Saturday morning we drove to Camden, Arkansas, for the Daffodil Festival. When we arrived, at 11:30 a.m., we found that the contestants in the evening steak cook-off contest were giving away free food from their abundant and expert large grills. We enjoyed hot wings, andouille, BBQ pork and shrimp k-bobs. We saw many Harley-Davidson motorcycles, 2 gospel singers, and festival-goers in profusion. I showed my wife the former TV repair shop, now a used goods store, where I worked during high school.
I bought a sweatshirt and a t-shirt, each of which was emblazoned with winner of last year's daffodil painting award. We saw the quilts and this year's art. We boarded the bus to tour the gardens. The weather was only slightly chilly. The daffodils were in fine bloom. We talked to Mr. Dawson, who keeps the Dawson Daffodil Farm, the elder Mr. Dawson his father, and members of their family. They maintain the garden of the woman who was a self-taught botanist and daffodil enthusiast, Ms. O.L. Fellers. We enjoyed also the nouveau eleganza of Grace Hill, a new home which looks vintage, and the ever-lovely Daniels Garden. We drove to my father's house, where he, his wife and a friend were in 19th Century Civil War dress, giving a home tour. As we pulled into the driveway, a red-headed woodpecker landed on the front yard, and then flitted away. My father always looks dashing in his Union General's uniform, while his wife and their friend had very nice dresses for the occasion.
Saturday night my father and his wife and my wife and I ate steaks from the cook-off. We suspected two steaks finished higher in the competition than two others of the steaks. We had a nice visit. Sunday morning we all dined on bran muffins. I had a nice chat with Kitty Kitty, my father's cat with whom I am friends. Then my father's wife, my wife and I walked the walking path in the yard. Then my wife and I drove back to Texas. We ate lunch at the fish place at the Bass Pro Shop, where we could sit outside with a view of Lake Ray Hubbard, and watch the gulls.
We came home and took a "power walk" in our own neighborhood. We used my binoculars to see a kestrel and
several cedar waxwings. Then we walked our dogs in the park, which made them happy. I even worked a bit on Saturday night and Sunday morning. We had a full weekend.