When we first got to Arkansas in June, the back deck was in the sun all day. I was amazed that the space on the north side of a tall building got any sun. It was a perfect place for a container garden. As the days started getting shorter the shadow of the tower started covering the garden, the tomatoes started to wilt, and the okra seedlings went limp.

This week I moved all of the plants to the south side of the house. Everything is much better now.

The garden looks much smaller out in front of the place. I’m glad I didn’t start it in the parking lot, I would have planted too many vegetables and herbs.

If you are looking for sustainable housing in Conway, AR, send me a message through the comment system. We are looking for neighbors who would like to live in an energy efficient, non-traditional, industrially reclaimed structure. Multiple single bedroom apartments are available with plenty of outdoor space (two side decks, one covered rooftop deck), and plenty of parking.

The spaces are located within one mile of Hendrix College and UCA (University of Central Arkansas), and the three times weekly farmer’s market. It is also within one half-mile of Axciom, downtown Conway, and Central Baptist College. Great for people who prefer to walk or bicycle to work or the grocery store. City services include high speed internet and recycling.

Clicking on the above picture will take you to a gallery of some sandhills cranes, flat land, flat water, a pheasant, Tyrone, and our friend Mikael from San Francisco. I apologize for the massive use of digital zoom, and how grainy some of the pictures are.

We went to Grand Island to attend the horse races. My mother, who works for AYUSA with Mikael, sponsored a day at the races for the exchange students and their host families.  After the races were over, we ate down the street at TOMMY’S 24 hour cafe.  They told us the place to see the cranes at sunset was Wood River (or the Wood River exit?).   We drove out to Wood River, getting further from the Platte River with each mile.  We drove south to the interstate and found the Nature Conservancy house, and thought that was a good sign.

Two miles down the road, we finally saw some grazing cranes.  I took pictures of them in the golden light, but we should have brought Tyrone’s good camera.  Mikael snapped a few pictures with his disposable camera, and I’m sure they turned out less grainy.

Closer to sunset, we drove by the Platte River bridge again.  There are very many no parking and no trespassing signs around the river (understandably).  We found a place in the tall grasses next to the bridge and listened and watched all of the birds fly over, hoping they’d land in a massive avian tornado.  Sometimes two great flying-v formations of birds would mix.  Sometimes they would separate out, but one time, they converged and continued to fly down river.

When it was almost too dark, a great wall of birds flew up, sounding like a distant soccer stadium.  With the light fading, I only saw about 30 birds land in the middle of the river.  If you are ever in Nebraska in March, you must go see the cranes!

Not much crafting got done this weekend.  On Friday, opening day of racing at State Fair Park was fun, but yeilded no exciting wins.

On Saturday, got a bunch of weeding done.  Tyrone decided we should go on a bike ride.  We got lunch on the bikes, and then biked all the way out to Eagle, NE.  It is approx 12 miles away from our house.  On the way back, we stopped off in Walton to see some friends, got some mexican food with them, as well as a ride back.  I am still feeling it today.

Tyrone wants to bike to Wagontrain Lake and back this summer.  That’s 12 miles away on county road with hils.  The Mopac trail to Walton and Eagle is an old rail line, so it was relatively flat.  If we did it, it would probably have to be early in the morning.