Wild Westerners

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't been able to post for a couple of days. There is no internet access at the William Johnson House, where I worked yesterday, and our main computer at the Visitor Center here at Melrose got fried in the big thunderstorm the other day. So, it's been a little hard to find a computer to use. Luckily the weather has been much better the last few days. I hear that it's been cold there at home--yikes! I have to work today, but hopefully when the interns come in a few weeks, I'll be able to have Sundays off. It's been kind of funny here because we've had all of these visitors from the West! Last summer I met a few people from out that way, but I would say that about 70% of the visitors last summer were from Mississippi and Louisiana. This morning on my tour, there were people from California, Idaho, and Wyoming, and the other day I had some folks from Colorado on tour. Yesterday, some people from Salt Lake City even showed up! So, it's been kind of fun because they're interested in the fact that I'm from their neck of the woods and they wonder how I got down here. It's been a pretty normal last couple of days--except that yesterday when I went to pick up some groceries at Wal Mart, I had to wait in line for about 30 minutes--which is quite a typical grocery line waiting time. Needless to say, when you grocery shop here, you have to plan a big chunk of time. I found these cool Zatarain's New Orleans style microwave meals that come in a little pouch. They have jambalaya--complete with sausage, as well as blackened chicken and yellow rice! Yummmmy. They sell Zatarain's stuff at home, but I haven't ever seen the microwave meals before (which are especially nice for me since my kitchen stove is questionable--though it's clean!). Tomorrow Angie is going to come over to Taylorland (also known as "The National Park Service Complex" because Ranger Tim and Rangers Nathan and Kate also live in houses on the Routhland property) for lunch, so that should be fun. She is my lunch buddy. We had a good pre-Cinco de Mayo lunch at La Fiesta here in town the other day. Well, I'm off to go do some ranger stuff, and will try to post again tomorrow. Adios!

"A Little Rain"

Yikes--last night was crazy! At about 8:30 p.m., I saw a flash outside . . . and then came the thunder. So it started raining pretty hard, and then when I was watching TV the screen turned red and started making that annoying siren noise that means there is a weather alert. It said that there was a severe thunderstorm warning for the Natchez, Mississippi area, which also included a tornado watch. It said: "If you see a tornado, please take appropriate action." But, I wondered, how are you supposed to see a tornado if it's dark outside? The storm kept getting worse, and it was pretty scary, so thankfully Mom talked with me on the phone until it quieted down a bit outside. Then, I went to bed and expected to sleep through the night--because my bed is really comfortable, but did it ever turn out to be a long night! Thunderstorms kept moving through during the night, and I kept being awakened by these horrendous crashes of thunder and lightning that sounded like they were right outside the house. Then, when I woke up this morning, it was pouring rain outside. I was listening to the radio, and they were talking about how the area had "a little rain" last night. I thought to myself, "A LITTLE rain??!!" I guess that it's no big deal to everyone around here, but I'm not used to the heavens opening up like they do in the South. It is a muddy mess at Melrose today and, needless to say, we haven't had a lot of visitors this morning. It's supposed to be kind of stormy for the rest of the week, but hopefully we won't have any more nights like last night. I heard about the funnel cloud over Utah Lake yesterday--so the weather is crazy there at home too!!

Lynchburg Lemonade

Only in Natchez, Mississippi would the local newspaper have a recipe for "Lynchburg Lemonade" in the lifestyles section! This was in yesterday's paper:

1 part Jack Daniels whiskey
1 part Triple Sec. (orange-flavored liquor)
1 part sweet and sour mix
4 parts Sprite

Mix well, werve over ice and garnish with a lemon slice and cherry.

Yikes! I bet someone would be a little wobbly after drinking that stuff. It's a good day here in Natchez. I'm manning the Visitor Center this morning and will be over at the William Johnson House this afternoon. Ranger Lynda, our park curator, is leaving this week, so we're having a pizza party for her at lunch which should be fun. This morning I was sitting at the computer here in the VC, and a cockroach jumped out at me! So I chased it around the VC with this germ-killer spray we have (luckily no one else was in here to see all of this), and finally caught up with the guy. Disinfectant spray works wonderfully as a bug killer! I then swept him outside and finished him off with the broom. I'm not a big cockroach fan. Well, I think that's about it for the day. I need to finish creating a Junior Ranger camp schedule to hand out to parents at Junior Ranger Camp registration this Saturday. Things are busy already, but busy is good.

My Mississippi Mansion

Hello everyone! Welcome to Taylorland Bed and Breakfast--where all of your Southern dreams will come true. Here are some pictures of my cool apartment, which actually seems more like an entire house. It is very spacious, and since Mom whipped it into shape, it is very clean and comfortable. So, if I live in a Southern mansion, does that mean I'm a true Southern belle? I've got to run and give a tour of Melrose, but I hope that you are all doing well!

Taylorland

I now live in my own little Southern mansion! On Saturday, Mom and I drove the last leg of the journey from Texas, through Louisiana, and into Mississippi. We had some yummy Southern barbeque in Alexandria, Louisiana, and Mom even found more of our favorite Southern food item: “Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning” (it’s so good, you’ll give ya mama a slap on the back). After checking in with the ranger friends at Melrose, we went to Routhland to check in with Mrs. Charles Everett Ratcliffe (aka Miss Betty). Miss Betty’s son, Everett, and his wife Catherine showed Mom and me through the apartment where I would be living, which is located directly behind the Routhland mansion (named for the home’s builder: Job Routh; and since they’re into naming homes here, I thought that I might as well follow the Routh tradition and name my apartment Taylorland!). The apartment is really big—and I even have a parlor and French doors! But, it is also really old and had not been lived in and/or cleaned for quite some time. Mom and I were a little shocked and realized that we had quite a job ahead of us to clean the apartment. We stayed up until 2:00 a.m. on Saturday night (Sunday morning) cleaning—and still had a lot left to do the next day! I would not have survived if Mom hadn’t been here with me—she totally saved the day! We were doing pretty good until we got to the stove in the kitchen (the kitchen is the scariest part of the place). Mom pulled the burners off the stove, and there were about three inches of old, burned grease caked up underneath each burner (a few years of Southern deep-frying is not good for kitchen appliances). Then, we found this roasted cockroach amidst the fried grease—maximum grossness!! The roach about did me in, but luckily Mom is much braver than me, so she took care of it. She whipped the stove into shape, and yesterday when Everett and Catherine came to see the apartment, Catherine said: “That stove has never been that clean!” Mom has the magic touch, and she made the entire apartment look really nice and clean. It reminds us of one of the bed and breakfasts in town that people pay a lot of money to stay in each night! Speaking of bed and breakfasts, the apartment has an extra room, so should any of you decide that you would like a little vacation to the Deep South this summer, you can stay here, and I’ll make you breakfast! I have a cool little TV room with windows all around it, and the Routhland grounds are awesome. The estate is in the middle of town, but it includes a lot of wooded acres, so it seems nice and secluded. It’s fun to wake up to all of the birds chirping in the morning. I’m super duper homesick, but I started getting homesick a few months ago when I decided to come to Mississippi for the summer, so I guess that’s not a big surprise. And, I guess that homesickness is just a normal (though extremely unpleasant) emotion to experience. I am excited for the summer, and I am grateful for my nice setup here at Taylorland. Mom flew home yesterday, which was sad for me, but I guess that our fun road trip couldn’t last forever. We had such a great time, and we made many fun (and exciting) memories. I am thankful for the phone and e-mail which help me not feel so far from everyone. Oh, and I found out that my real mailing address is 131-C, Winchester Road, Natchez, MS 39120. Here is a cute picture of Mom and me at Routhland, and I will put up more photos of the house very soon. Today I started back at work and am scheduled to give a tour of Melrose in about 15 minutes. I hope I can remember all of the information—or else maybe it will be a really short tour!