Free Weekend !

LSU's one and only Open Date of the football season happened to coincide with the 29th anniversary of my 25th birthday last weekend! 

That doesn't happen very often.

So, My Better Half and I decided it was time for a weekend away.

Nothing extravagant, mind you.

We rarely - if ever - do extravagant.

What we decided on was a weekend in the Louisiana Hill Country.

Not that there are many hills in Louisiana.

But there is a bit of hilly terrain about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, in what is known as the Felicianas.

East and West Feliciana Parishes.

More exact, for our purposes, St. Francisville, La.

Population 1,712.

It's a town that's often referred to as two miles long and 2 yards wide, because it was developed atop a narrow ridge overlooking the Mississippi River.

Not much to it really.

But within that little community and the surrounding area are numerous old Antebellum plantation homes that date back to the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Quaint old homes.  Bed and breakfast dwellings.  Lots of interesting history!

So, we took off on Friday morning and made the short drive north.

Before the weekend was done, we toured 5 different plantation homes:  Rosedown, Butler Greenwood, Cottage, Greenwood, and The Myrtles (the one that is supposedly haunted)!

Please pardon the quality of the pictures.  We somehow managed to leave home without a REAL camera, so all these were taken with my handy dandy Black Berry phone.

In addition to touring the various plantation homes in the area, we also decided to trek about 20 miles west to the home of the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

Frequently known simply as Angola.

Where more than 5,000 hardened criminals reside - over 4,000 of whom will never reside anywhere else !

Just outside the front gates of Angola - which is as far as they'll let you go, unless they WANT you to go farther, is the Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum.

Very interesting place !

But not a place you want to envision anything more than taking a SHORT tour !

Yes, I know....it's hard to believe they actually let me out !

All in all, a very enjoyable getaway for My Better Half and I.

And one of the last free weekends I'll have for quite awhile.

Until next time...

Gumbo !

Autumn weather has arrived in south Louisiana.

And, as I've stated on several occasions in this blog, I'm not a big fan of cool weather - and CERTAINLY not a fan of cold weather.

In fact, I'm already counting the days until our heat and humidity return. 

Which would be roughly 163 days...

However, when autumn weather does hit south Louisiana each year, I find myself craving a good old-fashioned gumbo!

Which I made yesterday as the family all gathered at our house to watch the Saints game and partake of my first chicken and sausage gumbo of the season.

Unlike my dear friend Luann, I will not be giving detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to put together this meal.

(Not that there's anything wrong with that, Luann. It's just not how I roll...)

There will be no recipe offered here.

Suffice it to say that most people create their own versions of gumbo.

Which is likely diferent from my version.

And your version.

There is really no right or wrong recipe for gumbo.

Just figure out what you want in yours and throw it all together !

For me, it's chicken and spicy sausage.

And peppers, onions, hot sauce...

And some other stuff.

But no butter, Luann.

No butter!

Most of the family was on hand - Allyson, Jimmy, Randy, Tanner, Carson, Jennifer, Kaleigh, Kyndal, My Better Half, and I.

Ryan and Conner were no-shows.  They were in Central Louisiana hunting squirrels.

The fruits of that hunt could also end up in a gumbo.

But not mine...!

Topping it all off was the scrumptiously delilcious homemade banana pudding which My Better Half fixed for the first time in a very long time!

WOW!  I'm hungry again just proof-reading this blog !!

There's plenty of gumbo left over.  (Including the bowl I brought for my lunch today).

Unfortunately, the banana pudding is gone! 

But there will be more soon, I'm sure.

Next time, maybe you can join us.

You won't regret it !

Until next time...

Another Season

For most people, autumn is a welcomed season.

Cooler weather (eventually).

The start of another school year.

And, of course, football season!

For me, however, fall is my least favorite season. For one, I'm not a big fan of cooler weather.  As I've previously stated in my postings, I'm one who actually ENJOYS the heat and humidity of our south Louisiana summers.

Call me crazy (like THAT hasn't been done before)!!!

But it's true.  I'll repeat it just to make sure you didn't miss it:

I enjoy the heat and humidity of our south Louisiana summers.

So there.

Secondly, although I do enjoy football as much as most of you, the arrival of football season marks the beginning of another LONG sports season for me in my job with LSU Athletics.

I have now begun my 22nd year with LSU Athletics - and all that comes with it.

Work.

Travel.

Long hours.

Time away from my family.

Lots of working nights.

And weekends.

LOTS of weekends!

And, most importantly, the start of another sports season marks the end of my golf.  The 3rd week of August each summer I play in a tournament that effectively ends my golf for the year.

Once that tournament is over with I reluctantly carry my golf bag, shoes, hats and other assorted golf paraphernalia upstairs to the closet of one of our guest rooms.

And there it resides until the following May when things finally slow down at work and I can once again get back out on the golf course.

May, June, July and August are my favorite months.

The sports season is winding down.

The heat and humidity are back.

And my lonely golf clubs are calling my name and inviting me back out to the golf course.

Where I belong.

May can't get here soon enough !!

Until next time...

Water Oak

As mentioned in one of my previous posts, Hurricane Gustav toppled several of the huge trees on our property in south Louisiana on September 1, 2008.

We lost a huge oak tree, a pine tree and a sweet gum tree that sat pretty much in the middle of our front yard.  Fortunately when the trees fell, they fell across our front yard and driveway, missing our home by about 6 feet or so.

However, one other tree - a giant water oak - which was located just a few feet from the southeastern corner of our home somehow remained in the ground. 

The thing about water oaks is they have a massive root structure, but the roots are very shallow. These are the trees you see completely uprooted during high winds from hurricanes and other storms - the ones that are literally pulled completely out of the ground.

As Hurricane Gustav tore through our property on that day, my son-in-law and I stood and watched our one remaining water oak swaying back and forth AT THE BASE OF THE TREE.  Why it didn't fall on that day, I'll never know.

What I DO know is the tree had to be removed before the next major storm hits south Louisiana.

Like many of us, I'm sometimes guilty of procrastination.  Since that September day in 2008, I've had good intentions of having the tree removed.  Fortunately, south Louisiana was spared the wrath of any hurricanes last summer.

But I knew I was pressing my luck !

So this past week we finally hired a crew to come in and remove the giant water oak that sat precariously close to the front of our home.

We hated losing the one beautiful oak tree that remained on the front of our property, providing LOTS of shade, beauty, and a safe nesting place and playground for squirrels and birds - but we simply could no longer afford the risk it posed to our home.

Once the tree was stripped of all its limbs - leaving one giant trunk - the tree removal crew brought it to the ground.  When it fell, the tree absolutely came apart - breaking into 3 huge pieces!

The bottom 15 feet of the tree was completely hollow and apparently extremely stressed from previous damage - likely from high winds, lightning and insects.

Obviously we made the right decision to bring down our giant water oak.

And apparently at just the right time. 

Tropical Storm Bonnie will soon be making its way into the Gulf of Mexico and is plotting a course directly for south Louisiana. 

It appears the storm will not materialize into a major hurricane, but judging from the condition of the tree that once stood guard over our home, it wouldn't have taken much to bring it to the ground!

And the loss of a beautiful oak tree is certainly a better option than the inevitable risk it posed to our home and our family.

Until next time...

Conner's Birthday

Not unlilke a lot of kids his age, our grandson Conner wants to be a fireman when he grows up.

So, for his 5th birthday this past Saturday, we took Conner to our local fire station so he could get a first-hand view.

The group included Conner (of course); his 2 sisters, Kaleigh and Kyndal; his cousins, Randy, Tanner and Carson; his mom; his dad; his Aunt Ally; his Mimi and his Paw Paw.

The two local firemen who led us around on Saturday were absolutely awesome!

First they showed us one of their trucks, which the kids found pretty amazing!

It's not often we find our grandkids so quiet, but they were mesmerized by the firemen, the trucks, the various equipment, and all the gear the firemen wear to a fire.

They even let the kids put on their helmets, sit in the driver's seat of the firetruck, turn on the siren and pull the horn (which was extremely LOUD and scared the hell out of both of our young grandbabies)!

Our thanks to the Denham Springs firemen for their help in making Conner's 5th birthday one he'll remember for years to come - whether or not he EVER becomes a fireman himself !!

Until next time.....