Greetings friends! The dog days of summer are setting in, and the SCA’s survey team here in Oxford s putting up with some serious summer heat. But it is all in a day’s work when you’re out on the Army Corps of Engineers’ lakes. Maybe it is the heat, but there is not much to report – everyone is plum tired, and unfortunately the SCA frowns on afternoon siestas.
But that is not to say that we have been inactive. Down at Sardis Lake, we cleaned up the side of the highway and cleared brush off of a boardwalk trail going through the heart of a gorgeous swamp. Even in the sun and humidity, we were struck by the towering Cyprus trees growing out of pools of water, the clusters of shrubs, vines, and flowers bursting forth with life, and the darting birds, dragonflies, butterflies, wasps and other insects animating the air. (And I promise that I will get pictures of that trail soon up here soon! Watch this spot, True Believers!)
Our projects aren’t all about sweatin’ it out in the sun. We’ve also spent time comfortably air-conditioned, but no less diligently working as we brainstormed over our plan to refurbish the water safety display at the Grenada Lake visitors’ center. We think it will beat the “pile of life jackets strewn about an otherwise empty case” look that they have going on now.
Alright, we might not be as active as we have been. But as the summer winds down, we are planning plenty of trips, activities, and festivities, starting with the Blues Festival in Clarksdale, a free show by rock-god Robert Plant, and a trip to the crossroads where Robert Johnson invented the blues. And it will only get cooler from there! Till next time, this has been your friends in Mississippi.
