LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER

Laissez les bon temps rouler, a greeting you hear all over Cajun country. It means let the good times roll, and they do at Fred's Lounge in Mamou, 10 miles out of Eunice. We arrived by 7:30 in order to get a seat when the bar opened at 8 A.M. Fred's is only open Saturdays with live music, drinking and dancing. The two couples below were the early birds along with Jim and I. Calvin Daigle, standing closest, brought breakfast from Charlies Place around the corner, a heaping pile of boudin, (boydan) in a piece of butcher paper along with a paper bag of cracklins. The still warm sausage, slightly spicy with a soft texture more like stuffing than meat was wonderful. I believe it had rice in it. The cracklins were inch thick pieces of bacon fried crisp, unlike any cracklins I ever tasted. Calvin and his wife Nonie, (next to the wall,) are regulars at Fred's. Sally and Mike Wenckus are from Golf, Ill.
Before the musicians had set up to play, a crew of guys out back iced down beer to keep the refrigerators inside full. A couple of guys set up a pot to make jambalaya. Some one asked what time it would be ready? "Oh, somewhere between 9 and 2, he claimed." No charge for the jambalaya. Its part of the "experience."


Getting the meat started for the jambalaya.

Nonie & Cal started the dancing before it got crowded. The Cajun musicians were Scotty on Accordion, Jason on Violin, Ray on drums, who also sang, and Smiley on guitar. No fanfare or introductions, Nonie told me their names because she knows them all. They just play, with no breaks from 9 until 2. Sometimes longer. The music is broadcast live from Freds and a different group plays each Saturday.

After a couple hours the crowd looked like this. Then, later, you couldn't get back far enough to take a picture. It was necessary to slide between people. I slid by this one guy with a clothes pin and money attached to his beads. He told me it was too crowded to get his money out of his pocket so he carries it "up-front." Everyone is friendly and polite. No cross words spoken or drunken behavior evident, although the rules are, no standing on the jukebox, bar, or tables. And no kissing on the lips. Leon, in the striped shirt above, told me he kissed his girlfriend and owner Tante Sue wapped him on the head with her "no kissing" stick.
These two out-of-town women have been friends for 55 years. The Justice Of The Peace, on the left, offered to marry us, and rescind it for no extra charge. We declined.
Tante Sue, the owner, keeps the whole shebang running. Between slapping beers on the counter, counting change, cleaning up a cans, bottles and glasses, she is known to break into dance with the music while playing the accordion on her shirt, reach in her holster for some "Hot Damn", take a slug and yell "Quinta!" (Which means Who Dat?) In fact, she sometimes tastes a new pint of Hot Damn before handing it over to the customer.
This couple pilgrimage to Fred's twice a year. She once lived in Santa Barbara, CA for four years but couldn't stay away from Louisiana. They have Targil's Spices, you can order on line. Everyone is rooting for love-him-or-hate-him Shockey and the Saints, and gearing up for Mardi Gras.

I met Mikell above in line for the bathroom. She is almost ready for Mardi Gras and we coined some folksy wisdom, no matter where you are, be it fancy or folksy, women have to wait in line for the bathroom.

I'M GOING TO NAME HER AFTER MY WIFE!!

"I'm going to name her after my wife!" So said Monsieur C. C. Duson when he established a railroad head in Landry Parrish Louisiana. Eunice is an unassuming town. It became a bastion of good food and special music after being settled by Acadians, that mix of French-speaking Cajuns. The decedents of European French, Creoles from Haiti and Germans created a unique cultural mix of people, language, music and religious beliefs, but the ancient tradition of mardi gras came from the peasant classes of France.
We walked into the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center and watched an hour video of the local people of Eunice running the Mardi Gras. The costume above belonged to the ranger working that day. A local, he ran the Mardi Gras the first time at age 14. The whole town is gearing up for this special family/community event. The costume shops are humming and parents are sewing hats and painting masks. (The pictures that follow are taken of photos.)

Its roots in Saturnalia, the raucus crowds of Euopean countries would costume themselves so they were unidentifiable. They spoofed their royals by imitating the court jester, their tall hats, or the Bishops hat, even a particular face. Winter was the leanest time of year and if they were hungry, they would resort to begging even though ashamed to beg. The costumes prevented their neighbors from knowing who they were.

In Eunice, the men traditionally ride out on horse back. Now, with farms so far apart, some ride on wagons or trucks. The assigned Captain asks if the mardi gras' can approach. If yes, they charge and the farmer throws a chicken or two, or three. In a good year, maybe a small pig and some money. The farmer wants them gone and he throws the chicken away from his house as far as he can. The group chases the chickens until they are caught. The men may have imbibed before showing up at the farmers place and they reward him with a dance and song.

'This mardi gras holds up the chicken he caught.

A mardi gras dances on top of his horse.
Once gathered, the meat is brought back to town, where it is cooked in a giant gumbo for the whole community. Parades, song and dance, and feasting is part of the celebration. Adults and children of all ages join in the fun. For some young boys, it is a right-of-passage. According to our ranger, running the Mardi Gras is tough, you become a grown-up from running the Mardi Gras. The video makes that clear. This festival has been studied in depth.

We left the Acadian Center and visited the Eunice Museum, The Cajun Music Hall of Fame and a local radio station.


A cigar box banjo above and an unidentifiable stringed instrument below.
An old time German accordion, all part of the great musical tradition of Cajuns.
Initially, 32 Cajun musicians were honored in this historic Hall Of Fame. They now add two per year. People outside of Cajun Country don't necessarily recognize these unforgettable musicians who have contributed so much to this great,original music.
At work behind the window was the disk Jockey/ad hawker, from Station KBON 101.1 on your dial. The station plays mostly Cajun music, of course. The walls are filled with autographs and pictures of great musicians who've appeared on this station. We recognized Fats Domino, Little Ritchie and below, Doug Keershaw, the Ragin' Cajun among other notables. There is wall after wall of autographs and pictures.
What a great place to visit. This is only an inkling of what Eunice, Louisiana is like.

FLAT STANLEY

When I blogged my exotic trip to Thailand in January, I inserted pictures here and there with Flat Stanley and promised to explain Flat Stanley later. Aha! A reader reminded me I failed to do that so here goes. In the picture above he greets us from a hotel in the Golden Triangle.
In Bangkok, he attended a marvelous puppet show with our OAT travel group.

Earlier in the day, we watched as Thai's made unusual (to us) flower arrangements in the bustling flower market there.

Later, Flat Stanley was photographed on a very exotic flower arrangement.

Flowers in Thailand are omnipresent. This guardian of the Khantoke garden is festooned with flowers.
The Khantoke garden was our lunch stop on the road between Chaing Rai and Chaing Mai. Flat Stanley got to ride a bike rickshaw.
And below, he consorted with the school children from Bankhonsung School in Phitsanulok.


Flat Stanley is a geography lesson for school children. A printout was given to my grandson, Austin, who colored Flat Stanley to resemble himself with red hair, his favorite color shirt and pants. Then, Flat Stanley traveled with me, was returned to Austin at the end of our trip, and his travels followed by the children in school who, I hope, learned something about Thailand.
Of course, since I lost the last half of my pictures, Flat Stanley's return to Austin isn't in my blog. Darn!

WESTERN MOVIE STUDIO-TUSCON

I thought I'd never been to Tuscon before visiting it last month. Then, I happened across these familiar places and realized how wrong I was. Anyone who has seen a few western movies is familiar with Tuscon. The Old Tuscon Movie Studio , a permanent Western set with wonderful buildings surrounded by the familiar skyline of mountainous Arizona desert, rolling hills and piney woods. Perfect for over 300 movies and television segments.

This signature mountain peak, these ranch gates, have been seen in many films. Only the name changes.

Look familiar? Just one of the places in Gunfight At OK Corral. (Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas)

A touch of old Mexico. Rio Bravo (John Wayne, Walter Brennan.)

This is the oldest working steam engine in the U.S. Used in Cannon Ball Run, 3:10 To Yuma, to name two. Clint Eastwood took over the train from the bad guys in one movie and he got so excited about running the train he forgot to signal the brakeman (lying on the floor beneath him) and he nearly ran the train off the tracks.
Ghosts of Tombstone and numerous tear filled scenes.

This school house was used in movies but isn't part of the set. It was on the grounds of Old Tuscon when the property was purchased and is the genuine article, historically preserved as it once was.

The Outlaw Josey Wales, several of the guys galloped into town and removed the dust in this old bathhouse.

Robbers on the silver screen robbed this stage so many times, the horses stop automatically the minute they detect the bandits.

We got a pretty good idea of how a huckster works selling his sure cures with magic elixirs.

A land office sometimes, other times the bank tellers window. In fact I know I've seen that face before.
Just a few notables that walked the streets of Old Tuscon: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Ronald Reagan, Jack Palance, Paul Newman, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson, Robert Mitchum, Elizabeth Taylor, Jimmy Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Sidney Poitier, Charles Bronson.... great nostalgia.

SEEING ART

My friend, Galen Hazelhofer is a talented artist. I'm a wanna-be artist and I so admire people who can create beautiful paintings or ceramics or sculpture. I have to settle for seeing art but I must say, I see art in almost everything, be it created by man or nature. Benches are all around us. Some people don't notice them. They catch my eye and I can't resist photographing them. Here are some just to tickle your appreciation for the mundane comfort stop offered all of us where ever we meander. The wagon wheel bench is for children, low to the ground. From Fredricksburg, Texas.
I particularly liked the shadow on the walk of this bench in Bellingham, WA. My thought at the time was you couldn't have a metal bench like this one in a hot summer climate.
This mosaic bench made of pieces of broken ceramics sits outside a shop in Angels Camp, CA.
Partly in shadow, but one beautiful foot, lions claw done in wood, and comfortable curved arm rest sits in the breezeway at the old Gage Hotel in Marathon, TX.

This low wooden bench from the Vallejo Ranch in Sonoma, CA was built when people were shorter than they are now.


This fun lollipop bench, also from Fredricksburg, TX, serves a dual purpose. A photo op for those willing to pose with heads poking through the lollipop holes in the back.
Although low to the ground this driftwood bench entices adults and children to enjoy foot play in the sand. From Lake Tahoe, CA.
What could be more appropriate than a bench made of horseshoes from the Old Tuscon Western Movie Studio?
Did I call these rest stops mundane?

BIOSPHERE 2

What if you were worried about system earth failing? How would humanity survive? Could you build a structure that replicates earth and survive in it? Those questions were on the minds of a number of scientists. And, a billionaire by the name of Ed Bass was interested in answers to those same questions. He put forth a cool 150 million to fund this massive greenhouse called Biosphere 2. It was completed and occupied by scientists, who agreed to be locked into the facility for two years, in 1991. It proved that it could be done for a limited amount of time in the "small" 3 1/2 acre greenhouse. The scientists involved had to plant, grow and harvest their own food. Take care of their chickens, pigs, butcher and skin the meat, like pioneers. All of which left them struggling for enough time to do the experiments they had envisioned. Basically it was so much work, they couldn't get enough calories to sustain their necessarily active lifestyle.
Like many others, I saw the special on television about this amazing place, then I forgot all about it. Visiting it was an eye opener.


Its impressive enough from the outside, just considering a greenhouse of this size, one of the largest in the world. (We visited it while in Tuscon visiting my friend, Sandra Voges, last month.)

Inside, there are five natural biomes, (habitats), with 2000 species of plants. Soil brought in also brought the natural insects from that habitat. They have a desert, ocean, rain forest, oak and maple type woodland and grasslands.

We visited the under structure, an amazing web of cables, warrens, tunnels, and pipes to handle all water generated and recycled. An amazing feat of engineering.

Each biome has its own system underground as well. All of which had to monitored by the scientists living in the greenhouse.


This photo of an Austrailian tree shows the complicated engineering of the walls with 7,200,000 cubic feet of sealed glass behind it.

The most interesting structure in the place was the lung shown above. As air expands, it had to expand so the greenhouse wouldn't explode with the pressure. When the doors were opened to the lung, a veritable wind storm erupted, knocking off hats and blowing papers out of back pockets. The greenhouse is no longer airtight as it was during the human habitation. Two breakable windows were included in the structure, in case the lungs didn't work properly under real conditions. The idea was they would explode and relieve pressure. As it turned out, the lungs worked perfectly. This place is a great study facility managed by The University of Arizona. You can learn more by clicking the link:
www.b2science.org/

HOLED UP IN CONROE

One of the advantages of traveling with a full time rambler, like my partner Jim, is that we can stop anywhere. The solar panels keep pumping up the battery and life is good. When it rains, and days are cloudy, as they have been for many days, its time to pull into a park and hook up to electricity. The weather is still cold and cloudy. Ramblers tend to stay as close to good weather as possible, but weather is fickle. We pulled into a park and hooked up to electricity and here we stay for a few days, holed up in Conroe, Texas. Time to recharge the batteries, wash the windows, do some housekeeping, shopping and laundry. All those mundane, necessary chores while I look out at the dreary weather and think of the benefits of rain. Watching a movie, catching up on my reading and the coming spring flowers.

The woman above really got into her picture taking of a tub of spring tulips.
This was taken in the cascades, Washington state.
Tulips at Kautz Winery in Murphys, California
My neighbors pasture with baby blue eyes, Murphys.

Ocean City, Washington, Roady hanging over the boardwalk.

This salmon berry at Lake Quinault, Washington.