Braving the Bayou

Last week I drove 45 minutes west of Baton Rouge to Breaux Bridge, LA to check out a bird/wetland preserve at Lake Martin. A Flickr contact, Image Hunter 1, posts the most amazing photos of roseate spoonbills and egrets and hawks. Now did I see any of that? No, but once I took a gander at the landscape and quiet beauty surrounding me, I accepted the lack of birds pretty quickly. The swamp, cypress trees adorned with moss, and beautiful blue sky were nothing to sneeze at. Okay, I did do some sneezing, but you know what I mean.

I raced home to see what exciting things I had captured with my camera. To my dismay the photos were sub-par! I think the sun was too bright which made the lighting rather harsh. In hindsight I probably should have lowered my ISO to 100 and shot on manual to control the shutter speed. One of these days I am going to jump on board with manual. Sigh! (Update: I shoot on Aperture Priority because that seems to work well..most of the time). :)

Taken with my iPhone - my phone actually produced better results!

This Cajun cutie wanted to pose for a picture. He feeds these stray cats every day. He was so friendly and sweet I wanted to take him home with me. :) 

Locks of silvery moss hung elegantly from old cypress trees.
We wore moss like wigs as children until spiders crawled out one day!

Who would be so STUPID?! This sign is probably specifically for Boudreaux. :/ 

Breaux Bridge is known as the Crawfish Capital of the World, so before heading home I stopped at a restaurant called Crazy Bout Crawfish and indulged. You can't pass through Breaux Bridge and not get crawfish. It's just not done. I dare you to defy this unspoken rule.

After I placed the order, I realized I would have to use their facilities. I had a choice to make:

OR

Finally time to go. This is the bridge that brought me in and led me out of town.


After that rickety structure there is the harrowing Atchafalaya Basin Bridge which goes over the largest swamp in Louisiana. The bridge is 18.2 miles long, but it might as well be 180.2 miles. I DREAD going over it! The wind was blowing so hard that I had visions of being swept off, plunging into the murky, alligator-infested waters below. It sure is difficult to relax after driving white-knuckled for that long.


But I WILL be back to get those Roseate Spoonbills!

Friday funny and sneak preview

One day Boudreaux (Boo-droe), his wife Clotile (Clo-teal), and Boudreaux's friend, Pierre went to the city.

While Clotile went shopping, Boudreaux and Pierre decided to go check out one of the tall buildings. Inside the building, Boudreaux and Pierre came to a set of big golden doors.

Boudreaux said, "Wonda wot dees doors lead to?"

Boudreaux and Pierre stared at the doors for a few minutes until an old woman approached. She pushed a button, the doors opened, she went inside, and the doors closed.

Boudreaux and Pierre watched as numbers above the door changed from "1" to "2" to "3", then the numbers stopped and changed again from "3" to "2" to "1".

When the doors opened again a beautiful, young, voluptuous woman walked out!

Boudreaux excitedly told Pierre, "Mais you saw dat!? Hurry up--lets go find Clotile so we can put her in dere!"

Yesterday I drove to Breaux Bridge, LA to a wetland/wildlife preserve at Lake Martin. More to come! Hope your weekend comes with a dash of Sauce Piquante!

Growing Pains

Will someone please sit down and have a cup of tea with me? I need to vent a little.

I'm in fleur de lis heaven here, y'all!

My mother can be summed up as a gracious, southern lady. Although we look similar, grace is not a trait that I inherited from her. Apparently, it skips a generation because my daughter has an abundance. Oh, I can be gracious on occasion, but most of the time I speak without thinking, usually saying what's on my mind. For a sensitive person like my mother, my bold pronouncements can hurt, even when I don't mean them to.

Yesterday was my seventh day living with her, and I suddenly became acutely aware of the cacophony of the TV. I'm the type of person that can put up with an aggravation for some time, then one day I'll decide that I've had enough and explode.

Having this contraption blaring most of the day and night has frayed my tangled mass of nerves. I'll settle in to sit in front of my computer at the dining room table to do a little work for my boss or catch up on emails, or photography editing, or your lovely blogs—just trying to reconnect with my normal. My "office" is about eight feet from my mother and her beloved television, and in addition to the aggravating sounds of The Price Is Right (sorry Drew Carey, you're awful at this gig), every other minute she'll ask what I'm doing or she'll remember something to tell me, and my concentration gets broken. Each time I stop what I'm doing and look directly at her so she knows I'm listening, answering politely.

Lather, rinse and repeat. Sigh.

Unable to uncork on my mother and at the same time begging God for just a morsel of that elusive grace, my solution yesterday was to mute the television when she went to the bathroom. On her return she asked why the sound was off. In a matter-of-fact way (possibly through gritted teeth), I explained that sometimes it feels nice to have quiet in the house. She replied that having the TV on all the time helped her feel less alone. (I hope she meant pre-me.) After my small act of rebellion, she kept the TV off the rest of the afternoon even though I told her she could turn it back on. When she finally resumed her favorite activity, the volume was kept insanely low, and throughout the evening she asked repeatedly if it was bothering me. 

At least I see where my sensitive nature comes from. Big sigh. 

So today I awoke with a new plan. When I got up she asked me how I slept and even though I listened to her snore and babble and even laugh in her sleep for most of the night, I replied that I slept GREAT! The rest of the day went much better, but when The Price Is Right came on she immediately pressed the power button. And I did not argue.

This was how the rest of the day was spent:

Louisiana State Capitol shot through the car window

Cathedral of St. Joseph as seen through last year's Mardi Gras beads :)

Clock tower of St. Joseph's

Anyone remember Huarache sandals from the 70s? I bought my first pair from this dilapidated shop. It was a cool, hip place in its heyday with the grooviest clothes. :)

After we returned from our little drive I heard all kinds of birds chirping as we emerged from the car. Armed with my camera, I went to investigate. The crunchy leaves were scaring them off, so I decided to check out this fallen tree instead.

As I got closer I noticed these clam-shaped mushrooms growing all over it

Too bad they absorb water so easily, otherwise they could serve as water bowls for the birds

Thank you for letting me vent today! I feel much better. :)

Let's Geaux!

My mother was having a lot of trouble getting around today so I helped her dress and bathe this morning. After that I looked online for some recipes to try, then made a quick dash to the grocery store. While dinner was simmering I went out and got these photos. Every few feet I breathed in the strongest scent of roses, yet when I looked around there wasn't a rose bush in sight! I came home and told my mom and she said the Blessed Mother must've been with me. I don't know about that, but it really was weird!

Azaleas are still in bloom!

ID help needed - anyone know what kind of bird this is? 
UPDATE: Eastern Phoebe
Thanks, TexWisGirl!!

Growing from a tree stump
Entered in The Creative Exchange

When I returned from my photography session, mama was eager to get ready for the LSU vs Bama game. She already had on her LSU shirt, so I found her LSU socks and the LSU slippers my daughter sent her for Christmas. She is convinced LSU is going to win the game because of these magic slippers. I'm going to have one depressed little lady on my hands if they don't win. :/

Back From Exile

It feels so good to be back and reading what you all have been up to! There has been so much to do getting ready for my move, celebrating Christmas and birthdays, savoring every minute of my daughter's visit from Portland, and ending my job of 23 years. Something had to give and unfortunately it was Google Reader.

After getting through all that, a tragedy greeted us the first day of 2012.

The phone rang at 4:30AM New Year's Day. Paralyzed with fear, my stomach flip-flopped and my mind raced. It was my stepdaughter's husband asking to speak to my husband in a grave voice. I handed the phone over and braced myself.

To make a very long story short, my youngest stepdaughter was involved in a fireworks explosion and lost her left eye. We are all devastated. It was a stupid, stupid thing that should never have happened. She is now recuperating at her mother's home and faces more surgeries and a prosthetic eye at some point. I'm so grateful that she is still here and that she didn't lose both eyes. There's so much more I want to say, but I'm still in shock over it and feeling a little overwhelmed with my own situation.

With six kids there is never a dull moment.

I am finally in Baton Rouge--my new home. We spent the first few days setting up the internet, visiting relatives, and running errands for my mother. Trying to carve out a little space for myself in a 700 sq ft apartment has been quite a challenge. My mother seems happy to have me here, so that's all that matters at this point.

Here are a few shots I took with my iphone over the last couple days:

Coffee Call - famous for beignets and cafe au lait! YUM 

Bread pudding at Cafe Americain
Topped with pecans, Bailey's Irish Cream, and chocolate rum sauce 

Boudin Balls at The Chimes Restaurant
Pronounced "Boo-dan" but silent on the 'n'
a Cajun specialty consisting of rice, sausage and various spices;
kind of like rice stuffing
My pants are already getting a little snug. :( 

A wallhanging at The Chimes

Double D & me at The Chimes
1/7/12

I've GOT to have one of these! (the tail, not the car)
Baton Rouge is known as Tiger Town, after all.

These were taken today with my 400mm lens at LSU Lakes:

White Pelican

Snowy Egret devouring a perch or brim

Close up

I'll be back with more photos and updates soon. Until then, laissez le bon temp rouler!!