Lake Placid

Today I took a field trip up to Lake Placid, Florida for work.  

We were meeting with a Tribal Member who recently bought about 60 acres up there.  She knew there were sites on the property and contacted our office to help her start planning a camp where the youth and community could come and learn about their culture.

When we arrived at her house she had provided a big lunch for us and welcomed us into her home.  Her walls were covered in Guy LaBree paintings, a famous Florida artist who paints beautiful paintings of the Seminoles. There were photographs of her relatives from the 1930's and 1940's and cabinets full of over a hundred handmade dolls with intricate patchwork skirts.  I just stood and stared at the her family's amazing collection.  She talked with us over sandwiches about her ideas for the property and I honestly got chills listening to her talk about her beliefs, culture, and why it needs to be preserved.  These are the days I really love my job!

Her and three of her five sons took us around the property.  Our feet sank into the white sugar sand and I could spot artifacts just laying on the ground.  We trucked through high vegetation, crossed over a creek on a rickety, waterlogged bridge and came out into a huge clearing that dipped down into a green drenched valley.  I felt like we had just entered the Great Valley in the Land Before Time.  We all stood there and took in the view, silently swatting away the giant, prehistoric mosquitoes.  

I came away feeling inspired and refreshed.  Well, until I found a tick crawling on my arm and almost ran straight into a banana spider web.  

Overall it was a good day, especially since my sister is currently in labor at her midwife center and I know it won't be long until baby Everdeen arrives!

 :)

Rainy Sunday

We all thought Sunday might be the day that our little Everdeen would make her appearance into the world.  Unfortunately she had other plans which included staying put where she was!  

I spent the day anxiously awaiting updates from my brother-in-law and enjoying the torrential downpours that lasted all afternoon.  

Friday Music Pick

I was born in 1984 and even though I was only 6 when the 80's ended, it is still a decade that I enjoy.  I love the music and the movies.  The "comfy" clothes and the carefree attitude the 80's seem to hold onto.  When my twin sister and I were 5 or 6, we received a present at our birthday party.  It was a mini cassette player called a Pocket Rocker that came with 5 tiny tapes that each played two songs (all different neon colors of course!). There was a cassette with two songs by Tiffany, the Ghostbusters song, the Monkees Theme Song, and a few others I can't remember. 

Several  years ago my sister and I were in the car with our then boyfriends, when a song came onto the radio that sounded a bit familiar.  We both turned to each other and said "This is the song!"

It was the song we loved on our Pocket Rocker.  The one we played over and over again, more than any of the other songs.  The neon green cassette.  Bobby and Martin looked confused, clearly not understanding this monumental discovery!

Song: Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Artist: Tears for Fears

Album: Songs from the Big Chair

This cassette also played "Shout" which is another great song by Tears for Fears. Every time I hear this song I can remember sitting at the top of the stairs with all the little colorful cassettes spread out on the blue carpet, popping them into the cassette player and listening to the music.  We were too little to even know who these pop sensations like Tiffany were at the time, but we did know that everybody wants to rule the world and it made us happy to hit that rewind button over and over again!