There was a stretch of road in Arkansas with an inordinately high number of dead birds of prey. If I'd caught on to the trend earlier, I would have counted them.
Barred owl, Arkansas. November 2015.
The beauty of this barred owl compelled me to turn around and go back.
Barred owl, Arkansas. November 2015.
A strong breeze riffed through the owl's feathers, suggesting a life that no longer was. Its head appeared to be gracefully tucked into a wing.
Was it the victim of a good intention?
Not long ago, I learned at a state park event that we drivers are discouraged from throwing food remnants, such as apple cores, out our car windows. We may think we are doing good - a lil mouse or rabbit or other creature will enjoy our largesse. But it's possible we've set into motion a series of events that ends in death.
Barred owl, Arkansas. November 2015.
Apple core out window --> mouse steps to roadside for delicious snack --> owl spies juicy mouse eating said morsel --> owl swoops into roadway --> owl and oncoming vehicle collide --> dead owl.
Briskett Baskett owner, Wilfred Kinnerson, with his brother Wilbert Kinnerson. Opelousas, Louisiana. November 2014.
There are many ways to save the world.
Years ago, a friend described how the masses of blooming bluebonnets that Lady Bird Johnson sowed on the Texas highway meridians
brought joy to thousands of drivers when they whizzed by.
She proposed: Do not such simple and relatively small acts have as much merit as other good works?
Mr. Wilfred's sisters, Miss Linda and Miss Ramona, and their niece, Miss Deborah. Also known as The Briskettes.
It is in this spirit that I appreciate the smiling warmth radiated by Briskett Baskett owner, Wilfred Kinnerson, and his family members whenever I see them.
A happy Briskett Baskett customer. October 2015.
We can't measure the quantity or value of happiness moments we derive
from natural beauty or from small gestures of loving humanity, but isn't
it a string of such moments that contribute to a good life?
Fresh chicken from Briskett Baskett, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
On several days in November 2014, I cruised the streets of Opelousas looking for promising neighborhoods with rentals, in anticipation of my relocation to the town in February 2015. On one such foray, as I drove slowly down North Market Street, I noticed, hey! A Briskett Baskett sign outside a building! Being around lunch time, I pulled in, where Mr. Wilfred and his brother, Mr. Wilbert, told me the building remodel wasn't quite complete, but they generously took me on a tour of the almost-finished restaurant.
Briskett Baskett front porch.
Mr. Wilfred described his vision for the future, which included good food and drink, a place for folks to watch the football games, a venue for some jazz and other musical evenings, and maybe a slot machine or two.
Soon after I visited in November 2014, the Briskett Baskett restaurant opened for business.
Recently, Mr. Wilfred got his liquor license (a critical piece of paper in South Louisiana, sha!).
Briskett Baskett food truck, albeit with previous owner's artwork
I always smile when I see Mr. Wilfred or one of his family members because I know that in just a few moments I'll be on the receiving end of some warm rays of human sunshine.
The Palace Café Billboard, west end of Opelousas on eastbound 190, Louisiana.
When I enter Opelousas on eastbound 190, coming in from Lawtell, it pleases me to see the Palace Café billboard.
I like everything about it. The turquoise and coral. The title's Art Deco font. The ubiquitous crawfish jutting out on the side. The lines of shade and light that play from the tree behind. The coulee it overlooks. The red and white checkerboard header.
The Palace Café Billboard, west end of Opelousas on eastbound 190, Louisiana.
Morning glories, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
I visited Briskett Baskett on North Market Street the other day and saw these sweet morning glories in the back yard. Technically, I think they are in the neighbor's yard, but let's not quibble.
Morning glories, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015
The Honey Comb Barber Shop, Highway 190, Opelousas, Louisiana.
Every time I passed this barber shop, which is on the west end of Opelousas, on Highway 190, I wanted to pull over to take pictures. Finally, I did so.
The Honey Comb Barber Shop, Highway 190, Opelousas, Louisiana.
I'm glad I did because there is a plan to repaint the barber shop, according to a gentleman who lives nearby. But maybe the new will be just as sweet as the old.
The Honey Comb Barber Shop, Highway 190, Opelousas, Louisiana.
I always smile when I think about men in barber shops, and also in local diners, where groups of them gather in the mornings after the first breakfast rush passes. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Women take the rap for gossiping, but men are no slouches in this department.
The Honey Comb Barber Shop, Highway 190, Opelousas, Louisiana.
In the photo below, I like the listing of oils, lotions, and incense. A tradition of millennia, is it not? To soothe one's skin and spirit with tactile care.
The Honey Comb Barber Shop, Highway 190, Opelousas, Louisiana.
A ritual of self-grooming and social grooming that all of us living creatures seem to need.
The Honey Comb Barber Shop, Highway 190, Opelousas, Louisiana.
The Band Courtbouillon, Festival Acadiens et Creoles 2015, Lafayette, Louisiana.
At the Festival Acadiens et Creoles 2015, Courtbouillon played on the lawn of the Hilliard Art Museum.
The Band Courtbouillon, Festival Acadiens et Creoles 2015, Lafayette, Louisiana.
As their bands' leaders, the three musicians play the accordion. But as The Band Courtbouillon, Wilson Savoy often picks up the fiddle and Steve Riley the guitar.
The Band Courtbouillon, Festival Acadiens et Creoles 2015, Lafayette, Louisiana.
The three men have distinct singing voices. This cubes the band's repertoire, as the band can present three songs with but one set of lyrics, with each lead singer able to offer a different translation of the same song.
The Band Courtbouillon, Festival Acadiens et Creoles 2015, Lafayette, Louisiana.
The Band Courtbouillon, Festival Acadiens et Creoles 2015, Lafayette, Louisiana.
Here's a short interview the Courtbouillon members in 2013:
Bottomless Lakes State Park: Another New Mexican Surprise
Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico
I didn't have high expectations for Bottomless Lakes State Park.
The photos on the New Mexico state parks page are a bit
shoulder-shrugging, but since visiting all of New Mexico's state parks
is one of my goals, I made my plans and went.
(A note to the state of New Mexico: I like your "find a state park page,"
but once you click through, the information for each of the state parks
is inadequate in presentation and content. There aren't even directions
to get to the parks. And wouldn't a link on each park page to your
parks events calendar be nice? And because New Mexico is so rich in
federal public lands, perhaps a link in that direction, as well?)
One of the coolest things about New Mexico's geography is that in one
spot, you can look out over the horizon and see an uninterrupted plain
of scrabbly flora and sandy soil. But take a few steps forward and a new
world opens at your feet.
Exhibit A, Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico
And Exhibit B, just a few steps into the frame, so to speak:
Exhibit B, Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico
Thanks to the very pleasant volunteer at the park's visitor center, I learned how deep are the sinkholes - or cenotes - that dot the park, and how salty the water.
Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico
Visitors can swim in one of the sinkholes. At that lake are a couple of
pretty stone buildings and shade structures with picnic tables.
Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico
On the day I visited, there was lots of activity at the swimming hole.
Just across the street from this large sinkhole was a quiet boardwalk trail (the Wetlands Trail)
with intermittent stick-built structures, I'm guessing birdwatching
blinds, but also the perfect cool, shady places to lug your folding
chair to and have a cool lunch, with only the sounds of birds, bubbling
water, and sweet breezes to keep you company. I had this pleasant
boardwalk trail entirely to myself.
On the surface, the wetlands soil is a mass of white or off-white
crystalline crusts, some flat against the surface; others clustered
around twigs, plants, or objects. If you push your finger into the
surface just a little bit, you'll bring up water.
Do you see the perfect little paw print below?
Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico
I placed an earring close by for a size perspective.
Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico
It's funny how there's a thin, red layer of silt over the white gypsum at the park.
Je suis desolée that I missed the Squirrel Cookoff at Willie's Campground in Washington.
But holy gee, already this past weekend I was committed to the superb inaugural Experience Louisiana Eunice festival, a visit to the Saturday morning zydeco doins' at Cafe des Amis, a musical food fest at the Opelousas Farmers Market on Saturday afternoon, put on by Wilfred Kinnerson of Briskett Baskett, the St. Landry Catholic Church cemetery tour in the evening, capped off with my first time at La Poussiere in Breaux Bridge.
Damn it.
How did they prepare the squirrel? Did anyone offer squirrel brains? Were bushy squirrel tails somehow insinuated into the festival? Did diners have to pick buckshot out of their meals?
Magnolia fruit, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
On the campus of the St. Landry Catholic Church, on the corner where Union Street takes a 90-degree turn, across the street from the "Turkey Neck Dinner" diner, is a magnolia tree.
Magnolia fruit, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
In October, its fruit laid among the fallen leaves, mulch, and a bottle or three of pocket-size Seagram's.
Magnolia fruit, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
Magnolia fruit, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
Magnolia fruit, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
Magnolia fruit, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
Magnolia fruit, Opelousas, Louisiana. October 2015.
Old Church Landing Cemetery (aka Yellow Fever Cemetery)
Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana.
One day, I took a quick look at Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana.
I have so much appreciation for individuals who give their time and careful attention to identifying and mapping the inhabitants of graves in cemeteries. Here is a list of the deceased buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery. The names. These families are still here, as they have been for hundreds of years. From the name list, you can click through to a photo of the person's grave. Sometimes there is additional information about the individual.
Decades ago, when my mother researched her family's genealogy, she traveled to different sites in the US and in Canada, visiting libraries, exchanging letters with people and organizations who might have the information she sought. Now - so much of this data is a click away.
It's a beautiful thing.
Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana.
I am curious about the putty-colored box in the tree above. Is it for beekeeping?
