April 27, 2003

All –

Well, church was very long for the Easter Vigil. It started outside at 8pm last Saturday night with a bonfire. We each had a candle and lit them from one another and then went into church. The readings were long and many – I think there were 5 ‘first’ readings alone. Also, there was a large baptism ceremony for 4 adults that are coming into the church. The baptism water was in a large pool and heads were held under water for I don’t know how long! Then the whole congregation went up on the altar and blessed themselves with the water. It was quite an ordeal. We got out at about 10:45 – almost 3 hours. After church I went back to the house and they were having another crawfish boil – it was good. A fellow named Paul was playing the guitar and singing and it was very enjoyable. His wife, Jewel, made some really good Margaritas – she showed me some of the secret ingredients but made me promise not to tell anyone. Sorry.

On Sunday I learned how to make Gumbo (well I ended up watching!). It seems you can make it many ways by throwing different vegetables, meats/seafood and seasonings into a large pot of boiling water.

Monday I worked and just crashed when I got home – I was exhausted. It was funny at work as I made some smart comment to Reggie who sits next to me. He said “Paul, you are like school on Saturday”. I said “how’s that?”. “No class!”

Tuesday was another dentist appointment for a temporary cap. He tried to take an impression of what was left of the tooth but couldn’t because of some bleeding. I go back in a week to have the impression made so a permanent crown can be made. I washed and waxed the truck for the rest of the day and did a little work in the yard.

I rode the motorcycle to New Orleans on Wednesday. My destination was the Superior Grill ( http://www.superiorgrill.com/neworleans.htm ) for a “bike night” – motorcyclists congregate there on Wednesdays. Got there a few hours early and parked and walked around the French Quarter. Walked up and down Bourbon Street and had a beer at a local brewpub. Got talking to a guy sitting next to me at the pub who came down from Perry, NY near Buffalo. We talked about snow and the Sabres and the Bills. I went back to Superior Grill and had some dinner (Mesquite Tacos with beans and rice) and beer at the bar. The food and drink were excellent. I asked about the bikers and the barmaid said sometimes a lot show up, sometimes none. Left about 6:00 to head back to Baton Rouge not seeing any other bikers there. Oh well.

Pulling into Baton Rouge I noticed a bar on Airline Highway that had a lot of motorcycles. Wednesday night is popular for “bike nights” in this area. Stopped in, grabbed a bottle of beer and walked around the parking lot. Got talking to one fellow that pointed to a large grill where hamburgers were being cooked – he said anyone buying a drink or something was welcome to free food. I was still pretty full from dinner so I passed. He told me of other bike nights with free food. I don’t think I will go hungry down here after all!

Saturday I went to a different church (this is the fourth one, hey, I may try them all!). They had a festival there, kind of small, with a good band playing and good beer. Walked around for a while and then went back to work on some web pages and email. I have pages with these letters, some pictures I took down here and some funny Dilbert cartoons. The home page is http://users.rcn.com/bunting/ . Remember it is a “work-in-progress” so don’t expect anything fancy yet.

I am starting to notice more things down here. Many of the pickup trucks really do have empty beer cans in the back. A lot of vehicles seem to have burned out lights – not sure it matters, as most don’t use turn signals anyway. The roads are really bad around here. I think that was half the problem in thinking the truck was not running right. New Orleans has a lot of roads with cracks and potholes and what have you.

Some other interesting things –

- Drive-thru daiquiri places. Talk about drinking and driving.

- The water seems real soft down here. Kind of hard to get the soap off.

- Waitresses call everyone “sweetie”. (Or is it just me?)

- In New Orleans, burial plots are six feet over rather than six feet under.

- The four seasons in a year down here are: crawfish, shrimp, crab and King Cake.

- You are not to worry when you see ships riding higher in the river than the top of your house.

- You’re not afraid when someone wants to “axe you”. It just means they have a question.

- Every so often, you have waterfront property.

- They call them parishes. Most people down here have no clue as to what a county is.

- The only place more humid than a rainforest is Louisiana.

- It’s not pop. It’s not soda. It’s "coke" and then you are asked which kind: Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi or 7Up?

- When they refer to a geographical location "way up North", they mean places like Shreveport, Little Rock or Memphis, "where it gets real cold"!

- Their idea of a winter coat is what most people refer to as a windbreaker.

Till next time,

Paul