect day for walking around the center.  First we had lunch at the cafe.  We got the Chickasaw Special, which is an Indian fry bread taco, a traditional hominy and pork stew, and grape dumplings.  The dumplings are little dough pieces cooked in thickened, sweet grape juice. They were pretty good, but Kerby said I don't need to get the recipe.  There are lovely sculptures on the grounds and a replica of a typical Chickasaw village.

The exhibit in the museum was very well done and very interesting.  We also watched a demonstration of a stomp dance, a very traditional form of dance always done around a fire.  Around each leg, the women now wear 16 cans containing river pebbles and fastened to leather bands.  They take twice as many steps as the men to keep the rhythm with the pebbles rattling.  Before cans, they used turtle shells with river pebbles, and in the far past, they used "deer toes"--the little tips of deer hooves--to make the rattling sound.

On the top left, from left to right, are deer toes, turtle shells, and cans used in the stomp dance through the ages--top right the woman is showing the cans fastened to her legs. . . bottom right the audience has joined in

The grounds are beautifully kept, and the day was lovely, educational, and fun.  We stopped at the temple on the way home, so ended the day with a spiritual boost.