Guess what I did this weekend

On Saturday morning, I packed my bags...

... (schoolwork, toiletries, knitting, pjs) and drove about a hundred miles north of here and a little bit east to Pierre, the state capitol, where my in-laws (mother, father, and brother) live. We had a nice, peaceful weekend; we visited a lot, told stories and chatted, and I was fed well and treated like royalty. We had something to celebrate! Here's a hint:

Happy birthday to me! :) (And to Robin! though she was far away, back in Ohio.)

Not only did I have two big honkin' slices of this wonderful cake made by my mother-in-law, I also got to take the leftovers back to Mission with me. Am I lucky, or what?

Here are some photos I took along the road:
Wild turkeys! They are humongous. They seem to like to hang out in the wooded areas near streams. (This is near the Little White River.) Here's a photo using my super-close-up lens for Dexter:

Here's a landscape view, on the way home, just as it was getting ready to rain:

This is in the Fort Pierre National Grassland. It's amazing. And in this next shot, I tried to show how you can see weather coming for miles:

It didn't show up in the photo, but you could see streaks coming down where it was raining. It kept raining, but then on Monday night the rain turned into snow, and here's what it looked like (and what I looked like) on campus this morning:


See, Anne? I'm wearing my coat now. AND my scarf. But it's not cold enough yet for my hat.

The people at Sinte Gleska have been so generous and kind. One faculty member took me to see the museum at St. Francis yesterday, and they've been inviting me to come sit in classes left and right--language, advanced language, ethno-botany, history & culture, traditional arts, health. I was worried about being an outsider, even an intruder, but everyone has been so welcoming. I can't express how lucky I feel.

I hope you find something to feel lucky about today!
Karen