Cooking Lessons after a long day

After a brief planning meeting this morning for the day's schedule, the students headed out on assignment and I headed to Oxford. I had to go to the clinic to get my stitches out.

On return to Mound Bayou, they updated me on all the accomplishments they had done, including some incredible pictures. I'll get those posted at the end of the week back home. I got back 2 hours late and we needed groceries before cooking supper. That took an hour. Faith wanted me to teach her how to make the Delta chicken so she was my apprentice since I can't use that hand yet. She is a quick study and the chicken was incredible! We also had baked sweet potatoes from the produce stand on the corner, rice, Mac and cheese. I made a pineapple upside down cake on the stovetop since the stovetop peach cobbler went over so well yesterday.

It was almost nine by the time we ate and everyone was tired. We cleaned up the kitchen though and decided to do an hour later start tomorrow. We are all getting weary. :)

Memphis, Tennessee Iron Works

 Last Friday while orienting the students to Mound Bayou, I noticed a partial emblem on the iron work design of the Bank of Mound Bayou Building.  Without a specific name, I cannot locate anything on it, yet, as there were several Memphis iron works companies during the time period.  If anyone recognizes the shield, please let me know.

Another detail that had escaped me earlier, was the Jones & Laughlin name on the beam.  Jones & Laughlin was a major steel works company from the 1800s forward.

Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church and Sister Debra prepares ethnic Sunday dinner

One of our young friends from the October workshop invited us to worship at her church this morning after we mentioned wanting to attend church today. It reminded me of when I would attend church with my grandmother back in Profit or Elbert only much more joyous. In that regard, it was like being back in my home church of Potosi Baptist. It was a moment of being met right where my need was--something that never ceases to amaze me even though I know it is possible.

Back at our home for the week, we are in Debra's Soul Food Ethnic Kitchen today. She started cooking yesterday. We are having greens, turnips, turkey necks, pig tails, pork neck bones, boiled rice, pork chops in gravy, candied sweet potatoes, and cornbread. Desert is peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Students commented they they never expected to eat so well this week!

Laundry on Saturday Night

I'm lying here on my elevated air bed too tired to post! We had another early start today but I slept better last night so was more energetic even for a Saturday morning.

After breakfast, Dr. Moore and the graduate students began the asset mapping process. The undergrad students and I photographed and catalogued the contents of the building we were assigned. That took most of the morning.

It had begun a light mist by then and we took a snack break and time to discuss and answer questions. The Mayor and a couple of his friends were smoking ribs for us and the smell was mouth-watering. We headed back to the building, now joined by one of the grad students and accomplished some major clean-up in the hall and two front rooms, plus part of a third room. Supper was supposed to be ready mid-afternoon so we wrapped up and headed back to the facility to shower and eat. Several other of our new friends were there and the Mayor's wife made spaghetti to go with the ribs and chicken. All I can say is yum!

After clean-up, we found the local laundry-the A and A Washing System-I love that name! We needed to wash our clothes from today's clean-up. I love a good visit to a laundry and while we were waiting, told them the story of The Church of the Cleansing Waters in Lottabusha County. We took a few iPhone photos to document the occasion, of course, but since they are not on the iPad, they will have to wait.

After laundry, we made our daily visit to the dollar general where we are so common place now, the cashier finally asked if we were staying there, so we explained our work here this week and what a great time we were having.

It's been much quieter tonight than it was last night and we have free time in the morning so everyone is looking forward to sleeping a little later and relaxing before more work tomorrow afternoon. I will have a lot of exciting pictures to post after getting back home and to regular Internet instead of on the iPad, but I confess to loving this little bit of technology!

Chef Suzassippi Opens Bayah Bistro

There's a lot of buzz tonight in Mound Bay'ah since breakfast this morning at The Delta Skillet. The grand opening tonight at the elgegant Bay'ah Bistro offered a sneak peak at Suzassippi's new Delta Fusion menu.

Chef Suz was joined by Chef Landon of the renowned Cafe de Bayou for a special guest appearance. The evening's menu featured a new addition to the line-up, Bay'ah-infused sweet Delta chicken legs with faithflatbread.

In a unique and bold move, the chefs experimented with a new addition to the staff: the use of the chicken tester. The team is also experimenting with a lighter version of the evening menu: chicken scriddlings.

Chef Landon at the Cafe de Bayou

We arrived in Mound Bayou at 2:30 this afternoon and checked into our accommodations. It is kind of like summer camp and we are having great fun!
We found the local dollar general and picked up items for supper and breakfast tomorrow. Chef Landon is preparing spaghetti and meatballs de Bayou style.
Dr. Moore ruined a tire and cannot join us tonight as she had to get it replaced and she had the coffee pot! Back to dollar general for a coffee pot! We are pretty sure they had already figured out we were not locals, but by the time we returned within 20 minutes, it was obvious.
We hung the shower rods and curtains that we bought. We women got a lovely two shaded curtain with a band of flowers, but the men opted for plain beige.
After dinner, I have to go figure out how to get my air bed inflated and then I think I might be ready to get in it! I may be getting too old for summer camp.

Works Progress Administration: Possum Kingdom Bridge

Politically speaking, the best of all landscapes, the best of all roads, are those which foster movement toward a desirable social goal. John Brinkerhoff Jackson, in Discovering the Vernacular Landscape 

On my recent trip to Texas while researching the Eliasville bridge over the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, I ran across an item about the bridge built by the Works Progress Administration in 1940-1942 on the Brazos River below the Morris Sheppard Dam on Lake Possum Kingdom, Palo Pinto County.  Until I saw the pictures with the article, I had forgotten about my visit to the bridge in 1980.  Growing up  a mere half-hour drive from Possum Kingdom, I had seen the dam many times, but the first time I had actually gone below the bridge as opposed to just drive over it was while a visiting friend and I were out exploring.  I finally found time this past weekend to locate the photographs from that visit, taken with my Minolta 35mm.

Designed by the Texas State Highway Department, and built by the WPA, the bridge is the longest and most substantial masonry arch bridge in Texas.  The engineers chose the design to withstand flood waters released from the dam a mile above the bridge.

G. T. Cushman in Michael Conan's (ed.) Environmentalism in Landscape Architecture, described the WPA road, bridge, and landscape projects thus:

...built from locally abundant stone, bridges, culverts, and other drainage structures cost relatively little but demanded maximum labor.

In one noteworthy example, approximately 250 unskilled workers and 74 skilled workers employed by the WPA used over 7,200 cubic yards of limestone to build the spectacular 400-foot, eighteen-span bridge over the Brazos River just below the Possum Kingdom Dam..."

Many of the stonemasons employed on this project were former coal miners and had learned to cut stone underground.  Records do not indicate how many of the workers were local, though neighboring Young County had at least one coal mine in Newcastle, which could have supplied some workers.  Coal mining in Newcastle had ended by 1942 and there could have been unemployed miners qualified for this type of work.  Then on the other hand, I recall my grandfather talking about the Depression years and his comment was, "We stood in line all day long waiting for the next man to be unable to lift another shovel so we could take his place for a dollar a day."

Cushman continued:

...in the minds of their builders these structures also helped root new roadway construction to the existing natural and vernacular landscape by incorporating rustic or naturalistic architectural forms.
...designers juxtaposed an ancient engineering design with a modern concrete dam to create one of the state's greatest achievements in landscape construction.

The total length of the bridge is actually 433 feet and 4 inches.  The piers are founded on bedrock and are 3 feet wide, with the exception of piers 7 and 13, which are "bracing piers" and extend up to 5 feet.