Look, it isn’t easy having so many awesome things to do outside. Arkansans are constantly making choices about what we’re going to do this weekend, and those choices aren’t easy because of how unbelievably awesome our natural spaces are. To add to our problem of too many choices, it seems some of the activities we choose aren’t really done anywhere outside the South, so when our one Yankee cousin comes down to visit, we’ve got to explain what we’re doing. Below you’ll find a list of things we’ve all had occasion to explain to someone who just doesn’t get it. Bless their hearts.

1. Noodling. (Or Hillbilly Handfishin', if you're feelin' fancy.)
Flickr/shannonpatrick17
We go in pairs. Someone sticks their hand inside a hole where it is suspected a large catfish lives, and the catfish thinks their hand is food or a predator. Why yes it does sound just a little bit insane, but it sure is fun.
2. Float trip.
Flickr/Oakley Originals
You literally just float down a river in some sort of buoyant apparatus. I don’t understand why everybody doesn’t call them float trips, but I have come across more than one non-Arkansan who had never heard of a "float trip" before.
3. Tubing.
Flickr/Barry Lenard
Again, you’re floating. This time in a tube. No, not that kind of tube. Okay, just hop in the truck and I’ll show you.
4. Mudding.
Flickr/Steve Hamel
The jeep is going to get super dirty, and you’re absolutely going to love it.
5. Running the trotline.
Flickr/g-s-h
Why would we want to catch all these fish at once? It ain’t for fun, honey, it’s for dinner. The fun is just a side effect.

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6. Spending some time down at the crick.
Flickr/Buffalo Outdoor Center
Creeks don’t have the same reputation as "natural springs," but they’re just as lovely and sometimes you get an itch to spend a little time there. It’s not a want. It’s a need.
7. Catching crawdads.
Flickr/Jack Lyons
You do need to look out for the pinchy ends, but they sure are fun to chase after.
8. Catching lightning bugs.
Flickr/jamelah e.
An Arkansas summer simply isn’t complete without a jar of lightning bugs.
9. The true purpose of honeysuckle.
Flickr/MRHSFan
I truly feel sorry for anyone who didn’t grow up sucking the nectar out of honeysuckle blossoms, but they're out there. Bless their hearts.
10. Last minute bonfires.
Flickr/Craig
Somebody needs to burn their brush pile? Okay. I’ll get the beer, you straighten out some coat hangers for the marshmallows and weenies.
11. Cookouts and spending time with strangers at state parks.
Flickr/James F Clay
This is an actual true story:

While at Cove Lake on Mount Magazine for an unplanned swimming/fishing day, we were heading up the trail to the parking lot. My grandma was being friendly and said to a stranger, "That sure smells good." A minute up the trail, a man chased us down with a heap of chicken on a plate. And that’s how we wound up eating chicken with a family we didn’t know from Adam. If you can imagine another state where something like that could happen, I say we pack up some chicken and take a road trip sometime.

For things we all learned growing up in Arkansas, click here. If you’d like to see some translations of things we’ve all grown up hearing, check out this one.

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