Category: civic life and community

I love exploring the area I call home. There’s always something interesting taking place.
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Country Concert

November 1, 2011

My sister and her husband often remark how they can’t believe I’m from Arkansas. My sister is super country while I’m pretty much a city girl. It’s a remark that I’ve actually heard from a lot of native Arkansan friends, however, if there is one thing we have in common, it’s country music.

Two weeks ago I attended a country music concert with my sister, her husband and their friends. It was the last stop of the tour for Miranda Lambert with special guests, the Randy Rogers Band and Justin Moore. It was a blast since I was able to hear some of my favorite songs from both her (such as White Liar and Baggage Claim) and her new group, the Pistol Annies (such as Hell on Heels and Takin’ Pills).

Here are some pictures from the event.

Miranda Lambert singing White Liar.
Justin Moore, who my brother-in-law absolutely loves to listen to. In fact, all we listened to on the way to and from the concert was a Justin Moore CD.
Pistol Annies.

Taking the time.

October 18, 2011

ap·a·thy/ˈapəTHē/

Noun:
Lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.
Synonyms:
indifference – unconcern – torpor – listlessness

-Google

It’s a word that I’m starting to think clearly defines many in today’s society. It’s either they don’t care enough or they go overboard with it. There is no middle ground.

I’m worried the most about the people who just don’t care because they have the potential to cause the most harm. It’s a concern of mine that has been growing for a while because I’m starting to wonder if some of my peers have lost their sense of what’s right and what’s wrong.

It really struck home Monday when I saw this Fox News video. A 2-year-old toddler was ignored by at least 18 people, according to Fox News, after she was ran over by a van on a Chinese street. The video showed people walking and driving by — yet never stopping. It might have happened in China, but its a problem that people are facing worldwide. Continue reading “Taking the time.”

Traveling along Arkansas Hwy. 165

October 4, 2011
A rainbow appears as an area farmer waters his fields outside of Keo.

A Saturday afternoon wedding led me just west of Stuttgart last weekend. The wedding took place at the Marlsgate Plantation in Scott, which was gorgeous, and the weather was perfect. How perfect? Here’s some pictures so you can see for yourself. 😀

Marlsgate Plantation is impressive. I could have spent hours looking around its grounds.
The house was built in 1904 and is circled by a stone path Even the simple pathway is part of the place's charm.
It reminded me of Frances Hodgson Burnett's book The Secret Garden.
The plantation was filled to the brim with benches and chairs tucked away into corners for little hideaway areas.
I especially liked this chandelier that hung just outside the back of the house.
Of course, the wedding was pretty great itself. The couple's colors were fall-themed. Above is just one of the table toppers.
The view from the wedding reception opposite of the house.
My drive home was filled with fields as far as you can see, usually filled with hay bales.
Naturally, a drive through the natural state wouldn't be the same right now without seeing at least one field of cotton and farmers harvesting rice.
OK, I'll admit I didn't take this picture this weekend but I did rediscover it this weekend. That counts, right? Anyways, this cat tail reminds me of my sister's wedding. She used cattails in her flower arrangements and, oddly enough, it looked awesome. I was impressed and will never look at cattails the same again.

Arts Festival

September 28, 2011
Needlework that I plan to make.

I picked up a needlework pattern a few months ago that I have been meaning to make as a gift to my sister. It would be a new type of project for me and I have yet to get started on it. This weekend, however, was the local arts festival and one of the displays (above) was the exact pattern that I was hoping to make for my sister.

It was the push I needed and I hope to get started soon since it will take me forever to complete. The arts festival was a blast, although I didn’t completely see eye-to-eye with the judges this year. Continue reading “Arts Festival”

A little magic

September 27, 2011

My aunt and I took my two little cousins to see Disney on Ice this weekend. We met at a family member’s house, who has gorgeous sunflowers blooming (see above) and then drove to Memphis’ FedEx Forum for the event.

It was fun watching the different classics: Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse, Lion King, the Little Mermaid and Lilo & Stitch. While I hate the Lion King as a movie, I do adore its characters, Timon and Pumba. My cousins loved it. Continue reading “A little magic”

Sideline view

September 17, 2011

I love the crisp Saturday mornings spent taking pictures at area youth sporting events. It’s a great way to spend the morning because, first of all, it always guarantees you cute action pictures.

In Stuttgart, this means taking soccer and football pictures. I found myself on the sidelines of the local football field during the final moments of the seventh-grade football game. The boys were focused and the local team kept charging toward the end zone in a last-minute frenzy to tie the game. While they eventually completed a touchdown, it wasn’t still wasn’t enough to win a game.

Learning history through art

September 13, 2011

Anne Frank. Gerda Weissmann Klein. Sabina Szwarc.

These names are among those recorded at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. They were among the approximately six million Jews in Europe that were subjected to persecution and murder by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. According to the museum, nearly two out of every three European Jews were killed by 1945 as Nazi Germany attempted to create a more pure race which included targeting some 200,000 gypsies and at least 200,000 mentally or physically disabled patients.

It’s easy to focus solely overseas when faced with these horrible facts surrounding World War II. It’s a shameful part of history that needs to be remembered so that it’s never repeated again. However to do this, Americans must also remember that Europe was not alone in having concentration camps on its land. Continue reading “Learning history through art”

A Taste of Faith

August 11, 2011

I recently attended my first “A Taste of Faith” event. It is a fundraiser for Diocese of Little Rock’s seminarians. I went with my aunt to support my cousin, Stephen, who is in his fourth year. It was a great event and I enjoyed watching him play the harmonica with a seminarian music group.

The reawakening

July 28, 2011

Every once and awhile, I will come across an odd story that just makes me shiver. The below TIME story by Kai Ma is the latest one to do so and it’s title says it all: “Dead Man Walking: South African Man Wakes Up Inside Morgue.”

“What a nightmare.

After a South African man stirred from a 21-hour slumber, he found himself in a morgue fridge, screamed for help, then asked the undertakers that pulled him out: “How did I get here?”

Good question. After the man, whose identity has not been released, suffered an asthma attack, he was presumed dead by family members and a local undertaker in a rural village in the Eastern Cape, the Associated Press reports.”

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/26/dead-man-walking-south-african-man-wakes-up-inside-morgue/#ixzz1TPPCqpeq