We’ve been under a severe thunderstorm warning for the last few hours, and we’re still under a tornado warning, but we’ve remained free of any excitement – in fact, the rain has just hit us and we think we’ll skip most all of it. North of us is taking a beating, though.
I’m in the living room checking weather online and catching up on news and blogs while Jo-Ann teaches Chelsea how to play dominoes out in the kitchen. I can hear the low rumble of conversation from the other room, punctuated by laughter and the sound of the dominoes clattering on the wooden tabletop.
We were up at 5:30 this morning for a sunrise Easter church service over in Grand Chenier, on the banks of the Mermentau (about a half hour drive from here). We didn’t see sunrise because of the big storms moving in, and we had to run for cover under the pavilion before the services started, carrying our chairs and hymnals, as rain the started about 6:45 a.m.
Mosquitoes swarmed us in droves; we were delighted to discover that one of the congregants had the foresight to bring bug spray. Before this I’d just never thought of church and bug spray in the same sentence.
The service was a joint effort by the Grand Chenier Baptist Church, the Grand Chenier Methodist Church, and the Oak Grove Baptist Church. From what I hear, several Catholics attended also. The United Methodist Church sponsored the breakfast afterwards – biscuits and gravy, hard-boiled eggs, coffee, juice, and fruit.
Good thing they fed us, as we had a little over an hour to get a quick rest at home, then be back at the local Baptist Church for another two hours of prayer service and church. Chelsea spent our short break sweeping all the main rooms from yesterday’s mess.
We’re all relaxing today as yesterday was Jo-Ann’s big family Easter day. All six great grandchildren were here with their parents (Jo-Ann’s grandkids), and with Jo-Ann’s daughter Ruby and her husband. It was the usual chaos of a family gathering – kids everywhere, diapers being changed, toys, food and drink everywhere, a terrific meal, and an Easter egg hunt outdoors.
We were awakened about 4:30 or 5 a.m. when Jo-Ann got up to start cooking for the day, and we spent several hours in the morning helping out with a 4-H Achievement Day, so we were plenty happy to end the day early-ish. Donny dropped by late in the day just as everyone was leaving, and took us down to Rutherford Beach, only a mile away. The beach has changed drastically since we saw it last summer with Max.
Ike’s storm surge washed away nearly all the camps at the beach. Only one is left standing, and it looks as though the foundation may be damaged beyond repair. The beach literally disappeared – there’s no more land under the camps that used to be there – they’re all under water now, with only electrical wiring and pilings to indicate that anything was there.
The beach has disappeared on that side, but the surge of water brought in so much sand that there’s now a huge expanse of sand stretching back to the marsh. Driving up to the beach area, the sand is so high that it has created tall dunes on each side of the road. We had a steep climb up out of the road onto the sand, completely unlike last summer.
The beach was beautiful – much prettier than last year. The sand went on forever, and we walked quite a ways, looking for seashells and sea beans. We loved being back near the ocean!
Jo-Ann has some kind of event for the Cameron Parish Tourist Bureau tomorrow, having her photo taken for work they did a few months back. She’s taking us with her to Lake Charles. We’re talking about leaving Oak Grove on Tuesday, and we already have a place to stay in Johnson’s Bayou, about 25-30 miles from here. Our host there will probably take us up over the Port Arthur bridge, which is reputed to be high and not bicycle friendly.
Jo-Ann is not in a hurry to have us leave; we’ve developed a fun and comfortable relationship. She loves to cook; we love to eat; we always clean up. We help with errands, we watch movies together, we discuss birds, and we swap stories. We think Jo-Ann likes our company (we sure enjoy her!), and we are glad to have to the time to keep going on the book.
I’ve done more work on developing article ideas, and now I need to pick a topic and write an article (or two or three). It’s really hard to write on the road, as life is so busy with taking down camp, riding, finding a place to stay, setting up camp, eating and taking care of basics, and everything else that seems to come up. It’s really nice to have no mosquitoes, easy access to clean bathrooms, and Internet access when trying to write 8-10 hours a day!
A final note before ending the day – Donny came by again tonight to grab a bite to eat and check Internet (he has no Internet service at his house).
Since our storms have cleared, he took us out to Pintail Wildlife Drive up near the IntraCoastal Waterway for another bird watching ride. We saw a breathtaking sunset over the marsh, and many, many birds in a gorgeous environment. Our best fun was seeing a group of yellow-crowned night herons, complete with their plumes.
Signing off from Oak Grove…