The Reality Of Gustav

I got up and out at 5:15 this morning and headed to Walmart. I had to beat the crowd of frenzied folks still trying to get water, bread, batteries, and canned goods in preparation for Gustav's arrival. For today, I just needed the regular, weekly groceries to get us from Saturday to Tuesday (which is the scheduled arrival for Gustav).

Somehow, we are supposed to balance moving ahead day to day with regular life stuff AND preparation for this looming storm. It's a tough balance at times. You don't want to drive too far and use up all the gas you just waited in line for. You spend all your weekly grocery money on cans of tuna, crackers, water, and batteries, but you still need to buy normal food to eat while between now and storm day. You need to clean up the yard and secure the outdoor sheds, while cutting the grass at the same time.

It's that delicate balance of preparing and living.

Walmart at 5:15 AM. Pretty empty parking lot, but fuller than usual for such an early morning.

The canned meat aisle~ canned chicken, tuna, vienna sausage, chili, etc~ I was surprised to find ANYTHING on that aisle, but a lot of it was for the microwave. That doesn't work without electricity! The bread aisle was almost completely empty, but folks look at me strange when I walk through the store and take too many pictures.

We continue to pray for the safety of ALL.

Big Equipment

Bumper Sticker

Here's a bumper sticker that shows up around town. (I hope the person who owns this vehicle didn't mind me taking a picture of their bumper.) My darling daughter pointed it out in the first month we lived here...as we went through the McDonald's drive thru she saw a truck with this sticker on it. Since then, it's become her shout out when we do eat potatoes.

Our entire community is surrounded by fields of rice. Folks eat rice. Lots of rice. We do eat rice, but I still like a good baked potato or a heap of mashed potatoes or some small red potatoes cooked with a roast.

The "Church Lady"

That's what I think of every time I see this picture, which is why I took it~ The "Church Lady" or "Church Guy" (not to be partial). The brown, dead, bent over grass below the surface of the bright green, standing up straight grass is such a picture of how we often live our lives. We "put on" a good front. We go to church or visit with friends and say all the right things, look just the right way, while underneath we are withered, brown, and dying.

I don't want to be a "Church Lady".

I want my faith to go all the way down to the roots!

Matthew 23:26-28 (NAS)

"You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Another 'Hall of Fame' Nearby?

A few weeks ago, as we traveled across Hwy 190, I saw a building. I couldn't remember having seen it before, and I couldn't believe what the sign actually said.

How could I have missed the Zydeco Hall of Fame all this time!?! Then I took a closer look at the building. Hmmm....really? Really? THIS is a Hall of Fame??

I came home and did a bit more research into this building in the middle of nowhere with such a grand claim to fame. Ends up it's not any official Hall of Fame, but it is somewhat famous around here with zydeco music folks. The building, originally named Richard's Club, opened July 4, 1947 as a dance hall by Eddie Richard. Some family dispute caused it to shut down in 2006, and the building was bought, renovated, and reopened on August 8, 2008, under a new name~ Zydeco Music Hall of Fame. For more information, you can visit their website. http://www.thezydecohalloffame.com/

Now I know not to call and find out how much tickets are to get in and take a tour of the history of Zydeco music!

Can you imagine the sort of strange looks I get when I pull off to the side of the road, get out of my car and take a picture of a metal frog, or a bunch of birds, or a boudin sign?!

Thus, the backside of this piece of machinery instead of the front. The man driving it might have wondered why I was in his field, standing there taking pictures of things that were so ordinary and everyday to him.

Isn't it fascinating?

Now, can someone identify this piece of equipment for me? I'd appreciate it.

A Song in Your Heart (or in your line of vision)

Metal frogs aren't the only over-grown, metal fabricated items here. We also have giant guitars.

No, really. It's HUGE.

Wasn't that sweet of my darling hubby to "model" the guitar for us!?

Of course, no giant metal guitar is complete here without the accompanying accordian. (Note the end of the guitar in the picture.)

It's All About the Frog

I live 25 miles away from the Frog Capital of the World. It's true.

The Frog Festival begins August 23rd, so there is still time to make it this year! You'll know you've reached the right town for the Frog Festival when you see this guy tipping his hat to greet you.

Hay!

This isn't an agricultural blog. I'm just taking pictures of the things I see around me. I just happen to be surrounded by agricultural things and changes in this season.

The next post won't be about anything growing in a field!

The Fields Are Red With Harvest

Well, almost.

Milo~ An early-growing, usually drought-resistant grain sorghum, especially Sorghum bicolor, resembling millet. (answers.com)

I had never seen milo until about 3 weeks ago. I was in the car with some friends, and we drove by this RED field. It was beautiful. Ends up it was a field of milo ready to be harvested. Closer to home we have milo fields, but when I went to take pictures the fields weren't as red as the field I had seen earlier. It's still beautiful.

I could have stood in that field for an hour just watching the breeze blow across the tops of the plants. It was quiet (except for those stinkin' bugs I don't like). It was calm. It made my eyes well up with tears. It was somehow moving deep inside me.

I can't explain it. I can only try to share it with you.

No One is Going Out the Back Door Today

It's the first day of school!!!

The traditional, first day of school picture~

Of course, since we homeschool there's a good chance we will be outside at some point today! : )

The Classic Red Barn

Driving outside of town, we came across this field and this barn. It seems so ordinary, but striking at the same time. I just love it, although I'm not loving the idea of the little mice and snakes and other creepy, crawly things that are in the field OR the barn...so it's nice to picture it from afar.