Some March madness...


For some, "March Madness" implies a college basketball tournament...for Bragg Family South, it just means yet another insanely busy month!  Pictured above is one of the highlights of our crazy month--as President of the Arkansas Archeological Society, Hope had the privilege of joining Drs. George Sabo (on far left) and Ann Early (far right) at the ceremony with Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (tall smiling gent) declaring March as "Archeology Month" at the state capitol in Little Rock.


Even before March started crazy, we were knee-boot deep into kid activities, including this scouting hike (above) we took on our hunting lease just south of town.  We taught the kids a variety of things, from wildlife and outdoor safety to geology and environmental awareness...  We also had a nice little "shore lunch" (below) with scouts and families:


One dreary Saturday, we took Stephen up to Little Rock with us for some shopping (Kenny and Beth were at other events), and while there we stopped at the Clinton Presidential Library to look at an exhibit on the Louisiana Purchase, which was wrapping up.  The boat pictured below is a scale replica of one of the keel boats used early in Arkansas's territorial history to travel up the rivers:


Another interesting "adventure"--pictured below is an exercise bike that also makes smoothies (look closely at the item the dark-haired woman has her hand on--it is a pedal-powered blender!):


Also notice how Kenny (on the right) towers over Heather (Hope's co-worker).  This evening we were in McGehee, Arkansas, for Hope's annual 4-H banquet and fish fry:


The boys and I found time another night to sneak out to El Dorado, Arkansas, to catch Steve Earle in concert...Steve Earle (pictured with long beard in the middle below) was a country-rock star back in his day (20-30 years ago now):


Hope and I listened to one of his albums a lot back in the early 1990s, and it was good to hear it performed live in concert. 

I've traveled quite a bit for my new position in the Forest Service, including a just-concluded trip to Blacksburg, Virginia, for a research station management council meeting.  While there, a nor'easter blew up and dusted our area with about 4-5 inches of snow (covering the fancy painted turkey--"hokey"--pictured below).  We got lucky--other parts of the northeast got a lot more snow than that!


While I was traveling to Virginia, Hope's dad Rich came down for a visit.  I returned in time to enjoy a mess of freshly boiled crawfish, which Rich was showing Hope:


We wrapped up March earlier this morning with a double tree planting at the Monticello Public Library--first, Hope and the scouts helped plant an oak tree to help commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I:

In the picture above, Kenny is one of several scouts who read some info on what the Boy Scouts did to help the war effort back in the late 1910s...  In the picture below, Beth may not look amused, but she really does enjoy toting that little girl around:


Below, our scouts pose with staff of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, who graciously provided the tree for this commemoration:


The other tree planting was to recognize Arbor Day, a requirement for our city to be a "Tree City USA".  Below is a newly awarded flag celebrating 10 years of Monticello's participation in this program:


You may recall that Hope helped Monticello years ago earn and keep this Tree City USA designation, something she is (and we all are) quite proud of...

Something tells me April, May, and June will also be quite crazy for Bragg Family South!!

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