Evening All!
Had a wonderful day at the McIntosh Festival in Whitesburg, GA! Connie tagged along and Sally had to work. Barry and Amy were there too! Got there at 10 (when they opened).
Started the day out in a semi-rush....Slept until 7:15 which is late for me. Got the dogs out, made a cup of coffee and some oatmeal, was about to jump in the shower when I realized that I hadn't gotten directions yet. Ran downstairs to the PC and typed in McIntosh Festival....wouldn't ya know it...not one of the first 5 sites had an address or directions. Finally found one with directions and of course the site wasn't working. Off to another one....finally got directions. YAY!
Grabbed my camera and on the way back up the stairs realized that the batteries were almost dead....one more stop to make. Got in the shower, dressed and ran out the door......
Picked up Connie and off to Wally World we went. Back to the camera department....you're out of my batteries? Of course you are..what else should I have expected. Now what? Off to one of the little kiasks...Yay, they have one. Yippee!!! Up to the front to pay and out the door (gave Sally a kiss on the way by).
Drive, drive, drive, left turn, drive, drive, damn, missed my turn. Turn around. Right turn, drive, drive.....round about (whoever came up with this idea should be smacked)....drive some more.....I see a sign. Followed the signs way down this teeny, tiny road into the reserve all the way in the back. Paid the parking and then realized that I had been here once before. Way back when my daughter was younger. One of her friends had a 'camping birthday party' here.
As we stepped out of the truck....Connie and I both looked at each other and said 'wow, I thought it would have been bigger than this'. Don't believe all the adverising promotions you hear. Lesson learned. Despite it being smaller than either of us had antisipated we had a good time. We walked up one side and down the other looking at the vendors.....10 minutes later we were done. Now what? Wait...they're making an announcement...."The entrance ceremony will begin at noon". So we continued to wander aimlessly.....
Then we hear ".....award winning flutist at 11:15". So off we went to the circle to see what we could see. Connie found us a seat on a haybale. It smelled like.....hay. Wow was it strong. Then J.J. (the flutist) began playing. He was very good and the music was very soothing ~ this would be good to play on a hectic, stressful day. He played for about 40 minutes and we really enjoyed the show.
They danced for a while and then took a lunch break. Connie and I split a burger and fries...MISTAKE! The sodium kicked in about 30 minutes later and left me with a pounding headache, of course I had no aspirin. It was good while it lasted. LOL!
After lunch we wandered around some more and went down to the other end to see The Georgia Possums play. They seemed so out of place. They were good though. They seemed a little 'sleepy' (hungover maybe?). Shortly after this we left, I couldn't deal with the headache any more.
All in all, had a great time at the festival. I am glad we went. Looking forward to next year! Here's a few more photos....
Had a wonderful day at the McIntosh Festival in Whitesburg, GA! Connie tagged along and Sally had to work. Barry and Amy were there too! Got there at 10 (when they opened).
Started the day out in a semi-rush....Slept until 7:15 which is late for me. Got the dogs out, made a cup of coffee and some oatmeal, was about to jump in the shower when I realized that I hadn't gotten directions yet. Ran downstairs to the PC and typed in McIntosh Festival....wouldn't ya know it...not one of the first 5 sites had an address or directions. Finally found one with directions and of course the site wasn't working. Off to another one....finally got directions. YAY!
Grabbed my camera and on the way back up the stairs realized that the batteries were almost dead....one more stop to make. Got in the shower, dressed and ran out the door......
Picked up Connie and off to Wally World we went. Back to the camera department....you're out of my batteries? Of course you are..what else should I have expected. Now what? Off to one of the little kiasks...Yay, they have one. Yippee!!! Up to the front to pay and out the door (gave Sally a kiss on the way by).
Drive, drive, drive, left turn, drive, drive, damn, missed my turn. Turn around. Right turn, drive, drive.....round about (whoever came up with this idea should be smacked)....drive some more.....I see a sign. Followed the signs way down this teeny, tiny road into the reserve all the way in the back. Paid the parking and then realized that I had been here once before. Way back when my daughter was younger. One of her friends had a 'camping birthday party' here.
As we stepped out of the truck....Connie and I both looked at each other and said 'wow, I thought it would have been bigger than this'. Don't believe all the adverising promotions you hear. Lesson learned. Despite it being smaller than either of us had antisipated we had a good time. We walked up one side and down the other looking at the vendors.....10 minutes later we were done. Now what? Wait...they're making an announcement...."The entrance ceremony will begin at noon". So we continued to wander aimlessly.....
Then we hear ".....award winning flutist at 11:15". So off we went to the circle to see what we could see. Connie found us a seat on a haybale. It smelled like.....hay. Wow was it strong. Then J.J. (the flutist) began playing. He was very good and the music was very soothing ~ this would be good to play on a hectic, stressful day. He played for about 40 minutes and we really enjoyed the show.
J.J. the flutist
When J.J. was done they started gearing up for the entrance ceremony....I was excited! I haven't seen a 'Pow-wow' since we moved from Michigan (17 years ago). They started bringing the dancers in...some of the costumes were really simply and some were really elaborate. There was an older man there, had to be at least 70 maybe 80 dressed to the hilt. All I could think was 'wow, that's got to be hot'. He had two younger boys (8 years old or so) with him.....grandchildren I would think. It was quite a site with all the colors and tassles and bells. They had three drum groups. All of which were really good.
After the entrance ceremony they had a special memorial....one of the co-founders of the festival / pow wow had recently died in a horrible car accident. They brought in the family members and all of the dancers ~ men, women, children did a specail dance in his honor. And then 3 of the male dancers did a 'grass dance' to aid in the healing of the family. It was very moving.
From there they broke into the group dances.....first the men's traditional. Then they women's traditional with a bit of history.....the Indian Nation is the only one that honors the 'bringers of life'. As the MC pointed out if you are an Indian they never ask "who's your daddy?" it's always "who's your momma?". It's always the woman's side that dictates your ancestory. And it's the women's council that has the final say on important matters. Hhhhhmmmmmm, imagine that. Maybe we need to rethink politics......I am sure that a group of women could do a much better job of running things.
And then they danced! Here are some photos.....
this guy was really good ~ one of the 'grass dancers'
this young man had three kids, all of whom were dressed
they were all adorable
They danced for a while and then took a lunch break. Connie and I split a burger and fries...MISTAKE! The sodium kicked in about 30 minutes later and left me with a pounding headache, of course I had no aspirin. It was good while it lasted. LOL!
After lunch we wandered around some more and went down to the other end to see The Georgia Possums play. They seemed so out of place. They were good though. They seemed a little 'sleepy' (hungover maybe?). Shortly after this we left, I couldn't deal with the headache any more.
All in all, had a great time at the festival. I am glad we went. Looking forward to next year! Here's a few more photos....
the teepees ~ didn't get to see inside, they were closed before we got to them :(
some of the period dress ~ can you imagine these clothes in 80 degree temps ~ Whew!
two of the young boys getting ready for their dance
In other news.....
I managed to get a photo of the full moon just over a week ago (I know, I'm such a geek). It was late and it was a perfect shot....too bad I couldn't have gotten a better shot of it. Just thought I'd share.
beautiful September Full Moon
And Friday was Kai's last day at work. He is on his way back home to Switzerland. He is one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. It came as a shock, I had no idea that he was going back so soon. He had to go back to report for military duty. They have bootcamp and then 4 weeks a year until they are 36 - mandatory. I want to wish him all the best! He says he may come back to work or go to school. I hope he does.
me and Kai. Yes, I'm short (5'8) but Kai is quite tall
I guess that's all to report for now....Hope you all have a great weekend.
TTFN
p.s. Only 36 days!!
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