Man Eating Alligator @ a Cajun Restaurant

We had a wonderful time this week. (Mardis Gras colors are purple green and gold.) I think we were about 'paraded' out by the time they left on Sunday. We yelled and waved our arms for beads and 'stuff' for six whole parades. I personally got three Walmart bags full of beads and cups and even a teddy bear. Dan, his fiance`, Jennifer, and the kids got about two bags full for each parade. You should have seen them trying to pack the car to head back to NYS. They have a lot of friends who are waiting to get their hands on the 'loot'.
I'm still tired. I'd have to think hard about what all we did in one short week. It sure was an adventure tho. Desi had been studying about slavery in school before she came down, so the visit to Laura Plantation illuminated what she had been learning about in school. Melinda had been learning about hurricanes in school, so the visit through New Olreans neighborhoods, and the damage, plus the trip to Grand Isle, Lousiana gave her an upclose perspective on what a hurricane can do. Presently, there are lots of political debates and fingerpointing on television for everyone of them, and us to realize how complicated and frustrating hurricane recovery has become in this state.
Not to worry, the kids didn't get too overwhelmed with just the sad part of their visit to our area. After day-tripping through the devasation, they were taken to have some fun, Louisiana-style. They enjoyed powdered sugar covered bignets, pronounced 'bin-yays', which are wonderful square doughnuts at the famous Cafe Dumond at the edge of the French Quarter. We all wandered around the French Market, but it wasn't up and running; however the flea market part was open, so the kids got masks and feather boas. 7 yr. old Manny had to get an alligator head to take back with him. (boys, lol)
Besides the doughnuts, I took them to a restuarant in Houma, where they tried deep fried 'critters', and some boiled crawfish. The deep-fried shrimp were a hit, the deep-fried oysters got a mixed review, the deep-fried onion rings, of course were a hit, the crawfish also got mixed reviews, but what surprised me the most, was that Dan ate the alligator. And not only that, but so did Jennifer and the kids...they loved it! I'm not fond of it at all. I just sat there horrified watching them eat the chunks of deep-fried alligator, while I pinched off the heads of reddened crawfish, who all had shiny black-beady eyes, ripped off their scales, discarded all of their protective armor and ate the succulent flesh of the tiny 'crabs' (crawfish, I know, Cappy, I KNOW), all the while sitting there, grimacing, and trying not to gag while watching them eat that disgusting golden-crusted deep-fried alligator.

Start Spreading The News; They're Leaving Today...New York, New York!

Very excited here. They are on their way! Cappy couldn't wait any longer and called early this morning to see if Dan, his fiance` (Jennifer), and three kids had left yet. When Dan said, "No, not yet" his Pop said, "Ya'll take after your mother!" My Mom always told me, "You'll be 'late' for your own funeral!" I didn't 'get' it til years later.
Anywaze...they are On da way! I haven't heard from them as yet. I don't want to bother them while they are traveling. Migosh, Rochester, where they are leaving to come here, had winds gusting to 77 miles per hour today. Hurricane force winds have to be at least 75 mph to qualify for hurricane status. When the winds are approx. 35 mph down here, they close the causeway over Lake Pontchartrain. I sure have been praying for them to have 'traveling mercies' on the way down; not only for them, but others who have to be out in it. Dan told 'Pop' this morning that they wanted to try to beat the snow that was expected. Hah! I see where it's going to be snowing for them most of the way down, til they get here. Then it's going to be in the bitter 50's for a couple of days before it gets back up into the upper 60's.
It's Mardis Gras season here, but people are a little reticent about celebrating with the usual gusto. The controversy is all over the national media, so I'm sure I don't have to delve into it. I plan on taking the family to NOLA (New Orleans, LA) during the day to see what family oriented things are going on. I read in the paper, that the first parade that was scheduled to "roll" was cancelled. It doesn't matter, there are TONS of things always going on down here. I only wish Cappy could be off the boat to be with us. Cappy's family always gathers in Lafayette, where they celebrate Mardis Gras. The city is alive with revellers at a much tamer pace than New Olreans. At least until last year it did. I plan on taking our little clan there to meet their new Cajun family, chow down on Cajun cuisine, catch beads from the floats in the childrens' parade, and just generally learn how to "pass a good time, Cher". They need to make Cappy proud of his own little flock, by also learning how to yell, "Laissez le bon ton roulez, cher!" and "AAAAAAAiEEEEEEEE!!!" (the Cajun yell of Joy).

But You Didn't Hear It From Me :-|

Psst...and now that I've got you to myself ....(looking this way and that to make sure all is clear)...Remember the picture of the sinkful of dishes? Cappy filled that up himself. I was set up, I tell ya!

Yep...Father, Time Waits For No-one

This is a picture of my Dad (scroll down...dang computer again). I'm not sure how old he was when it was taken. He was 'old' when I was born; 45. There were a whole lot of reasons why I wasn't too close to him later on, before he passed in 1987. When Cappy and I visited the house in the picture last Fall, it was a kind of catharsis for me. This is the first house my Dad bought for his little family, my Mom, myself and my 'baby' bruvver. It's where we lived when I was burned at my grandparents' house in Port Allegany, PA. (I had been visiting my grandparents when I was 4 years old,where they had one of these little black water heaters with a door which swung open,exposing flames, whereby my dress caught fire. I was burned 45% of my body with 3rd and 4th degree burns.) After only 5 months, I had recovered enough to be released from the hospital. I remember my Dad having to take me everyday to the hospital to be debreded. We would sit in the waiting room, knowing that at any minute they would call our name and we'd be taken down to the basement; the farthest away from anyone's earshot, to tear the bandages off my stomach. Just thinking about it now gets my heart racing. To help us both try to keep calm in the waiting room, my Dad would read to me, mostly from current event magazines, like Time, Saturday Evening Post or a publication called LOOK. It was during those times that I felt most close to my father. It was then that I began to learn how to read, take an interest in politics, current events, science, and a curiousity about the world in general.
I remember him showing me pictures of Mt. Rushmore and explaining details about each president represented. While perusing one of the magazines we came across and article about a Crazy Horse Memorial they had started sculpting in 1948. Over the years, he and I kept up on the progress of this memorial. I just read where only a couple of years ago, they had a special ceremony, because after all these years; well over 50, only the face has been completed. It's supposed to be the Native American warrior chief sitting atop his stallion when it's finished.(easily 'googled')

Going back to visit our old home was a good thing. The owners, took Cappy and I for a tour inside. Very nice of them to do that. They are the Carr Family. As you can see, even the house is 'taking new steps' to improve itself. Inside the living room I told Mrs. Carr's mother, how I used to stand behind my Dad while he was watching television, and play with his hair. He was so engrossed in political talk shows that he was hardly aware of what I was doing. I used to make tiny braids all over his head. All that ended the night he quickly got up and answered the front door to find our insurance agent, who had come to pay a visit. I remember Dad saying, "Huh? Oh migosh!" grabbing his head, and saying, "Oh...Peggy was messing around with my hair while I was watching tv; she does that." She didn't anymore after that. I don't know who was more embarrassed; my Dad or me.

Now that I'm older I really miss him. He had a cornball 'punny' sense of humor that I didn't appreciate til now. He also had a saying which he liked to say with a pretend German accent, "Too soon vee grow oldt; too late Vee grow shmart".

What's Not To Love?

Happy Valentine's Day. The "Day of Hearts". Two of my Sweeties in the picture.
I've just been "gagging Lolly" lately. Cappy is out on the boat. It seems as though he's been there three weeks already, and it's barely been one week. I've spent a lot of time practicing my music, cuz both the choirs I'm in have been busy lately.
I've had my head buried in seed catalogs and have ordered more victims...er..plants for the yard. Today we ordered a couple of Paw paw trees. We remember singing about them when we were kids in school. The fruit sounds delicious. A banana custard with vanilla. At least that's what the catalogs say. Down here the kids call their grandmothers Maw Maw, so Cappy said I should make some jelly or jam out of the fruit and call them, "Maw maw's Paw paws".
I should be up in the attic straightening things up and tossing out stuff. If it's one thing I learned from Cappy, it's that no matter how much I protested, when he ordered me to march things "to the side of the road!" I always felt relieved, actually, to have these things off my hands. Gosh, I hadn't realized it, but it really takes a lot of energy to save stuff. Mentally. Keeping things, cuz I just KNEW I'd need them one day for one project or another, but then trying to remember where I kept them, or what I actually had on hand, no matter how well I had organized them was draining, and I didn't even know it. Kind of like all the stuff running in the background of the computer here, that you don't see, but it takes a lot of ram or rom or dos or whatever that stuff is in there, to run it. (Poor Mother-board outa her mind.) Now when I give stuff away or take it 'to the SIDE of the ROAD!' it's a liberating feeling.
As I said...I 'should' be up in the attic during these 'cold' days of winter. 50 degrees is perfect weather for getting that done. What I've really been doing is playing Scrabble with the computer. My son Dan got me the game for Christmas.
Ohhhh, and speaking of Dan, he is supposed to be coming down again this month with his fiance` and kiddoes, so will be here for Mardis Gras. Poor Cappy won't be able to get off the boat and come along with us. Not gwinder to celebrate in New Olreans. I never have. I've always gone, when I have gone, (?) to Lafayette with Cappy's family. That's where I plan on taking Dan. It's more Family oriented there and they have a children's parade I think the kids will enjoy. It'll be their first time down here and they should be able to catch a lot of beads, etc.
Well, I'm off to bed. I hope Cappy finds the Valentine thingys I hid in his seabag.
I hope your heart is Happy and Blest today and always.

Taking My Mind Out for a Walk

As Mark Twain once said, and most likely paraphrasing here, 'When some people have nothing to say, they open their mouths and say it anyway'. That's usually me.
Cappy is back out on the boat, and I'm still in the wake of his departure, letting out a deep sigh, and sort of wondering, "Ok now what to do". I'd really like to go for a long walk along this road. It's a picture we took near Port Allegany, PA when we visited the area last September. I remember 'the big girls' taking me for walks here when I was very, very little, possibly as young as three years old. It was such a delicious setting, and amazingly hasn't changed a bit. When we stopped to take the picture, I just wanted to sit in the car and take a nap because it's just so serene here. But alas, we were in a rush.
I could be in a rush today if I wanted to. I have plenty to do. I don't wanna. I have to be in a rush tomorrow. Some people in town are having a 50th Wedding anniversary, so I am going to that. I may have to leave early because our Gospel Choir 'has' the 4 P.M. Mass, and I plan on singing with them.
Gosh, I told ya I've got nothing much to say. The last 'exciting' thing that happened was in the driveway at 5 A.M. yesterday. Cappy and I were all piled in the SUV with his seabags, cell phones, etc., etc., ett-sett-ala, all ready to pull outa the driveway. The neighbor's bright security light came on blasting Cappy in the eyes. He thought it was a car rushing toward us, turned to see, and knocked his quart-size 'to go' coffee cup upside down all over his ....uh...self. "Rahggghhhhh!!! Yow!" It seems I had left a small box of raisins in the little cup holder, so his 'to go' cup wasn't secure. He hadda rush into the house and change. When he came back out he told me that boxes of raisins do NOT belong in the cup holders. That's a good rule to live by. I'd better go write that down somewhere. That ol' Mark Twain knew what he was talking about.

Eat ya hearts out snowbirds

I took these pictures of the little azalea bush we planted last Spring, a few minutes ago. The lil guy didn't grow much at all last year, but thanks to the 70 degree weather we have been having the last 2 weeks, it now thinks it is Spring. It is covered with these beautiful varigated pink blooms and many soon-to-be-opened buds. Not bad for a January afternoon. We planted the lil guy almost as an afterthought in the garden last year and this is its third blooming. It sure is a tough little thing, cause it sits neglected in a corner of the garden in front of the banana palms, next to the grape arbor(more on those later).

The Wedding Went off WITH a Hitch.

Now all I have to do is let it all sink in. After almost five years, we actually got the whole thing accomplished. When Cappy was off the boat last month and son, Dan was here, as our witness, along with our friend and my sponser, we had our marriage blessed in the church. Because things were moving so rapidly, we didn't have a chance to arrange for all of our family in New York State and Penna to be here. We didn't want them to feel even worse if Cappy's family came here as witnesses, being in Louisiana, or other friends as well, and have another wedding celebration without them ...AGAIN (our 'justice of the peace wedding' took place almost four years ago in our yard with all of Cappy's family in attendance, and none of mine from NYS could make it), ...so we opted to just quietly have our priest bless our marriage.

Friday, we went to meet with our priest for Reconciliation, after which we were 'good to go' for today. Today, even tho I've been attending for three years, playing my Christian Rock accordian with the more charasmatic choir group, also for the special community group, and singing with the Gospel Choir, I still wasn't really a part of the church. Well.....today, I was formally welcomed, took my first communion, and Cappy, too, who has not been able to take communion these past few years, either, then I was confirmed. We were also privileged to be able to bring the communion vessels to the front! I never, ever thought that would be possible for me until a LONG time from now! I cherished every moment today.

Yesterday Cappy sent me off shopping for a First Communion dress...and the buckle-shoes...I hadda have the buckle shoes. I had heard from wayyyy back that little girls having their first communion had lacy dresses and buckle shoes. So this granny was going to have lace and buckle-shoes for her first communion, too.
I didn't get far walking back and forth in the mall before my feet were already killing me. I couldn't find anything. I was frustrated, having not lost any weight that I usually gain when Cappy's off the boat and 'coooooking'. He doesn't force the food into my mouth, but oh gosh, try and resist. So I was dragging all that extra weight around on my feet around and around in all of the stores, from one end of the mall to the other. Well, I found this dark brown ruffled, lacey, modestly sequinned dress that would at least fit over my hips. And the matching buckle-shoes...GOT 'em. So this is my first communion outfit.
I usually make sure that Cappy and I 'match' color-wise when we go to church. I dunno, we like to look like a 'team'. I bought him a nice shirt, dark brown belt and pair of tan dockers at J C Penney's, and dragged myself home. I don't know why it took me hours, but it did. That mall is huge! I have blisters to prove it. But at least I was happy that we were going to look nice in the morning. When I got home, Cappy tried quickly tried everything on, not messing with the tags, to make sure it all fit. Poifect. He looked great.
This morning I jumped into the shower ahead of him, cuz I take so long, but it only takes him a few minutes to get ready. (typical story, I'm sure) Finally, I was almost ready, putting my make-up on, feeling all 'churchy' and in my 'goin' to meetin' happy feelings, when I heard Cappy in the bedroom struggling with something. He was trying to take the tags off his new trousers. He said, "Hey, this is one of those things they are supposed to take off at the store....urhhhhggg, it won't come off! I've been trying!" He had his shirt on, and was wrestling with this white 'thing' that was tenaciously hanging onto those trousers...and we were in a hurry now to get going. He gave one big tug and heard some kind of snap, then saw 'blood'. "Huh??? Am I bleeding??" I ran and got some tissues and some wire cutters he said to bring. When I got back, he wailed, "Oh no! I've got shop-lifter's ink all over my hands and these pants! They were supposed to take this thing off at the store with one of their special tools! I can't go to church wearing these...people will think I'm standing there taking communion wearing pants I shop-lifted! And it won't wash off...it never will!!" He said he'd wanted to wear his good blue jeans all along anyhow, so he did. He still looked nice. I hope nobody noticed the red ink on his hands.
Now I'm wondering what to do with these new trousers...I'd like to take them back...good luck with that, probably. Take the priest with us??

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Cappy's Rebuttal

To those of you who delve, on occasion, into the bowels of our blog, may remember my sweet wife, Peggy, mentioning my reaction to the kitchen sink while she is washing dishes. I'd like to present exhibit "A" for my defense.Please consider that I spend 2/3 of my life on a boat, where,
#1. We carry a limited amount of potable water.
#2. A sink as full as the picture above, would slop everywhere,
everytime the boat rolled.
With these two facts in mind, I'm sure ya can understand my horror, when sauntering through our kitchen at home in search of a beer, I see this!!! If I temporarily forget that I'm not on the boat, which happens if I 'aint' been home too long, or have had a few beers too many, imagine my shock! I immediately 'freak ' and wait patiently for the sinkto slop over, with the next swell I can still feel in my sea-legs. She giggles at my distress, but I assure you, my panic is caused from long habit.

This is what the sink looks like when I wash dishes. I guess 2 weeks off gives us plenty of time to pick at each other so heres my jab.

Rainy Day BBQ

Well, we finally got the rain we desperately needed, so we did what any happy cajun couple would do on a rainy day and invited over some friends and family for a bbq. I marinated some chicken over night in our cajun seasoning and some sparkling wine(hey ya use what ya got) and put it on the pit with the mandatory sausage. Its like against the 'law' to light a pit in Louisiana with out sausage and the last thing we need is the bbq police crashin the party. As an experiment, I used some of that Jack Danials whiskey barrel chip smoking wood. I know it sounds a lil trendy for us tacky cajuns, but it smelled like bourbon, so i figured what the heck. It sure made a fine smoke and by the time the coals 'took ',I had half the neighborhood smokey. Don't ya love folks who experiment on their guests at a cook out? Peggy made some of her infamous coleslaw and we warmed up some left over bean soup from the other day, and to top it off we roasted some apples in brown sugar and butter with pecans on the pit as well. Oh, and let's not forget it was 5$ daquarie day at the local drive-through daquarie stand. The crowd consumed several........ gallons. I stuck with a few beers, which in Lousiana I think, is a bbq requirement. Anyways, it was a lot of fun even though there was like an inch of water on the patio and it rained the whole time. What's a lil rain when ya got a patio full of fun lovin cajuns. We took a few pics; for a look click the title above, which is the link.