The Hair family is a local extended family that feels like they must be our own extended family. It’s worth giving them their own blog section because there are so many of them, and we’ve done so many things with them. You know about Jane Hair – the curator of the museum – she was the first one we met (read the “Gueydan the people Part 1” blog). Then on our first Sunday at church we met Millie, Hansford, Lynn, Lea and James. Millie is Jane’s sister-in-law, and Millie is also Hansford’s mom, and Lynn’s mother-in-law. Lea and James are the kids belonging to Hansford and Lynn.
Hansford and Lynn
When we went back to look at our calendars we laughed out loud at how many activities we had with the Hairs. Lynn and Hansford are in their mid-late 40s, and Lea is 17 while James is 14. It makes us feel right at home, since it doesn’t seem long ago that Chelsea and Alex were that age.
We went to Lake Arthur several times with them – one time was to meet Susan, Lynn’s friend from Houston, where we had a short boat ride and dinner with both families. Another time we went to the lake cottage that the Hair family owns, where we sat on the porch peacefully chatting with Millie, Doug and Mona and their daughter and granddaughters. After an incredibly peaceful afternoon, Millie took us to dinner at Nott’s Corner, and we got to try things we hadn’t had (such good food!). She treated us to bread pudding – we like the bread pudding at Nott’s Corner better than anywhere else.
We’ve had a number of movie nights with Lynn and Hansford and family – we saw Passion Fish (filmed in Lake Arthur), Dog of Flanders, and recently we’ve seen several episodes of Amazing Race – the TV show. We love these nights because they feel so much like being at home with Alex; there’s a strong sense of family and just hanging out.
Lynn has been really helpful with getting us to Wal-mart – we’ve discovered that everyone has a favorite Wal-mart (Max goes to Jennings, Jane goes to Abbeville, and Lynn likes Crowley). Lynn takes us to Crowley and Lafayette, so we get to see those towns as well. It’s a great way to sightsee! On our trips to Lafayette, we bought our deodorant which we can only find at a mall (we aren’t near too many malls these days), I got new passport photos, and we got to see a new very successful European-style development called River Front that I’d been very much wanting to see. Lynn even took us on a short driving and walking tour of the University of Louisiana in Lafayette.
Lea did a Girl Scout project on butterflies for a level of achievement within Girl Scouts, and she had her project displayed at the museum. Each time there is new display, the museum sponsors a reception, and we were invited to Lea’s reception. It was a great chance to meet all the locals and get to know people.
Mixed in with all this were several trips with Hansford to see the rice fields. One time we went out by Pat and Debbie’s house, seeing where they lived, and to see where the airstrip was that we hoped Fred could land on; another time we went out by Hansford and Lynn’s house in Wright and met Joe LeBlanc, Hansford’s brother-in-law. Each time Hansford explained to us more about growing and harvesting rice. Hansford was a rice farmer for a number of years, and would love to get back into doing it, but the market is really, really tough now and has been for a while. One of our really big high points was riding a rice combine and being in what the farmers call “the cart”, which runs along next to the combine collecting all the harvested rice and ferrying it back to the trucks.
We had a couple of other big (for us) adventures with the Hansford/Lynn family – we got to see the newest Batman movie, Dark Knight, with them in a theater, preceded by a really good dinner at a nearby Asian buffet; and we got to drive to the Arboretum in Chicot State Park, up north of here, with Lynn. At the Arboretum, we had a beautiful walk of several miles through the woods, followed up by a picnic at the nearby park and a quick walk to the lake.
Lea went to the Duck Festival with us to check out the booths, listen to the bands, and dance to the Cajun music. We didn’t get to see as much of James, but he was with us on several trips to Lafayette with Lynn – we tagged along when Lynn took him in for karate lessons. One of those nights was our trip to Pack and Paddle, an outfitters store, where we listened to a really great seminar on dehydrating foods for our trip (wish we’d had the information before we left on our trip – if anyone is willing to dehydrate some foods for us…let us know!)
Lynn came through like a champ for us before Gustav – she brought us with her to Wal-Mart in Crowley so we could get supplies for Gustav (I wrote about that in the Gustav blog). Not only did she make sure that we were okay with food and water, but they loaned us Lea’s car during Gustav on the wild chance that we might need it.
The family helped us out in other ways too – they loaned us the boots we needed in order to go in the back room for the alligator skinning, and they loaned us movies to watch at our house, and I’m sure there are other things we’ve forgotten to mention! One thing we did love was all the great conversations we’d have in the time in the car (around here, everything is at least a half hour to an hour away).
In late September, when we thought we were leaving, Lynn gave a party at their house to say good-bye to us and to John and Iniani, who were leaving for Mexico. We had already met Trevor and Cathy Hair (I think Hansford’s second cousin), but we finally got a chance to talk to Cathy, and we met Pat and Debbie (Pat is Hansford’s older brother). Mike Hair was there too, on a short trip out from California. He’s another of Hansford’s older brothers.
Millie
I wrote about Millie in our “Gueydan riding again” blog, so be sure to check that out. We really like Millie a lot. The first morning we stopped by to see her on our bike rides was the day after her sister died, so she wasn’t too high energy, but we really enjoyed the conversation with her. She is so lively and interested in everything! A few days after the party at Lynn and Hansford’s house, Hansford met us along the road near Millie’s house and invited us in for coffee. Mike was there – Hansford’s brother; then Lynn saw our bikes and came over after her walk with Iniani, then Mary Hardee, a neighbor, came by with her attendant, and we ended up having a wonderful, multi-hour gathering at Millie’s house. She kept bringing out the food, and it was really hard to leave! We got to see the old Wright store that the Hair family ran – it’s now closed. And just as we were leaving we met Pat Hair again. We arrived at about 8 and it was after noon before we left! And we still had 12 miles to ride home!
We had promised to stop by again, and a few days later nearly the same thing happened. She served us turkey bacon, biscuits, jellies, coffee, and heaven knows what else. We got a chance to meet her daughter Ann (Joe LeBlanc’s wife) and chat with Ann, and we met several other people who dropped in. This time we didn’t leave until nearly 1 pm, but we think Millie brought us luck, as that was the day we saw at least 12 roseate spoonbills at our favorite spot. Millie is tops in our book…
John and Iniani Dietz
We met John and Iniani at church several times and had a chance to talk a bit, and we really wanted to know them more. John is a second cousin (I think) to Hansford and his wife Iniani is from Mexico. Since we are headed to Mexico next, we were pretty interested in seeing what they could tell us about traveling there. John has two children – Albert and Angus – from a former marriage, and he and Iniani have a child – Iniani Marie – together. John’s former wife lives in Mexico and for custody reasons, they have to move back to Mexico.
They invited us to dinner, along with Lynn and Hansford one night, and we had not only an awesome meal, but a long relaxed night of conversation as well. That was the same night that Lea and Chelsea went to Lafayette together to be at a release party at Barnes and Noble for Brisingr, the most recent book in Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series. Much to their delight they won a hard copy of the book by correctly answering a trivia quiz. They were delighted!
Iniani met with us after church on the last Sunday they were here, and with her help we mapped out a logical route for our entry and first few months in Mexico. We’re pretty excited, and it feels great to have a plan in mind. She also invited us to join them in San Miguel de Allende. We’d love to use that as a base to explore the surrounding areas, including Mexico City.
Pat and Debbie
We met Debbie and Pat at Lynn and Hansford’s party in late September. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Pat, but I really enjoyed Debbie – she’s a real pistol. She and Pat have been together a few years now, and she’s been working for him on his rice farm. I suggested that we get together, that maybe we could ride our bikes over to their house one morning and stop for coffee. It was about a 10-mile ride, early on a Sunday, and it was just gorgeous being out there. Their farm is right in the middle of the fields, and it’s like an oasis. We had to traverse gravel roads to get there, but it was well worth it. Not only did Debbie have coffee for us, she had a full breakfast! We laughed and talked and talked some more, enjoying both Pat and Debbie and their unique takes on life. We stayed so long that Debbie had to throw our bikes in the back of her truck and bring us back so we could get to church on time.
The very next weekend was even more amazing. I had suggested getting together with Pat and Debbie, and since Debbie plays the guitar and sings, we asked if she’d invite Mark, a local who plays the fiddle professionally (he’s a carpenter in his day job), so we could listen to them sing and play. We told Pat we’d invite Fred so that we could all go up on an ultralight ride. What started out really low key turned into a first-ever, Pat-and-Debbie extended family get-together.
There were close to 30 people who showed up. Debbie picked us up early and we all worked furiously for a few hours getting things ready. Then all we had to do was sit and enjoy! We loved seeing everyone we already knew, and it was awesome to meet all the new people. Fred showed up around noon and gave rides to maybe as many as 10 people throughout the course of the afternoon! The party was a huge success for everyone.
We had one more visit to them…this time we rode almost 20 miles by the time we got to their house, about 8:30 a.m. It was the same wonderful experience – breakfast, great conversation. We loved the way the Debbie seemed to read our minds – just as I thought about how cold I was, she’d show up with a cup of hot coffee. If I was thinking “thirsty”, she’d offer juice. That’s my kinda gal! After breakfast and conversation she played the guitar and sang for us, and we ended the morning in the kitchen with Debbie teaching us the Cajun two-step and waltz.
We did manage to see Pat and Debbie again one last time for a leisurely breakfast. We won’t easily forget the hilarious conversation on the security issues!
And finally…
We have one final note about Jane Hair. When Chelsea showed Jane the photos on our Picasa web albums, they happened across the photo we got of a funky older car sitting outside Wal-Mart just before Gustav. Jane laughed out loud and said, “That’s my old car!” It turns out that Jane sold her old car to Mac, who’s “an old hippie”. From what we understand, Mac sells space on his car and donates the money to charity. When people give him something for the car, he takes money for it, and then donates the money. His car is certainly attention-getting! Check it out on our photo gallery.
In closing…
We are so appreciative of the incredible kindness of each member of the Hair family, and we wish we could clone them and take them with us!