Day 31 - Janet and Duane Smith, Russellville, Arkansas

Janet and Duane Smith are friends of ours from Des Moines. When our kids were young, and we were living in our first owned home, the Smith’s were raising their young family just around the corner. We went to the same church, partied with the neighbors and laid down a good foundation of friendship. As life goes, we moved out of the neighborhood, the Smith’s moved and eventually most of the other neighbors moved on also. Our kids grew up, we grew older. We’ve been through the major events of life: baptisms, graduations, weddings. Now grandchildren are coming into the picture. And even though we seldom see each other, those bonds remain.

Janet and Duane now live in Russellville, in a beautiful brick home nestled into the tall pines of Arkansas. We’d like to say they’re a stone’s throw from Lake Dardanelle, and they are – if you are David and the Lake is Goliath. They say Arkansas is a tourist/sportsman’s paradise, and we’d have to agree. It is stunningly beautiful here.

The brought us to the Catfish N for dinner – a local favorite of theirs. It was a mostly catfish and shrimp buffet, with a couple of new twists for us: our first taste of frog legs and then there were hush puppies with jalapenos in them. Frog legs taste remarkably like chicken, but it’s a “lighter” meat if that makes sense. We also knew were still in the south as okra was in the salad bar and it was also a fried appetizer.

The Smith’s recently adopted two dogs , they were the cutest things. Both are small dogs, one white, one black. The white one is about 4 years old, had had several litters as a breeder in a puppy mill. She was very loveable, but also very timid. The black one was only 2 years old and was found on the streets, so was very “street-wise” and a bundle of energy. Boy could he jump! They got both dogs at the same time from Animal Resuce, which does things a little differently here: they “foster parent” all their dogs out and you go on line to find what you want. These two were at the same foster home and had grown attached to each other, so the Smith’s took them both. They’ve only had them for about a month and are in the process of teaching them the rules of the Smith household!

We talked a lot about Arkansas politics, our children and their grandchildren (their daughter Kathy’s art work was prominent around the house, she is VERY talented!), our retirements (they had a little head start on us) and their major trip to Italy. A member of their family (Janet’s nephew?) was ordained as a priest in Italy and several members of their family went. They got tours and saw things that most tourists to Italy don’t see, including having mass in the Catcombs and also at St. Peter’s in the basement under St. Peter’s altar (if you’ve been there, you’ll know what I’m talking about – between St. Peter’s tomb and Pope John Paul II’s tomb). Awesome!

We left after a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs and homemade bread. It doesn’t get any better that that. Duane suggested the scenic route, which we are on now. So, it’s time to take in the scenery and stop writing! LOL!