Sunday Horse Ride

Sunday was a lazy day for us all. Slowly, we gathered over at Sarah's house to start the last event of the birthday celebrations. We loaded up in our cars and drove out to a horse farm for an afternoon of horseback riding. The farm was beautiful... grassy pastures, live oak trees, ponds, forest and creeks. Mary, who owns the farm gave us a crash course in horseback riding (most of had ridin before). The first group of us (Sarah, myself, Sam and Molly) hopped on our horses and headed down the trail with Mary leading us. The horses were great, all having a mind of their own at times, but they were good listeners. When we came back we switched up. Nadene, Ivan, Stephen and Sara got on the horses and rode around for a bit while we picniced, played bocce and layed beneath the oak trees. As the sun began to set we headed home but not before stopping for ice cream. I have a feeling we'll be returning. It won't suprise me if Sarah and Nadene have purchased their own horses in the near future.

Saturday Evening Shuffle

Sarah's Birthday was on Tuesday which isn't the best night for a party but we still managed to have some cake, ice cream, scotch and a game of bocce ball with a small group of friends. On Saturday however, it turned into quite an event. Ivan, who DJed for us came over early Saturday morning while Sarah and Nadene went to yoga class. Ivan and I had to go find a big set of speakers... the Salvation Army Thrift Store came through for us. Fast forward --- people started trickling into my house around 8:30; everybody was wearing their dancing shoes. By 10:00 old standards by The Supremes, Buddy Holly, The Isley Brothers and their comprables had the house shaken'. Around 2:00 people were pretty tired and started to head home. Somehow shoes were lost so I had to let people borrow shoes so they could walk/bike home. It was a swell time.

A Quick Sunday Hike

This past weekend it rained all but for a few hours on Sunday morning. That's when we took the opportunity to go explore part of DeSoto National Forest just a few miles north of Biloxi. A friend had shown me, on an aerial, the place to pull of Hwy 15 where a trail head is. The first quarter mile of the walk is through a pine savanna that was burned last year. From the forest floor were a number of wildflowers, grasses and shrubs trying to reclaim themselves. The elevation started to drop. The forest quickly changed from airy pine trees to a dense canopy of magnolias, american holly and swamp titi; in the distance you could hear rushing water. Soon, the trail made an abrupt turn to the right (north) just atop a fifteen foot tall sandy bluff held together by a massive network of tree roots and moss. The trail took us another half mile north, winding through and around a number of small streams and forest ponds until we found a great little sandy beach. The sands are bright and the water is like iced tea. The tea color comes from tannin, a natural dye produced by the large number of oak trees. I fly fished a little but the storms started rolling in so we headed out. I'm looking forward to going back.