Chapters in metal #5, blowing kisses

Cooking my State Fair piece - Star #3 going in the kiln, Star #2 just out. Thankfully, no Lottie was hurt in the cooking of the glass. Enough about that.

Just got back from another Just Let Lynn Do It’s fabulous estate sale. You know I have a phobia about driving 6 miles out of my comfort zone, so Andie picked me up in Mad Cow. A great big garbage truck pulled up next to my side at the red light. Andie hit the MOOOOOOOO button and the guy driving was laughing so hard I could see teeth missing. I rolled down the window and blew him a kiss. He caught it and put it in his pocket. Then he said, “Ya’ll must be from Oklahoma.” I said indignantly, ‘NO.” He replies, “Then Arkansas.” I said, "NO, Cajun Country, New Iberia, Louisiana.”

The light turned green, he took my kiss out of his pocket and blew it back to me and roared off with all of us laughing. Is this the greatest country with the greatest people?

Don’t miss a “Just Let Lynn Do It” estate sale. You never know who will catch your kiss and put it in their pocket.

Fabulous bottle tree

I love bottle trees. I've made bottle trees. I grew up with bottle trees in New Iberia, knew the folklore and believed every word. Everyone needs a bottle tree to keep the evil spirits bottle in.

This bottle tree blows all of them out of the water. Who's bottle tree is this? Barbara Dybabala's. Of course.

Send some names for Barbara's cement mixer. Half the names that have been emailed are not for print in a blog or Black White Read article. Ooops! Shows the kind of people I know. Please, send some names - you can put them in the comments in this article.

Who Dat Say Who Dat?

I haven't heard from the rest of Louisiana, but friends and family in New Iberia tell me the party continues right now on Main Street. I can remember watching the Saints as a little kid on Indest Street.

To all my Guilbeau, Arceneau, Babineaux and Rousseau relatives and friends:

Laissez les bons temps rouler. (Let the good times roll)

Suggestion: double click on New Iberia a really interesting town with an interesting history.

James Lee Burke one of my all time favorite writers spent half his life there and wrote novels set in New Iberia. The first novel I read his hero, Dave Robicheaux, was sitting in the parking lot of the New Iberia courthouse waiting for the rain to abate enough to go inside. If Dave would have turned his head to his left he would have been looking at my aunts' house. The three of them were born, raised and still live in that house.

If Dave were real, as some point during his career in the sheriff's department, he would have knocked on their door when a hurricane was on the way and begged them to go to a safe place. All three were school teachers. All three would have taught him at some time. Knowing they would never consider leaving the house, Dave (as the real sheriff's do) would be keeping a special eye on them and the house.

If you haven't read a James Lee Burke novel about New Iberia, run to your bookstore or library now. Nothing better than getting yourself lost in Dave Robicheaux' world.

Uptown

It's amazing to me that the area where we had Bob's old office is now "Uptown". Back in the day it was just coming out of grungy. Bob had to go to Agel for art supplies today. I talked him into waiting until after I slurried my hearts on my State Fair pieces so I could go with him. I love any form of cement.

Agel's always a several hundred dollar trip, so I may as well go along and get a few goodies.

After, we were looking for a late lunch place. Why bother discussing? Let's go to our old time favorite seafood place S & D Oyster. Bob and I love how the place never changes. I love how S & D looks like every upscale restaurant of my youth in New Iberia, New Orleans and surrounding cities. Talk about comfort food and comfort place. Delicious as usual.

Just finished The Big Rich. Great book. Years ago I read The Three Families of H.L. Hunt. Pretty fascinating. I got both by requesting them from the Dallas Public Library. Requesting the latest books or any book is such a treat. I once requested a book by a lady in waiting to the last Czarina of Russia. The book had been out of print for years. Took a while, but the library found it. Another great read. I'm especially fond of biographies.

Now I'll start reading James Lee Burke's Rain Gods. One of my favorite all time authors, again a Dallas Public Library requested book.

But I'm worried. With the city cutting back the library hours they are obviously cutting back on funds for new books, too. I requested John Sandford's latest, Rough Country and Michael Connelly's latest, Nine Dragons. They showed zero of zero available. Not good.

Requesting books is such a treat. I hope the library funds are the last to be cut. Maybe someone will start a petition.

Jury Duty

I'm on jury duty this week and can't come home and figure out anything to write. So here's a rosebush I'm really proud of. I think this one came from my Great-Aunt Mardie's yard in Morrow, Louisiana. Or my grandmother's yard in New Iberia, Louisiana. They traded plants so much no one would ever know. They aren't good cutting roses, but they are like small cabbage roses and have a real rose smell.

Earrings and Movies

I sent Steve (my very first boyfriend) 6 pairs of my earrings.  He wants to show them to the lady who now has a boutique where his flower shop use to be.  Steve owns a funeral home in New Iberia and has his flower shop inside.  I'm delighted he's going to be my "agent" in New Iberia, Louisiana. 

Steve mentioned the theater on Main Street has been totally renovated and looks just like it did when we were children.  The theater was built in the 1920's in beautiful art deco style.  

My grandmother and I use to go to the matinees at least once a week.  Maw Maw didn't drive so we rode the bus the whopping 6 blocks.  Of course, since we were on the bus schedule, we were not on the movie schedule.  We always walked into the beautiful air conditioned lobby when the movie was half over.  We sat down and enjoyed the second half of the movie, the following cartoon and then the first half of the movie.  Toward the end of the first half, the Big Ben clock ticking in Maw Maw's purse would ring.  Remember Baby Ben and Big Ben clocks?  She had the large square face one that ticked loudly in her purse during the movie.  When the alarm rang I would shrink in my seat.  Maw Maw would stand to her full height in her very high heels with her large tall hat.  If you measured the floor to the top of her hat she was probably a statuesque 5 foot 3 inches.  Slowly, very slowly she'd pull on her gloves, look down at me and say so the entire theater could hear, "Lottie Kate, get up, it's time to catch the bus."  I would slink behind her down the isle.  How I had enough sense to be embarrassed, I don't know.  This is how I attended the movies until I was at 10 years old.  To this day if I see a Big Bend or Baby Bend clock in a flea market I worry it will start to ring and someone will throw me out of the store.

State Fair Sculptures Begin

Wasn't the rain delightful yesterday?  The cool weather and clouds before the rain threw energy into me and before I knew it the guitar sculptures for the State Fair of Texas have begun.  Here's pictures in progress today with sunshine, oh well, can't have rain every day.  Although growing up in New Iberia, Louisiana, I'm pretty sure we had rain around 3:00 every after noon.  I'll ask  Steve, my boyfriend when I was 3 years old and he will remember.  Our afternoon rains were the best part of the day.  All the kids would play under someone's carport.  Every house had a carport and garage.

I remember one afternoon I was sitting by myself under the carport and the other kids were out playing.  A man was painting the carport and asked why I wasn't playing with the others.  I told him I was punished for life.  He asked why.  I'd found some house paint and painted my name on my Mother's 1956 Holiday "88 Oldsmobile - four door (with no bar between the windows) two tone turquoise and white incredibly beautiful automobile.  Somehow I thought my name painted on the door enhanced the beauty of her new motor car.  Others (those with power) didn't quite see it like that.  Even during my 100 years of punishment under the carport watching the rain, I thought the Oldsmobile looked better with my little touch of art.