The Ghost of O.G. Track Road

While runnin' from da 'Storm' last month, Peggy, tryin' to escape traffic, and trusting a map, 'stead of askin' me, turned onto the old "O.G. Track Road" in St. Landry Parish, tryin' to get to highway 71. Well, this 'shortcut' turned into a 'long-cut', and she had to backtrack, regroup and start over. I hadn't thought of the old train track in years. It is a place from my youth, back when times were simpler and I was a kid. Here's da story:

I heard it since I was a kid; "The legend of the ghost of the O.G. Track". Mama and her family lived there some years ago, and Grandpa share-cropped a patch of land off the tracks. Mama loved the trains as they steamed by, puffin' lil white clouds as the piston pumped da wheels around. It was a steam engine with it's often imitated, never duplicted steam whistle. The engineer yusta throw bags of candy and fruit to Mama and her brothers and sisters, as they stood on the side of the tracks, pumping their elbows to get the whistle to blow. Years later, Mama taught me how to place straight pins on da tracks and let the train wheels press 'em into lil pairs of 'scissors', or how to smash a penny under the wheels of da train to make a guitar pick. (Mama was an unbelievable guitar picker.)

Anyways,...Mama told us the story of the 'ghost', and all of her brothers and sisters backed the story up. It seems that a lady was driving home one night with her young child in the car, when they stalled on the tracks and got hit by the train. The child was said to have been thrown clear and lived. The mother was said to have died in the crash. After this happened, reports of a ghost started circulating around town and it wasn't long 'til Mama's family heard about it. The 'Ghost of the O.G. Track' was said to be shining white, resembling a woman, and float above the track, gliding along mournfully looking for her child.

Years went by, the lil train went outa business, the whistle fell silent, they took up the tracks and left a gravel road in their place. The road follows the old track line, eventually dying out at the bayou where the old train bridge was. The bridge was removed, leaving just a row of pylons marching silently across the bayou to the other side.
When I came along, the tracks were just a memory, but the dead-end gravel road made our family's secret picnic spot. I remember many wonderful weinie roastin', campfire singin', marshmallow roastin', bbqin' good times at the old bridge crossing. It was like our own private lil park. Some of my earliest memories of my Dad are of him standing on the bank of Bayou Courtableau, casting a top-water popping 'bug' at the pylons with his fly rod. It was magic for a small boy, of somewhere 'tween 4 and 7 to see dat 'bug' float back and forth in a whip-like motion, landing inches from the pylons, and "pluck-pluck, float" and repeat 'til a Bass made the water explode around the bait, as it sucked up dat 'bug'. We always left the campsite and headed back down the dusty ole road before dark, to avoid the skeeters, but for a young lad; we were leavin', so the ghost wouldn't git us. In case I would forget this, I was retold the scary story from the front seat of the ole jet-black '57 Chevy, (with a bright cherry-red interior), as we rattled our way down the ole dusty road towards home, on many Sunday picnic afternoons. That ol' Chevy was Daddy's pride and joy. He bought it "cash on the barrel-head" with his back pay, when he cycled out of the Navy.

Flash forwards a few years. I was like 10 or 12, before I was old enough to be invited to go on midnight rabbit hunts with some of my older cousins and uncles. (I was prolly 16 or so 'fore I found out you could even hunt rabbits in the daylight; and muchless, that was da legal way.)
Well, one night they picked me up in Uncle Jessie's ole step-sided pickup, and sure enough, you guessed it.....they headed right down the O.G. Track Road, with us kids perched on the hood and on top of the truck cab, with high beams on. Dat ole truck bristled with guns like one of Mama's pin cushions. I warned 'em 'bout da ghost, but they kept goin', and long 'fore we reached the end of the track road, we had like a dozen or so nice big rabbits in the bed of da ole truck. We stopped at the end of the road; the beer drinkin'-age cousins all hadda pee. (Yup, beer drinking, and heavily armed, night huntin' Cajuns...it's a miricle I'm here to tell this story.) We loaded up for the return trip, keepin' da rabbits company in the back. Uncle Jessie turned da ole truck around and headed back down the dark ole dusty road. About halfway back, as we slowly rounded da only curve on da road, Uncle Jessie stopped da truck and quietly said through where the back window aughta had been, "Look boys, I tink it is da ghost".
Did they set me up? Who knows. Was it some elaborate plot to scare da Jesus outa a kid? Maybe. They won't tell, and I'll never know, but there she was!! White, shining, floating above the road in the headlights...and 'kinda out of focus' is the best way I could describe her.
I screamed like a girl, the other cousins chiming in, and Unc 'floored' da ole truck. Smoke and dust erupted, gravel showered out behind the truck, as the old bald Maypop tires fought to get traction, and my crazy uncle headed da truck with all of us in it straight for da ghost! Me and da boys dove for cover among the bloody rabbits and assorted clutter of the spilled contents of a rusty ol' paint can that had been full of hunting tackle. I seem to remember the white figure of the ghost passing over the truck as we sped down the bumpy ole wash-board gravel road. The memory fades over time, das why I'm tellin' it now, but one thing remains certain; we hadda clean lots more than rabbit blood outa da back of dat ole truck when we got home.

Diana's Passing

Diana, our daughter-in-law passed away yesterday in her sleep. She's the mother of our granddaughter, Cierra and was only 38 years old. She had gone to the doctor on Monday and was scheduled for tests yesterday, but alas the schedule for tests had come too late. Presently it appears to have been some kind of kidney failure, but results are pending. Although she and our son, Thom had been estranged for a few years, it's obvious, talking with him, that his love for her never waned, and he's taking her passing with much grief. Love can be like that sometimes; despite vast chasms, it can still abide.
Diana had a quick wit, a good sense of humor, and tried to do the best she could, even in trying situations. She was gentle and gracious, bringing laughter to the folks in the nursing home, where she worked. It's all such a sudden shock, and words presently escape us. Prayers for the family would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I just learned that Diana actually died of a heart attack. That's so young. Because of the proverbial 'circumstances beyond my control' just now, I won't be able to travel to western NY to attend her memorial services this coming Monday, but will do as much as we can from here. When we go up north this next coming month, Cappy and I & the dogs, we will get together with Cierra, who is living with Diana's sister, Betty and her husband in South Carolina. Cierra's six years old, and an only child. These circumstances are always just awful and very confusing. I can't imagine how it must be for our little granddaughter. Despite all this, we know that children are resiliant, and she seems to be doing well just now. Her mother can rest now, knowing that both families will be doing the best they know how, for her little girl.
Rest peacefully, Diana, and know that before you even expect it, your family and loved ones will be joining you, one by one, as you joined those who have been waiting, There, to welcome you home, Dear Heart.

Ab-Lounging Cappy Style

While rooting through our picture/video files, I came across this lil video that Peggy took way last Spring while my sister's family and we were recouping from Easter Dinner. With a belly full of fried turkey and all the trimmings I'm afraid that this is all the exercise that I could muster. (My niece, Blythe and I engaged in a lil competition.)

Half-Time Celebration

Well, what with the hustle and bustle of the jambalaya preparation, cooking, and cleanup, combined with a trip to New Orleans with a friend, my first week off flew by in a happy blur. Peggy and I never really had the chance to relax, unwind and just 'chill'. What with one more week to go, Peggy and I decided to celebrate 'half-time'. It may be hard for our regular readers to believe, but we went a whole week before we fired up da pit. We finally got the chance to kick back and BBQ yesterday, so da dawgs and myself assumed our patio lounging position and Peggy took some pictures of the 'festivities'. The night before, I had injected a pork roast with our seasoning, butter and beer and let it sit in the fridge over night. In the morning, while I got da pit ready, Peggy coated the roast in our spice and brown sugar. It wasn't long 'til da Blues were blaring from the outside speakers and the down-wind neighbors' mouths were watering, as we smoked up da place. The roast smoked away for almost 7 hours with "Pourky da Pig" standing by, to put out any flame ups. After the roast was almost done we put a couple taters to bake in da smoky pit and I fixed one of our favorite appetizers;smoked asparagus. I have been tellin' folks that my smoked asparagus are soooo good even the dogs love them. I know it's hard to believe, so this time Peggy made a lil video documenting the fact. It was really nice to spend a relaxing evening with Peggy and the dogs doing one of our favorite things. Laughing, dancing, BBQin', bluesy kinda laid back day just reveling in each others company.

Our Town's Forum Gathering of Friends, Food & Fun

This morning two trucks, four guys showed up to put a new water heater in our attic, and right away I started apologizing for the disarray, mentioning that we were still recovering from the weekend. One of the guys reminded me that it was Wednesday. (Wednesday?! Already??) Ever since Cappy 'hit da bank' we've been running and running. Yesterday we went to New Orleans, did a tiny bit of shopping in the French Market, which, in our opinion, is just not ready for tourists yet, let alone serious local shopping. Half of the place is still under repair, and the other half is populated with wares that are way over-priced and just 'stuff'. We did enjoy lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margueritaville Cafe across the street. The lady in the black T-shirt, center in the above photo, Susan aka "Swag" to our town Forum friends, was with us as we meandered around on foot and in the SUV, not knowing where or what we were going to do next. Just a laid back kinda day. We were hoping one of our online friends, who lives in New Orleans would join us, so that after approx. ten years of 'knowing her', but never having met her, we could 'hug her neck', as Cappy says. Alas, it was not to be, but we had a good time getting to know Susan. Susan lives in Texas but came to town to attend the local town Forum's get together, which took place this last Sunday...the real weekend. She wears a perennial beautiful smile, as you will see from the slideshow of said Forum Gathering. Here's the slideshow, but more will be said in another forthcoming Blog posting about our new friend, "Swag".
OH! And at the right-hand side of the slideshow, there's an option to view in a better quality...I prefer to do that. Also there's an icon that you can click on the bottom right, that will make the video into a full screen for your viewing pleasure, as well. OK...da slideshow---> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DuzU9EoBxTk

FALL: A Good-Time Hitch On Da Boat

This hitch started off as they all do, with me Thanking God for the opportunity to work in the beautiful waters of southern Louisiana. Like I always say; if ya gotta work in an office, it may as well float down a lazy bayou with sights like this sunrise to greet ya in da mornin'.

Peggy mentioned in an earlier post how the bridges sustained lots of damage from this year's storms. This bridge was in operation as we passed, but you can see the damage to the bridge house (control structure).

Some places damaged by Gustav and then patched with the FEMA blue roofs, were re-damaged only a week later when Ike came by, while others were completely wiped out by the 1-2 hurricane punch.

Even amidst all the destruction, signs of life were returning back to normal. This picture of the swamp bird sitting in the shattered cypress stump kinda sums it up.

Of course the ever-present Egrets could be seen everywhere among the folliage of the bayous,which are slowly taking on a hint of Fall color.

You guys always ask for close-ups, so here is an Egret up close for yall.

I also got some good shots of this Pelican as it settled in by the boat for some fishing.



The spoonbill rosettes were pretty in their pinkness as they slogged through the mud, exposed by our passing, in search of lil shrimp and fishies.

We tied up in the marsh not far from the town of Leeville, Louisiana one afternoon and were surprised to see how much progress they are making on the new road to Grand Isle, La. Notice in the picture how the new bridge is gonna be lots taller than the old bridge . The day was so nice and cool that my crew decided to do a lil fishing. Peggy sure enjoyed the speckled trout fillets.

A few days later I got some pictures of this floating buzzard feast on the Intracoastal waterway. I can't hardly blame the buzzards, I like gator too.

I thought I'd end this lil account of my month on the boat with one of my favorite sights. This Eagle is one of several I got pictures of this hitch. They never fail to make my heart jump when I see them up close like this. They are truly magnificant birds. Now that I'm home, Peggy and I are already planning the fun frolicking things to do this time, and I am sure we will post our adventures of the fun we have, until it's time to put my Cappy hat back on and head out for another hitch.

Kaitlyn Brooke

Our tenth grandbaby, Kaitlyn Brooke was born yesterday @ 10:24 a.m, and weighed in at 8 lbs. and 12 oz. Yow! She's a big girl. When Joe was born, he weighed 8 lb. 8 oz, and I thought he was huge. The dr. even joked and said, "You want me to circumsize him right now? He's big enough"...he had a good laugh about it. HAH. >:-/
Mother and baby and Dad are fine. I got to hear her sweet little voice over the phone today when she started fussing. Lemme see...how many days til we will be going up to visit (?) Too many, that's for sure.

This is a picture of Ashley and Zachery, the big sister and brother, who are thrilled with their new little sister.

Well...this was just a little shot of wonderful news. I'll be writing more...whose nose when...mayhaps tomorrow.
Love youse guys...family, friends and 'drive-bys' :-)

Foggy Mountin' Breakdown

Thar she sits. We've been having one of our neighborhood teenagers, Brett, mow our lawn during the intense heat these last couple of summers, and during the 'winter' months, I do it. Brett's back in school, and besides a heavy workload, he's into sports, so I thought, wellllll, since it is September and Fall, I'll just mount up ol' "Black Beauty" and ride her around the yard. Usually, when I finish mowing, and after she's cooled down, I crawl around on the ground, reaching around her underbelly pulling out grass cuttings that have matted under there, then I wrangle up her cover, which is supposed to protect her from the weather, and cinch it on 'er. It's been working just great, but when we came home after Hurricane Gustav, I noticed that the cover was on the ground. I took note, but with everything else needing to be done immediately, I didn't go out and put it back on. Right away, it seemed, Hurricane Ike came barreling along, making more problems in the neighborhood. We picked up bushels of torn shingles from other people's houses that had blown into our yard, and worse; pink foam insultation, from those roofs. We have metal roofing, so they weren't from ours, but most of the houses around us, are presently sporting pretty blue plastic tarps.(the view out our back door)Golly, it seems as tho' lately, everything's been breaking down. Our front door has been waiting for a new door knob assembly for quite some time, the A/C has been acting up, and while guys were up in the attic checking that out, they found that the hot water unit needs replacing. That's not all, but I know everybody's got the same problems from time to time; if it not one thing...yadda yadda yadda...and that's how it goes. So, I quit as far as being "John Wayne"; I never was good at all the 'man things' that needed gittin' done anyhow. But, with help, we'll "gitter done", tho. We always do.
So, yesterday, I thought I'd take matters into my own hands and fire up "Black Beauty". I checked the gas tank and found it empty, so put in what was left in the gas can, which wasn't much. I thought I'd better go get some more, but maybe first I'd better fire her up, to make sure she was still working. She had sat there 'nekked' during Hurricane Ike, all exposed, so who knows whether she'd want to run or not. I leaped into her saddle and tried to coax her into starting. Well, she was pretty balky, and she did start, but boy! she started pouring out big clouds of gray smoke. Cappy was in my ear on the phone, and he said that she must have gotten dust in her engine from the hurricane wind blowing it in there, but she'd burn it off, once't she got goin'. Good enuff fer me. I rounded up the 'boys', SparkyBear and MarkyBear into the SUV, drove to the nearest gas station and rustled us up a couple gallons of gas for $11.(now that's just wrong), drove back home and 'watered' the 15 horse power ol' gal. Well, she drank it in good and all, so I mounted the saddle again, turned the key and at once was sitting in a fog-bank of thick, choking gray smoke! I knew something was definitely wrong, but maybe Cappy was right, the dust just needed to burn off, so I put 'er in gear and she took off, galloping across the lawn at a higher speed than I thought she would. I yelled at the lazing dogs, "Get along little doggies, get back, get BACK!!!", yelled,"Whoaaaaa", got her stopped and put into a slower gear, then off we went again, but she was not happy, and began balking again. Hmmm. I drove her around the yard one time, out-running the cloud of 'dust' behind us, til we saw Maggie, Brett's mother walking toward us, so I shut off the engine. Maggie said that Brett had planned on coming out in the morning to do the yard work, and could do whatever I didn't get done. I said I'd try to get most of it done, because I know Brett's been incredibly busy. I wish she hadn't said, laughing, "Yeah, you might not get it started again", meaning the jittery 'charger' I was sitting atop, as she, no doubt, had witnessed the rolicking ride I'd just been on, before I spotted her. I chuckled back as she turned to leave, got the lawn cutter roaring again, and went bucking across the lawn until we got out by the road next to the mailbox. Then she just broke down...quit. Pore thang. I dismounted, knelt down on my hands and knees and looked underneath. Aha! Some kind of rod had come loose and was half laying on the ground. I tried to get in there with my little fingers and shove the end back into the hole I thought it had come from, but it was going to take stronger fingies than mine. Impulsively, I thought about 'girding my loins' and making it go in there, but before I could ration that I got no loins, I noticed that the smoke had increased and was billowing out of the engine itself. Ok, pardner, I give up!! The whole thing was a lost cause, so I trotted back to the house and flounced myself into a big comfy chair under a fan, like Scarlet O'Hara consumed by the vapors, thinking, "Fiddle-dee dee; I shant think about this right now...if I do, I'll go crazy; I'll think about it tomorrow". And when tomorrow came, from down the street came a sound so sweet; the smooth music of a fast purring engine headed this way. The dogs recognized it at once and ran pell mell, hurry scurry out their dog-door, merrily barking at the approaching lawnmower and it's rider...low and behold it was the Lawn Ranger, Brett, to the rescue! I 'helped' him push ol' "Black Beauty" into the driveway. So, now she can just sit there in her "stall" until some scallywag comes along and fixes her.

Liquid Gold

Oil is not well. It hadn't even occured to me that there's been a problem. I've been a kind of recluse since I've gotten home from evacuating to Alexandria, LA for Hurricane Gustav. Even when Cappy was home we really didn't go anywhere. I'm still riding around with some of the gas I purchased before I left for home about three weeks ago!
Talking with Cappy over the phone tho', I've noticed that he's not been moving his barge from oil platforms as much he usually does; he's been doing a lot of sitting still, "waiting", and he mentioned a couple of times that half the fleet is doing the same. For some reason it didn't register, until I saw on the national news that even as far away from us as Atlanta, that there are people waiting in long gas lines. Whaaaa?? Hurricane Ike hit the area about two weeks ago, why aren't things starting to get back to normal by now?
This morning I asked Cappy what is going on with our country's oil supplies not being met. He told me that so much damage was done, with the two storms hitting in tandem, that electricity is still not on for much of the rural areas toward the coast. He said the oil platforms, many of them are located too far out for electricity hook up, so they have big solar panels collecting energy to be able to facilitate the prodution of oil. Unfortunately, the solar panels...big ol' floppy things during the hurricanes, took a lot of battering in the screaming winds, so you can imagine what happened to them. People are scrambling like madmen trying to repair them, not only for the country's use, but the production of crude oil puts food on their family's tables, as well.
Another problem is that the Gulf of Mexico consists of salt water, so that when the oil platforms were inundated by the storm surge waves, the salt water corroded the valves of the engines, computers and equipment of the oil platforms, and also corroded and ruined the motors of the bridges, which cross the waterways. In Terrebonne Parish alone, there are over thirty bridges which cross the waterways where oil barges, such as Cappy pushes, and other vessels have to travel.
(Watching these bridges operate has always fascinated me since I've been down here in South Louisiana. One night I was in traffic over in New Orleans, just going down the road, when all of a sudden, there was a redlight, and we all stopped, as usual, but then a strange thing happened. White and black lined wooden arms came down, like at a railroad crossing, and the road ahead of us...the bridge started going up. What the heck?? Then I saw this tugboat chugging along toward the bridge, and I knew it was going to take about five or ten minutes for it to make it's way to the other side, so the bridge could go back down. I thought to myself, "They can't be serious!" I'm from NY State, where things go fast-fast-fast. Ya gotta walk fast; ya gotta talk fast; ya gotta do everything fast. And here we sat, a bunch of cars waiting for this tugboat to slowly make his way, putt-putt-putting alongggggg, holding everybody up. This was just crazy. Well...New Orleans isn't called The Big Easy for nothing. One of the first things Cappy did was teach me how to walk slowly, ...get my mosie on..."Take it easyyyy; walk like ya listen' to some Bluessss...if ya don't the heat is gonna get ya". So, I learned to adapt to that attitude for the most part. Now, when I get stopped at a bridge, whether it be a lift bridge, a swing bridge, a pontoon bridge, I take it as a "mini vacation"; an opportunity to look around at the beautiful scenery; even with storm damage, South Louisiana is a beautiful place.)
Okay, back to the issues; with all these bridges now being nonfunctional due to the two hurricanes, nautical traffic has pretty much come to a standstill, especially in the areas to the south, where a lot of the oil platforms are located. In normal circumstances there are only half a dozen or so electricians who service and maintain this maze of bridges. Since the storm, these electricians are hard-pressed to get them back up and running . One bridge in particular in Dulac sustained over $400,00.00 worth of damage, and that's only one bridge. Some bridges are worse off; some are better; some are high priority because of higher traffic usage, but all need attention. With the bridge closures, oil fields can be isolated; cut off from boat traffic.The electricians are working feverishly on them, and more and more help is coming in, but the whole South East needs help...dang...the whole country seems like it's in one big mess just now. Cappy made it through one bridge today and got to load some crude; however another bridge, where he needed to go, was still not up and running, so he had to wait; and may have to wait, perhaps for a couple of days. He's not alone...many, many of the other company boats are 'trapped', too and those of other companies, as well.
Another fly in the ointment: You'd think crude oil was crude oil, was crude oil...it's not. The oil refineries require a certain thickness; a specific viscosity. The different places the guys pick up the oil, the density, etc. are all different, even from a few miles away from one another, perhaps. Now I guess it's getting rather complicated, eh? Well, because the folks in Cappy's office keep track of the 'recipe', they may send Cappy to load a certain amount of one kind of oil, then to another platform for another thickness or mineral content, then to another. It just depends. I wouldn't want that office job. Tugboats and barges all over the place, and the only way of contacting them is through the company radio, or cell phones. They are all doing the best they can. None of us likes paying higher gas bills, and even tho' Cappy brings the crude oil to the refineries, nobody cuts him a break at the gas pumps.
So, the news is not all that great. Cappy got through two bridges today, he told me tonight; but the going is slow. If it's anything Cappy hates...and I do know this for a fact; it's sitting and waiting out there on his boat. He'd rather be moving along, getting the oil flowing, as it were.
Until Obama and/or the 'Greenies' shut him down, he'll keep bringin' it in, then after that he'll most likely find something else that he loves to do out there in the bayous, swamps and back waterways.
Even tho the darned hurricanes are long gone, the political blustering is still raging, our national economy's future looks rather stormy, and we have no answers as to when our oil shortage problems will get any better. I guess I'll just have to say it again, "The answers my friend,are 'blowin' in the wind', the answers are...why can't life always just be a breeze?"

Well, From All Reports.

It just feels as though the Gulf Coast has been 'spanked' lately. There's just a kind of somber mood of late, and with good reason. Because communications haven't been up to speed, so to speak, we haven't been able to find out how others have fared in the aftermath of the two hurricanes. People who live south of us, along the coastline are still having a terrible time. First they got a direct hit from Gustav and before they could get back to their devastated homes, they were hit by Ike, although 'he' passed a couple of hundred miles to the south of them, on it's way to our friends and family over in the Houston area. When I went through Houma the day before yesterday, I saw 'villages' of motor homes and shelters for folks who just have nowhere else to live right now. Even in the 'ritzy' sections of town there was so much damage and it appears as though they still have no electricity. I don't even think the schools are open, although I heard the other day on the news that a couple of high schools are open and are encouraging the students to attend with the promise of a hot meal and some air conditioning. Sad. About the family. Initially, we had heard that Cappy's sister Maria's home had a big tree fall down through their roof and destroyed the girls' bedrooms. It turns out not to be true, which, now, is wonderful news. The tree fell, but didn't, despite appearances, even touch the roof of their house. They did also have to take down the big, huge pecan tree which shaded the patio area out back of their house by the swimming pool. (the big tree in the background)

Cousin Mark and Susan, and their family, who live in Houston, replaced me and the dawgs, up in Alexandria, LA @ their Mom and Dad's (Aunt Marguerite and Uncle Eugene). They had just moved into a new home over in Houston. Cappy talked with them and said that, their home seems to have survived, although there are fallen trees everywhere around their yard. I think they said they'd never ride out another storm. It must have been terrifying not knowing at any moment whether or not a tree was going to come barreling down through the roof on top of them. In the news there had been plenty of people reportedly killed by falling trees. Thank God cousin Mark and his family made it through safely.

Our good friends, David and Ginger, who also live in Houston are fine. This morning Cappy called and learned that they, too, had no damage to their home, but presently are outside working hard cleaning up many huge old trees which fell in their yard.

Uncle Maurice and Aunt Margaret went East to stay with family while the storms were blasting away. Sadly, too, they lost several trees, had roof damage, and their fence was destroyed. Repairs are about to get underway, perhaps tomorrow, or Monday, so they plan on extending their getaway, by driving up the coast, headed north, visiting and enjoying the Fall scenery. Now that sounds like a Plan. If the storm hadn't hit, Cappy and I would've just completed our visit up thataway. Now we plan on going in November, barring any other major catastrophe.

Speaking of catastrophe, tho, last week Cappy inadvertantly scared the wits outa me. He took both my hands and told me he had to tell me some very bad news. "You know our cousin, who you got to bond with...get to know this last month at the Jambalaya...Bill? He was shot." Oh Lord, No! Well, what would you think?

Everything all at the same time went through my mind. We pray he's going to be fine eventually. He was out bird hunting with a batch of his high-falootin' friends from his work, when one of them went 'vice-presidential' on him and "Cheney'd" him in the head with bird shot. I guess his face got it pretty badly and I think he still has to have some surgery. His beautiful wife, Kim, Cappy's cousin, who has a great sense of humor, said, (I was told) that as long as he is now sporting three new holes in his ear, why not fill them with jewelry. I guess, Bill, being a rough, tough cowboy sort, did not find that a viable option. I'm wondering now, if instead of anesthesia, if he will just bite down hard on a rolled up bandana and fortify hisself with a shot of ol' "Redeye", instead. Cappy's right; I did get to visit, at length with Bill at the Jamabalya and found him to be every bit as great as Cappy said he is. I'd send him a get-well card, but I'm not sure if mail service is up and running in Houston just now. Most everything, from what we hear, is not up and running. Cousin Kim told Aunt Gussie, who told Cappy, who told me...and I'm tellin' you, that they didn't have any damage to their home and that their electricity is on. At least they don't have to suffer any more than they already have this past month. I think Cappy told me that Bill's accident happened between hurricanes. What a month, what a month.

Last night our friend, Melissa and her precious grandson, Little David, came over to visit. Little David, is the son of Melissa's son, David, who passed away last year in a car accident. Little David is three years old now, and seems to be shy until he warms up. At first I had a hard time understanding what he was saying, but once he got started, I was thrilled. A couple of times as I was talking to Melissa, he was trying to get by me, while he was playing with SparkyBear, and I heard his sweet little voice say, "Excuse me". Awwww; he's already polite. He spent the hurricane up in Alabama with family, while Melissa, as usual rode the storms out, as she says, "Layin' on the floor, prayin' ". This last year has been very hard for Melissa. She's also had health issues on top of the loss of her son. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of storm she goes through; most likely layin' on the floor, prayin', she always rises to the top, and leads the Gospel group singing with such Joy, through her tears. One of the songs I love to hear her sing is "We Fall Down, But We Get Up". I think she epitomizes the Cajun spirit. I don't know how else the people of the Gulf coast could survive the many beatings they've taken over the years. They may be down right now, they may have lost family, they may have lost everything, but despite everything; and I don't know how they do it except by Faith and sheer tenacity, they do Get Back Up.