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Connecticut River Valley, New England, United States

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Waitin' on the Levee, Waitin' for the Robert E. Lee

Well, not really--waitin' for the New Roads--but not before driving through torrential rains from Lafayette to St Francisville. A beautiful drive even so--once we could see where we were going--everything so dripping and green and lush--jungle-like and the air had that indescribable smell of Spring. As we headed toward Opelousas on 49 ( by the way, Linda, that road we took in Lafayette etc, still has signs saying it is the future site of the I 49 corridor! How long ago were we here? Maybe, they are working from NO out--no stimulus money in evidence here! LOL) a twinge crossed my heart--wondering how my Babette is doing in Morgan City--probably ten litters by now! If she is still alive! sigh! We took mostly back roads and realized we had come this way before--and I thought I'd found a new back way! Oh, well--got to St Francisville at lunchtime so we headed for the Magnolia Cafe--a funky place that reminds me of the coffee house I used to go to --something Ground--in Burlington in the 70's. Packed--lots of ladies who lunch--when I was admiring, once more, the lovely old houses, several of which are for sale this year--Bill said, ah, yes, you, too could be one of the ladies who lunch! Hmmmm, not my style--at least not some of the conversations going on around me--"WHY don't they just ARM those big ships off Somalia??? How can a LITTLE boat, with those LITTLE people manage to get those ships? But then, those SOMALIANS have nothing to lose!" " Oh, I just couldn't take two courses at one time--I HAVE to have some down time! " In these horribly arch, nasal, southern drawls! Deliver me! Checked in as the sky opened once more--so we decided to give it an hour. I started to read the paper and next thing woke up an hour later!!! Then we went to my favorite store in La--Grandmother's Buttons. Wonderfully, unusual jewelry using antique buttons--Christmas gifts and a lovely birthday gift for my baby girl, who today ( March 9 ) turned 24! How can that be?????? Since the weather was so terrible there really wasn't anything else we could do--wet, wet, wet --so no wildlife refuge or plantation garden walks. Took refuge in Wing It and had a great chat with the owner, Pete Peterson. Talked about lose of dairy farms, Feds offering small dairy operations a deal they couldn't resist to drop the subsidized dairy operation and turn their land into stands of oaks and pines. He has been a small business owner since he was 18 and talked of the fees and taxes that are imposed on small businesses and how difficult it makes it for them to survive. Also talked of the people, who, six years later are still in Fema trailers and complaining about the govt's tardiness in finding them something better to live in. Quite distraught over the fact that these are the people we hear about and not those who have done something about improving their situation on their own. Shared other horror stories such as the waitress whose 49 year old boyfriend is in jail because he had sex with her 14 year old daughter who has since had his baby. The waitress is thrilled with the baby and has no problem about his fathering it. As a matter of fact, she intends on marrying him when he gets out of jail. Of course, the girl is getting Wic and is on welfare--her med bills were paid by Medicaid. He's on SS disability and the waitress is working at the restaurant. Told him that sort of thing is prevalent in the North, too! Just crazy--all the programs available for these situations and no incentive to take responsibility and get themselves a decent life. UGH! Finished the evening with the only night that has decent TV--NCIS,NCIS--LA and The Good Wife. Even stayed up to see Margulies on Letterman. She's a neat gal.

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