Blog

New Years

Kenneth and Heuetta invited us over for fireworks and a bite to eat on New Years Eve. We started the fireworks early, by 7:30 or so, but it was so bitterly cold that we huddled under the carport in jackets, gloves and hats, and we still froze with that bitter east wind behind us. Heuetta eventually went inside and brought out thick warm blankets for us, but we were still cold. The temperatures were in the 30s – not “sitting around” weather.

Watching the fireworks was a new experience. Having grown up in California, where fireworks are anathema because of fire concerns, I’d never really seen fireworks “up close and personal”. I confess to being nervous around them because a childhood acquaintance had two of his fingers blown off, and that was all I needed to know about how “safe” they are.
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We spent an awesome Thanksgiving Day with Pastor Doug and his extended family. Since I come from a big family (five siblings, assorted spouses and numerous kids and grandkids), we felt right at home with the steady stream of little ones parading through the house, and snacks and food and drink everywhere. We had a wonderful time meeting his and Mona Beth’s family. Not only was the food delicious and plentiful, we got a great big to-go plate of leftovers. Mmmm…

We started in the day after Thanksgiving writing our first book about our adventures. I spent almost a week sorting my notes and typing them up, and then started the writing in earnest. In order to concentrate on the writing, we dropped out of life, spending six to seven days a week writing, eight to fifteen hours a day.
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Then came the night we got busted. Yep. Busted.

Chelsea, in her pink John Deere baseball hat, black Danskin tights, and baggy black Head hoodie, had just finished using the trash can as a tripod to catch a night shot of the Christmas lights on Main St.
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Besides the Christmas activities, we’ve had a bit of other interest in our lives. We managed to borrow movies from both Erika and from Mona Beth next door. It’s given us a chance to catch up on some movies we’ve never seen, and it’s provided a welcome break from the unrelenting time at the computers all day.

We’ve also had the fun of listening to a pair of horned owls that have been outside our house for several months. We’ve gotten to see them several times by sneaking quietly out the front door when we hear them call. We love going to sleep hearing them hooting softly outside our windows.
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The town Christmas parade has undergone some big changes in the last few years. For many years it was held in the daytime, and it’s the same style as other local parades – it consists of motorized floats with the occupants of the floats throwing out candy, plastic cups and bead. Those watching the parade dash out for the goodies as they are thrown from the floats.

Then about two years ago the decision was made to have the parade at night. What the organizers hadn’t taken into account was that neither the spectators nor the float occupants could see things being thrown in the dark. There isn’t sufficient light from streetlights, and there are no lights on the floats either.
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Kenneth and Heuetta were a real lifeline throughout the long months of November and December. They live less than a mile from us, and Heuetta works right across the street, so it’s easy for them to stop by and see how we are. And they sure did a great job at it!

November

Starting in November, they’d stop by with care packages of food, or they’d invite us to drop over for a beer and food on weekend evenings. One wonderful Saturday in late November, Kenneth had gone crab fishing, and we got invited over to a crab boil. I have never seen so many crabs in my life.
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Halloween here is a low-key affair, centered around the children. City Hall hosts a costume contest, and our buddy Heuetta (who works at city Hall) sat on the steps with bags of candy for the kids. The event started about five in the evening, and by seven it was all over (and it was dark, with the ever-present mosquitoes).

Heuetta brought along a great collection of talking, singing and dancing Halloween characters, battery operated, and they certainly attracted the kids’ attention. If you look at our photo album, you’ll see that nearly all the eyes of the children are cast downward – checking out the funny and scary figures on the ground.
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Thinking that we were leaving almost immediately, after the Thibs fly-in and the Omelette Festival, we’d said a huge number of goodbyes. In fact, we’d had so many goodbyes, we began getting sensitive about still being here some weeks later. One Sunday at church Dick Sirmon (who always razzes us anyway) approached us and said “I left for two weeks and I thought sure y’all would be gone by now!” Into the silence Chelsea said, “Fooled you!” It fooled us as well, since we thought for sure we’d be gone.
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We have a deep affection for the members of the Methodist Church in Gueydan. They’ve been absolutely wonderful. They’ve made us feel so welcome and they’ve made us feel like a part of the congregation. We have loved seeing everyone each week and having a minute to chat, and we have looked forward the blue jeans and cake Sundays, where all the anniversaries and birthdays for the month are acknowledged. We’ll miss all the singing, we’ll miss Pastor Doug’s beautiful voice, and we’ll miss the sense of family. On our last Sunday at church, during the time of thanksgivings and concerns, I stood to give public thanks for all the joy the church and its members have given us, and Pastor Doug gave us a special prayer. We will keep each of the members in our hearts during our travels.

Just when it seems our adventures in Gueydan are over, something else pops up. This time it was a totally unexpected trip to a crawfish pond, and a chance to get out in the pond and see the traps picked up. Jaimie Snoddy lives right outside Gueydan, only about a mile from us. We met Jaimie at Pat and Debbie’s “fly-in” and we were really impressed. We found out that she does some work for Pat Hair, but she also runs her own crawfish traps on her own acreage, she raises sheep for eating, she makes her own wine, and she makes her own jerky. As if that’s not enough, she’s a really talented amateur photographer.
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