Show & Tell Saturday: A Girl on a Horse, Books, & a Must-See Museum

Please forgive me for the belated Show & Tell post. This past week, my husband lit out for the Mexican border and left me with a rain-addled 4 year-old and a teething 3 month-old.
Just kidding. He had to work out of town. But still.

Not much got done while he was away, except for taking care of the kiddos. And letting my 85 lb black lab sleep on my bed at night. I did take one shower at 1:30 a.m. So that's something.

Anyway ....

Here are some great things to share:

1.) The Storied South by William Ferris
I can't wait to get my hands on this book. Filled with interviews with writers and artists like Eudora Welty, Alice Walker, Pete Seeger, C. Vann Woodward and more, reviewers say that it shows how the power of storytelling has impacted the cultural identity of the South, and all of us.
 





 2.) Museum of the Cherokee in South Carolina

I've not been to the Museum of the Cherokee in South Carolina, but you better believe I'm going to get there as soon as possible. Located across from the courthouse in the cool little town of Walhalla, SC, it only recently opened. The museum is dedicated to preserving and sharing the often little-known history of the Cherokee Indians in the blue hills of South Carolina, where they lived for thousands of years before white encroachment.

This thrills me, because my novel, Keowee Valley, is set largely in this area, and deals with a time period (the mid 1700s) when the Cherokee in South Carolina were still many and powerful. So much of the South has been informed by this incredible nation of people. There's an abundance of history and mystery in those gorgeous foothills; I'm happy the South Carolina Cherokee are finally being celebrated.

Check out the Museum's web site and Facebook page (which posts history tidbits weekly).

3.) A girl and her horse

This is the most incredible thing I've seen in a long time. Shared with me by one of my dearest friends, it's the video of Stacy Westfall, a deaf-mute young equestrienne riding a horse in honor of her father, who recently passed away. She directs the horse via free rein, in the old Native way, using only pressure from her own body.

Seriously, y'all. I sat there and bawled as I watched this. It's an incredible testament to the power of the human spirit--and for that matter, to the power of the animal spirit, too!

Make sure you watch it all the way through until the end, because it just keeps getting better. Trust me: you will be deeply moved.