Live Purple Love Gold

A few weeks ago we met to watch the LSU Fightin' Tiger Football team win the national championship game against the Clemson Tigers, finishing the season with a perfect 15 and Eaux record.  This post will be short as there's not much more to be said about it.  Mom and Dad had some great game food and we yelled and screamed and high-fived each other until our hands hurt.  My face hurt from smiling.

It got a little rowdy at times...  Our boys and Jenny's boys were fired up.

We celebrated the Tigahs and then we celebrated Benjamin's 19th birthday.  Lot's of celebrations going on.

Unfortunately, the game was on a Monday night.  I had to be at work early the next morning and Benjamin had to be back at college the next day.  We posed for a photo with Mom & Dad before heading out.

But we weren't done with the celebrations just yet.  I walked out to the garden the next day only to discover that my cauliflower was sporting a purple game jersey to commemorate the National Championship!

Was this some sort of gardening miracle?  Purple rain?

Actually no.  I planted some purple cauliflower this fall and it just happened to ripen to coincide with LSU's big victory.  We roasted it in the oven with garlic just last night.  It tasted just like regular white cauliflower, but the purple is just more visually pleasing to the eye.  My purple carrots should be ripening soon...  Geaux Tigahs!

Benjamin and I - Callin' Baton Rouge

Tricia was out of town at her high school reunion.  I was a bachelor at home, taking care of the animals.  I got a call from my Mom Friday night and she and Dad offered us two tickets to the LSU - Auburn Football Game.  Unfortunately, Russ had to work on Saturday and wasn't able to join us, but Benjamin and I headed east for an hour and got on our way to watch the Tigers play.

We woke up and milked the cows and then got on our way.  It was a cloudy, chilly morning as we crossed the Mighty Mississippi River at around 9:30 am.  On the western side of the bridge, if you roll your windows down, you can smell coffee beans roasting at the Community Coffee Plant.

We arrived on campus and parked at perhaps the farthest parking spot that existed on the eastern side of campus and walked toward all the action.  We crossed the Parade Grounds with a great view of Memorial Tower or the Campanile with Old Glory flying.  The tower is 175 feet tall and was built in 1923 as a memorial to Louisiana soldiers that died in World War I.

We walked by the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to Mike the Tiger's habitat.  Mike was pacing back and forth...

What a beautiful cat!

We heard that SEC Nation was set up across Nicholson Drive, so we wanted to go see what that was all about.  The live broadcast had Tim Tebow, Paul Finebaum, Marcus Spears, and Laura Rutledge reporting and interacting with a large crowd.  Below you can see Tim Tebow tossing footballs to the crowd. 

Benjamin and I walked back toward Tiger Stadium, grabbed a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo and sat down to watch the sights and sounds of game day.  If you look at the facade of Tiger Stadium, you'll see a number of windows.  Odd.  There's an interesting story behind that.  In 1931 LSU needed more dormitory rooms.  Huey P. Long, the governor of Louisiana wanted to enlarge the football stadium.  It seemed to be a stalemate until it was decided that BOTH could win.  They built the dorm rooms INSIDE the stadium.  The windows you see are part of 430 rooms for 1,500 students.  After football games, students would often return to their rooms with things knocked off the walls and dressers from the noise and vibration of the big game.  No students actually live in the dorms in the stadium anymore, however.

A rare 'selfie' of Benjamin and me under the stately oaks on North Stadium Drive.

The football team walked down Victory Hill and Benjamin was able to give QB Joe Burrow a high five!  Then the Golden Band from Tigerland marched down the hill and played those four notes that makes Mike the Tiger stand right up and roar!  The crowd roared too!

The team went through pregame drills, met on the eye of the tiger and got ready for action!

We sang Louisiana Saturday Night and Callin' Baton Rouge and then the band played the Alma Mater and the National Anthem and we got ready for kickoff.

LSU won the game and improved our record to 8 - 0.  Benjamin and I had a great day together at the game!  Geaux Tigers!

4-H Night With The Tigers

Each year we try to make it to 4-H Night with the Tigers.  It is an LSU football game where they honor 4-Hers.  Benjamin has been a long-time 4-H member and he's in his senior year, so this will be our last one!  They have a big tailgate party behind the Cow Palace with free jambalaya (it was delicious!) and ice cream from the LSU Dairy Store (always a favorite of ours!).  Here is my family in front of the Cow Palace.  "Pistol" Pete Maravich once played basketball in the Cow Palace.

What a nice looking bunch!

We walked down to see Mike the Tiger, but he was sleeping and had no time for pleasant conversation with us.  Too bad.

We watched the football team get off the bus and walk down Victory Hill and then we watched the Golden Band from Tigerland march down.

With 100,000 of our closest friends, yelled as the band played "Hold that Tiger" and got the crowd whipped up into a frenzy.  If you have claustrophobia, this is not the place for you.

As we walked up the ramp to our seats in the nosebleed section, I paused to get a few photos from a different vantage point.  Memorial Tower (the Campanile) is to the east and has scaffolding all around it as they are doing some work on it.

Looking southeast, you can see the copper roof of the Cow Palace in the distance, with the smoke stack at the old sugar mill in the foreground.

Looking due north you can see the Maravich Assembly Center with the Mississippi River Bridge on the horizon.

As the sun makes its home in the western sky, "It's Saturday Night in Death Valley!"  We enjoyed watching the sunset and seeing the mighty Mississippi River from our Upper East seats.  We were way up there!

LSU was playing Rice.  I felt sorry for Rice.  They were 1-10 and were not competitive.  A lot of people knew it wouldn't be much of a game and stayed home.  We still had a great time.

Our seats were only a few rows from the very top!  As the night progressed, it got colder and colder as the winds blew.  I did not bring a jacket or a blanket, even at the urging of my wise wife.

We enjoyed the game, the band, the atmosphere, we sang "Callin' Baton Rouge" and "Louisiana Saturday Night"...

But after halftime,we decided to sneak down and watch the game in the lower section.  We stayed for the third and fourth quarters in the southeast endzone level.  It was much warmer there!

I drove home listening to the post-game show as the rest of the family slept.  It was a good day.  Geaux Tigers!

I'lll Huff and I'll Puff and I'll Blow Your House Down...

I read yesterday that at the end of the school year, they'll be demolishing Kirby Smith Hall on the LSU Campus and replacing it with a new, modern dormitory.  Kirby Smith Hall was named after the Confederate brigadier general Edmund Kirby Smith, who led the CSA to victory over the Union at Red River in April 1864.  The fact that it wasn't re-named due to its (now) politically incorrect namesake is an enigma for sure.  It was built in 1965 and many generations of LSU students lived there and probably have many memories of living there like I do.

It was the dormitory I lived in when I was a freshman at LSU.  I lived in Room 1407 on the 14th floor.  Actually it was the 13th floor, but for superstitious reasons, there was no 13th floor.  The floor plan was set up in suites where two, two person bedrooms shared a bathroom in the middle.  Each floor had a little kitchenette area with a microwave and a stove.  I heated up many a can of Campbell's Chunky Sirloin Burger soup in that room.  The architecture of Kirby Smith Dorm really didn't fit it with the Italian Renaissance design of the rest of the campus.  It rises up and dominates the skyline.  You can see it from the I-10 bridge, for the time being anyway.  The pale nondescript bricks of the lego block building just stood in stark contrast to the elegance and beauty of the huge live oak trees that cover the campus.

As I think about my time there, several things come to mind.  First and foremost, the smell of the elevators.  Oh my goodness, I can close my eyes and the smell stench comes roaring back and attacks my olfactory senses, even after the passage of 30 years of time.  The smell within the four walls of the Otis elevator was an amalgamation of vomit, urine, stale beer, and sweat.  Or perhaps something died in there?  The trip down to the ground floor was a daily challenge to see if you could hold your breath for that long.  Oftentimes, I opted to walk down 13 flights of stairs to avoid the putrefaction.

From my room overlooking campus on the 14th floor, I could see my roommates coming and going.  One day we saw my roommate coming from across campus and we quickly moved his furniture and all of his belongings into the elevator and sent it down to the ground floor to meet him.  He was not amused.  Our room had a great view of campus.  You could look down and see the "Enchanted Forest," the Greek Theatre, Pentagon dormitories, the Indian Mounds, The Parade Grounds, and Tiger Stadium!  It was exceedingly hot as the air conditioning worked intermittently.  We jimmied the locks on the window to allow breezes to blow in the room.  We could then easily yell at our roommates from the room.

Before big football games, some people with too much time on their hands passed out directions to each dorm room to either leave your lights on or off and curtains open.  The results left clever messages spelled out about our opponent for all to see for miles around.  One night we figured out how to get onto the roof of Kirby Smith Hall.  It was a beautiful vantage point to see the stars and lights around campus.  I remember it was around Halloween when we climbed up there and pumpkins may or may not have been tossed off the top of the building to watch them explode after hitting the ground after dropping for 13 stories.   

I remember not getting much sleep while living there as at least nightly one of the 577 residents thought it would be a good idea to pull the fire alarm.  It was an all-guys dorm and it was very noisy even when the fire alarm wasn't sounding.  I met many friends during my stay in Kirby Smith Dorm and still keep in touch with some of them to this day.

Some time soon Kirby Smith Dormitory will come crashing down into a pile of rubble, leaving nothing but memories of the first year away from home in a freshman dorm.  I'm wondering if, even after Kirby Smith is gone, will the odor of the elevators still waft through the humid air and permeate campus with foul aromas?

Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum

In a state with quite a few, let's say "colorful" governors, Huey P. Long is right up there at the top.  I can still remember vividly being a small child and going on a field trip to the State Capitol and seeing a bullet hole in the wall from when Huey P. Long was assassinated.

THIS LINK gives some interesting information about the old governor.  Here are some of the more interesting ones:

As part of his state modernization program, Huey Long tripled the size of Louisiana State University (LSU), opening enrollment to all able poor students and building it into one of the finest universities in the South.

In 1928, LSU was a small-time country school that generated little interest or attention in the state. Labeled a “third-rate” institution by the Association of State Universities, the school had only 1800 students, 168 faculty members, and an annual operating budget of $800,000.

In 1930, Huey Long initiated a massive building program on campus to expand the physical plant and add departments. By 1936, LSU had the finest facilities in the South, a top-notch faculty of 394 professors, a new medical school, more than 6,000 students, and a winning football team. In only eight years, it had risen in size from 88th in the nation to 20th, and it was the 11th largest state university in the nation.

To generate excitement for LSU, Long’s first step was to quadruple the size of the marching band (from 28 to 125) and develop a first-rate football team. He became the state’s most prominent ‘Tiger fan’ – coaching plays, giving locker room pep talks and personally recruiting top talent for the team. LSU fever swept the state, as reduced tuition and need-based scholarships allowed students from all regions to flock to Baton Rouge to study.

The photo below shows the governor marching with the band!  If you click the link above, you can read an interesting story about what he did about a circus train and also how he got the entire student body to go to Nashville to cheer the Tigers on to victory against Vanderbilt University in 1934.

Image Credit

A few weeks ago I took Benjamin and a friend of his to an LSU football game.  It was Homecoming and the Tigers really stunk up the place, losing to a team that they shouldn't have lost to.  Many of the fans exited early, but we didn't.  On the bright side, the Golden Band from Tigerland put on the best performance on the field that night, complete with a marching Tiger...

The State of Louisiana with a star marking where Baton Rouge is...

And finally spelling out Louisiana in cursive.  (I thought they don't teach cursive anymore?)...

The band was the bright spot on the night, although I didn't see the current governor marching with the band!

The Graduate - Our Graduate

In the 1967 movie, "The Graduate," Mr. Maguire pulls young, Benjamin Braddock aside and the following dialogue takes place:

Mr. Maguire: There is a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it? 

          Benjamin Braddock: Yes, I will.

To be honest, if Benjamin Braddock took his advice, he probably was met with great economic success as plastics took off.

We have our own recent graduate, our middle son, Russ, who recently graduated from LSU in Baton Rouge with a B.S. in Agriculture.  He won't be going into the field of plastics, but we pray he finds success in his field of Plant and Soil Systems with a concentration in Environmental Horticulture.

We met for his graduation on a rainy Friday morning at 11 a.m. in the Field House for the ceremony.

We took our seats in the crowded field house where indoor track is run among a crowd of proud parents and family members.  They marched in to Pomp & Circumstance and many had their mortar boards decorated.

When I graduated from LSU in December of 1988, the person who gave the keynote address was Senator John Breaux.  It was in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and poor Senator Breaux had difficulty getting through his speech as he was dodging champagne corks.  Things have changed since then.  Not one champagne cork went off during Russ' ceremony.  One other change was that the graduates all got their names called and got to walk across the stage and received their diplomas.

When it was over and before we went out to eat, we took a family photo with Russ in front of a blooming magnolia tree.

My Dad, Mom, and brother were also there to celebrate Russ' big day.

Here is Russ with my brother and parents in front of some stately oaks.  In the background, you can see the Huey P. Long Fieldhouse and pool.  The pool is now in disrepair, but I took a swimming class in college (we had to take a PE class) there. If you saw the movie, Pitch Perfect, one of the singing competitions was in the Huey P. Long pool.  It was empty, of course.

To commemorate the happy occasion, we got a nice Commencement program that had all the graduates names in it.  While sitting down and thumbing through the book, we were very surprised!

Russ hadn't told us about something very important.  Okay, I apologize in advance for boasting about my son, but we were in shock to see on page 5 that Russ graduated Summa Cum Laude.  He was the only male to do so.  In fact, 75% of the graduates in the College of Agriculture were female.

Russ will be starting his career in June, working for Doug Young Nursery in Forest Hill, Louisiana. I told him that if he can find something to do that he is passionate about, he'll never work a day in his life as it will be a labor of love.  We are proud of the old fellow and wish him the absolute best that life has to offer.  He will do great things, I am sure of it.  May God Bless our graduate!

LSU ALMA MATER 

Where stately oaks and broad magnolias 

shade inspiring halls, 

There stands our dear Old Alma Mater 

who to us recalls 

Fond memories that waken in our hearts 

a tender glow, 

And make us happy for the love 

that we have learned to know. 

All hail to thee our Alma Mater, 

molder of mankind, 

May greater glory, love unending 

be forever thine. 

Our worth in life will be thy worth we pray to keep it true, 

And may thy spirit live in us, forever L-S-U. 

A Day to Honor Russ

Saturday we met Russ at 11 a.m. at the Petroleum Club in Lafayette for a meeting of the Louisiana Society for Horticultural Research (LSHR).  They were honoring their scholarship winners and Russ happened to be one of the two deserving recipients.  We were invited to a luncheon and to see him get recognized. Russ is a senior at LSU and will be graduating on May 12th.

His mother and I are proud of the hard-work and diligence he's exhibited.  I never even thought about applying for scholarships once I was already in college, but Russ did.  Each semester he would seek out scholarship opportunities, applying for them - and winning them.  He's worked for LSU's Dairy department, milking 80 Holstein cows to provide milk for the residence hall cafeterias as well as for sale to Borden's.  For the past several years, he's worked with a professor at LSU tending to sweet potato trial plots in Louisiana and many neighboring states, seeking to develop a new variety of sweet potato to help the sweet potato industry.

Seated at the far right of the head table below, is the guest speaker for the luncheon, Mr. Robert E. "Buddy" Lee.

Mr. Lee is from Independence, Louisiana and is one of the most respected plant breeders in North America.  He developed Encore Azaleas, the world's best-selling multi-season azaleas.  They bloom in spring, summer, and fall. You can learn more about them by clicking HERE.  Mr. Lee gave a fantastic talk, showing pictures of early work in the nursery, compared to today.  His speech was both informative and funny and really kept your interest. As you may be aware, I like growing things that you can eat!  Flowers and ornamental plants are things I don't have a lot of experience with, but it was interesting to listen to Mr. Lee talk with great passion about what he does.

At one point, he stated that everyone always wants to see his "research facility."  He showed a picture of what appeared to be a 16' x 8' greenhouse with trays of seed pots with simple shop lights hanging over them.  He stated that he likes to keep things small since he can effectively manage and control everything.  You can't argue with his success.  It was an inspiring story from a pioneer in the industry..

Russ was called to the podium and gave a short speech thanking the group for believing in him and awarding him the scholarship.  He was very well received by the horticulture professionals in attendance as well as the LSU professors.  They all had great things to say about him.

So obviously, we're Russ' parents and are very proud of him (and biased), but we know he's going to do great things in his field.  He's not even sure what exactly he's going to do upon graduation.  He hopes to find a job as a plant breeder or researcher for one of the nurseries in Forest Hill, Louisiana or for a landscape company in the Lake Charles or Lafayette area.  If Russ can find something that he is happy doing and looks forward to getting up each morning and pouring his energies into, the rest will take care of itself.  With his work ethic and smarts, he'll set the world on fire.  I just know it.

Our Second Bird has left the Nest

A new day has dawned both literally and figuratively.  I took a vacation day today, but not to relax.  We had important business to attend to.  We got the cow and goat milked and all the animals in the barnyard fed and watered and then started our day.  Today we're moving Russ into the dorms at LSU as he'll be a freshman there this Fall majoring in Animal Science in the College of Agriculture.  Laura Lee will be moving out of the dorms and into a house and will be starting her sophomore year there as well. Whoa!  Two 'kids' in college. Only one left at home.

The morning sun peeking out from behind the hay bales

We loaded Russ' truck with all of his belongings and he backed out of the garage.

Loaded down truck

We also loaded down Laura's car and our other car with all of her stuff.

Loaded down car

We headed off to Baton Rouge in caravan-type fashion with Laura Lee leading the way, followed by Russ and I was the caboose.  Russ' truck sort of looked like the Clampett's jalopey truck in the photo below.  We had it loaded pretty heavy and used ropes to tie everything down.

Photo Credit

We only had one little issue on the trek to the capitol city.  Somewhere around Crowley as we were doing 70 mph down I-10, the back cushion of the sofa blew out of the back of Russ' truck.  Darn it!  The vehicle in front of me swerved to miss it, I did likewise, but the driver behind me had slow reflexes and hit the cushion head-on.  I saw the stuffing fly!

A sofa without a cushion is like Rice without Gravy, bacon without eggs, Simon without Garfunkel, or Batman without Robin.  So I got off on the next exit, drove back west to the next exit, re-entered the Interstate, located the injured cushion, and pulled over with my flashers on to see if I could administer CPR. The cushion will require some TLC and many stitches, but will recover (no pun intended!).  At least good enough to be used by some college students.

We arrived on campus without further excitement and pulled up to Russ' dorm.  I must say I was impressed with the University for making the moving in process efficient.  There were at least twice as many cars on campus (students & parents helping move in) resulting in a major traffic jam, but students associated with residence housing assisted in directing students to their respective dorms.  As we all pulled up in front of the dorm, student volunteers helped unload the vehicle and stack everything on the sidewalk so that the driver could move the vehicle quickly and park, enabling other 'Clampett jalopeys' to do likewise.

Welcome, Russ!

But that was not all.  Other students appeared out of nowhere to help.  They were mobilized to pick up all the refrigerators, clothes, and other items and carry it up to the students' dorm room.  Various LSU athletes were doing this.  I thought it was a very cool thing.  Russ had 3 football players that helped him move his stuff up.  They were polite and helpful. One of the players that helped Russ was #18 Lamin Barrow.  Read the quote below about #18.  I'd say the Tigers made a good choice for #18 as Lamin was doing a good deed 'off the field' yesterday!

The wearing of No. 18 is a special honor within LSU’s program. The tradition dates back 10 years to quarterback Matt Mauck, who was able to lead the Tigers to victory in the 2003 BCS National Championship Game. The player bestowed the honor is supposed to uphold the university’s values both on and off the field.  Barrow is an absolute stud linebacker. He was second on the team with 104 total tackles in 2012 and is considered a first round NFL draft prospect. Source: Yardbarker.com

Here is Russ in front of his dorm.  It is a dorm that is entirely dedicated to Agriculture Majors.  I looked around and couldn't find a cow or chicken in sight, though.  Strange.

Russ' new home

We quickly got him all situated and posed for a family photo or two in his room.

A serious one

And not so serious!

As we walked to the LSU Police Department to get a parking permit for Russ' truck, we walked directly in front of the Military Science building and Benjamin posed in front of one of two cannons that line each side of the entrance that have particular historical significance.  William Tecumseh Sherman (yes, that Sherman), believe it or not, was the First Superintendent of Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy back in 1859.  This would later become LSU.  In 1861, Sherman resigned, returned to the North and participated in the War of Northern Aggression :).  After the war General Sherman donated two cannons to the Institution that had been captured from Confederates at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.  These cannons were used to start the Civil War.  Benjamin poses with one of these cannons.  Very cool!

Benjamin the Cannoneer

The next two photos should probably be subtitled, "The Coke Man Needs a Raise!"  In the Barnes & Noble bookstore on campus, I took a picture of Benjamin in front of a display made of varying 12 packs of soft drinks.  Look at the detail of the football, with laces, going through the goal posts and the Stadium.

Nicely done, Coke Man!

As we were about to head home, I took a photo of Russ out on the back 'porch' of his dorm with a view of one of the lakes.  There are geese and ducks out there that people were feeding, which reminded me that we would need to head home to feed our chickens and turkeys and cows and goats.  Which also reminded me that I would be missing the services of my right-hand man on the farm:(

We started the day with a new, hopeful day rising.  A day opening a new chapter in the lives of our kids and one bringing change around our home.  As the sun sets, it also closes a chapter of our lives.  Without being overly dramatic, it's hard when your little birds take flight and leave the nest. 

Cypress trees on the lake

Geaux get 'em, Russ!  Geaux get 'em Laura Lee!