On The Road Again

My new job affords me the opportunity to drive around and see plenty of countryside.  My assigned area is Allen Parish, Beauregard Parish, Calcasieu Parish and Jefferson Davis Parish.  Parishes are the same thing as counties in other states.  I drive through areas that are densely populated with pine trees and lots of logging is going on.  With lumber prices peaking, I guess the timber companies are cashing in on hopes of higher profits.

I also drive down gravel roads with rice fields and crawfish ponds as far as the eye can see.  Crop dusters fly overhead, putting down (very) expensive fertilizer on the growing crops.  Corn marks the rows and the sunlight catches the dewdrops on the growing leaves.  There's always something new to see.  I travel down south and see alligators basking in the sun in drainage canals and then back in rural areas where the trees envelope the road like a tunnel.

Many of the people I talk to are country folk and/or older people.  I enjoy spending a few minutes while I'm doing my work to talk to them.  For instance, last week I met with an older couple whose granddaughter had wrecked their car.  It was in a barn and was totaled, unfortunately.  I noticed some recently tilled ground in their yard, maybe two acres total and asked them about it.

They told me that they were in the process of planting okra.  They plant a variety of okra called Louisiana Longhorn.  They sell it by the bushel and no longer need to advertise.  News travels word of mouth and they get business from as far away as Texas.  Their okra must be picked every other day, and it is hot work and makes you itch.  They laughed and said they've done it for a long time and thought about quitting, but decided to do it again.  The gentleman told me that they get their grandchildren to come help them to teach them the value of hard work.  As much as the news broadcasts fear and doom and gloom, there are lots of good folk with old-fashioned values out there, I'm happy to report.

Some things I witness on my travels cannot be explained.  There is no one there to tell you the story.  The old abandoned farmhouse in the above photo makes me curious.  It is a well-built, two story farmhouse that has been abandoned for some time.  It is remarkable that it is still standing when modern homes lost roofs from our recent hurricanes.  The old farmhouse is flanked by rice fields and crawfish ponds and surrounded by old live oak trees and pecan trees.  The grass is grown up around it with cattails neck-high in the drain ditch in front of it.

What stories that house could tell?  It must have been a large family living there, perhaps to help working in the fields.  But what happened?  Did the family get out of farming and move to town?    It's a lonely place now.  The noise of kids playing that once filled the yard are now silent or replaced by the sound of bullfrogs.  I can imagine that the rain falling on the tin roof during spring rains lulled many to sleep in that old house.

The old house is still valiantly standing, but age and decay will soon take its toll, and it will crumble into the dirt beneath it.  I guess that is an appropriate analogy to what time and age does to our bodies!  I see a lot of sights as I'm driving on the scenic byways and windshield time gives me lots to think about.