We finally had a break in the weather today and it got almost as warm as MN. I even got a bike ride in without too much snot production.

Today we also helped occupy 60 preschool kids that visited the refuge today. On the whole they were pretty well behaved and there were lots of parents to help. They were from a private school. First thing we noticed was that it looked like a preschool class from MN. There were no minorities. Each also had on an Indian "dress" and a headband with feathers. I saw one child that had the name badge, Sitting Bull. They were not quite the Santee Indians but reminded us more of the Indians popularized in 1950's TV shows.

Anyway, the kids were delightful. They were broken into 3 groups. The USF&W staff person had a group that got to touch and hear about different animal skulls and skins. Shannon had a group and she played a game matching baby animals with adult animals. Pretty easy to match a baby alligator with an adult alligator. It is more difficult to match a caterpillar with a butterfly. My job with the third group was to help them climb wooden stairs to a lookout on top of an Indian mound. I did a little historical talk before viewing the mound. The parents were appreciative and it was a good day.

Now about that mound. It was a ceremonial mound rather than a burial mound. Indians that were part of the Mississippian culture inhabited the area and built the mound over a 200 year period. During the Revolutionary War, the British built a fort (Fort Watson) around the mound and used the top of the mound as a lookout to guard the river travel route from Charleston to Columbia. It was taken from the British in 1781. Have I told this story before in this blog? Seems familiar. If so, just skip over it and cut me some slack for being a forgetful old guy.

On Sunday we went to the movies. Being ardent movie goers, this backwoods livin' is really crimping our style. We drove about 50 miles to the nearest movie theater to see Skyfall and it was well worth it. We will probably make the trip weekly to get caught up. The bonus is that it is in the Charleston area and it allowed us to visit with my niece and family once again.

Our Thanksgiving plans include an overnight trip to stay with my niece with two bonuses. One bonus is my brother and sister-in-law will also be there as well as their older daughter, another niece that I rarely get to see. And, bonus number 2, pig stomach is on the menu. Forget all your fancy and exotic southern cooking. Pig stomach is on the menu!!! We are very much looking forward to being with family this Thanksgiving.