(Posted by Andy)
To start, a sincere thank you to Kathrine, John and James Dagle for housing and educating us on your land and in your home. A highlight of the trip, and surely the nicest strangers we’ve ever had the pleasure of getting acquainted with. Matilda and Liam are some of the brightest, happiest, and most cultured children we’ve met. Thanks Dagles!
Aside from a storm of thunder and showers, the rest of our stay at the Dagles’ consisted of finishing the wall/shelves you previously saw us constructing and racking out some leaves from a gutter. Except one thing; we awoke one morning to the guineas (their meat fowl) squawking and running on the other side of the street, a problem. After great communication and teamwork, we wrangled the birds back onto the property. If the front gate hadn’t been left open, this never would have happened. “Who opened the gate? And who’s deer skin is this?” What? No one opened the gate, and no one claimed possession on the rouge skin. Yes, some stranger had killed a deer, gutted it and taken the head and good meat, leaving the rest of what was actually 2 deer in a neighboring gutter, except the skin, which they put on the front driveway and left the darn gate open. 2 days later, seeing it fit for their maturity level and obvious lack of anything better to do with their lives, they took the full ribcage of said deer to the driveway of the house in the back of the property. Not only do Caitlin and I hope these silly acts have stopped for the Dagles, but a lifetime of drinking, partying and unemployment for the perpetrators.
Though weird and a waste of perfectly good animal parts, this happening proved to not be such a bad thing. Seeing as how the deerskin was fresh of the creature, I thought I would try my hand at tanning the hide. And it worked! Other than having a few (existing) holes and a fairly firm texture, the skin is perfectly usable and will hopefully prove a worthy book bag for my upcoming college experience! Tanning is easy and surprisingly fun (I’m not crazy [SHUT UP!] what?), and a sure hobby of mine in the future.
Caitlin’s brother, Derik, is currently working as Military Intelligence for the Army, stationed in Colorado Springs, Co. Seeing as how Caitlin has an Aunt, Uncle and cousin in Pueblo, Co, we plan to all rendezvous at her Uncle John’s on this upcoming Friday. Having left the Dagles’ on 1/18 and not having to be in Pueblo until 2/3, we have leisurely taken our time through MS, AR, OK, and now KS. Highlights have been a concert by the Ragbirds in Oxford, MS, listening to live blues at its birthplace in the MS Delta, and kayaking the AR River. And successfully tanning a deer hide for the first time in our lil camper shower! Also going through the famous (or infamous?) Dodge City, KS. Real life cowboys with hat, boots and all can be seen throughout the town, though they are hugely dwarfed by the Mexican and Muslim population. We actually never heard it pronounced “Dodge City”, rather “Doje Sheety.” Dodge also held one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.
And holy crap, OK and KS are so freaking flat and corny! AHHHHHH!!!!!!
Looking forward to seeing dear Derik again, Uncle John and family, the CO mountains and ancient Native American Pueblos. Enjoy the Pics!
James Dagle
Liam Dagle
Matilda Dagle, sad to see us go
We had a great catfish lunch at this joint in Taylor, MS
The Official Crossroads, and great B-B-Q we had at abe's
Street art by Banksy in the Delta, for those who are familiar
Cute little building with a moss covered shingle awning?
Or . . .
. . . moldy pigeon dungeon?
Stan Street: Painter, Singer, Harmonicist, and all around groovy guy!
Can anyone guess what's for diner?
Arkansas River Kayaking Pics:
"Arkansas - The Natural State"
Stretching the deer skin
And that's all there is, there isn't any more.
