Etowah Indian Mounds

*POST SCRIPT - I am getting close to "getting done" with Snapfish and Photo-bucket because of my great distress in getting any slide shows to my blog... I am probably the problem, but they should make it easier for old reluctant social media socialites like myself.  Anyway the following post has been posted and reposted several times... I am giving up having lost sleep last night and the better part of a Sunday afternoon. . . so I will attach the link if you want to see pictures.
                                                                                                                  Thanks - The Management
http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm314/amanofconstantsorrow/Spring-Summer2010/?action=view¤t=79707aff.pbw

I took a couple of days off this week to spend some time with the kids (the human ones) while their grandparents vacationed and Mom worked.

One day was a work day and they participated as we tried to complete some items on our "Big List" - a list of short term goals we need to accomplish as a family.

I wanted Friday to be a reward day so we decided to visit a nearby exhibit or something.

Of the three on our short list - AA spoke up first in favor of Etowah Indian Mounds near Cartersville, Georgia.  The thing that set this one apart from the others was that I told him that they would see real skeletons.

I later learned during our visit that the unearthed skeletons that were on display when I was a youngster have long since been covered up because it was determined to be disrespectful.

Below is a slide show, you will notice that early on there is a "detour" sign and a factory.  I took advantage of Mom not being along and did something really impractical - we took "Covered Bridge Road" in search of seeing a "covered bridge" (as the name implies).  Mom usually quickly vetoes any side trips or wild-goose chases. 

And rightly so, for we had not traveled far before we had to detour, then when we finally got back on "Covered Bridge Road" we found no covered bridge, but rather a Georgia Power plant.

The Indian Mounds are still pretty amazing.  The mounds were constructed by digging dirt from a "borrow pit" and from a "defensive ditch" using very crude instruments - like a spade made of stone. They then removed the dirt with baskets not much larger than a sombrero.

The society centered around the mounds.

I thought the short film we viewed took a cheap shot at DeSoto and other Europeans, blaming them for the demise of the peoples that populated that area.  According to one of the museum guides, about 80% of the people died from famine and disease.

It was an interesting day because I spent it with two of my three favorite people in the whole world - Ab and AA!


As I prayed with each child at bed time and we said our good nights, they both thanked me... imagine that!