JAZZ FEST

I’ve been looking forward to going to Jazz Fest for several weeks now. I had my schedule all highlighted as to who I wanted to hear and where I needed to be at a given time. I figured I could fit the food and crafts in between performances. Yesterday was the big day. The weather forecast was not pretty, but the rain was not supposed to come down until the night. By eleven o’clock, the sky was looking pretty bad, but no rain was actually falling. I put my faith in the weather forecaster and my sisters, my niece and I loaded into the car and were on our way. As we parked the car and started walking to the fairgrounds, we felt a few little drops. No big deal – it’s not supposed to come down until tonight!

 

 

We finally made it onto the grounds and began to hear the first strains of music. We made it to the Acura Stage where Frankie Ford was playing and decided we should get our food first and then find a place to sit and eat and enjoy the music. By the time we reached the food booths, the rain was beginning to come down harder, and by the time we purchased our soft shell crab sandwiches and Cuban sandwiches it was really raining hard. We ran for the nearest shelter and squirmed our way right into the middle of the tent , and the rains came down….and down…and down. Even tho we had our rain parkas on, we all got soaked, (but not as much as the people sitting on the edges of the tent). The lightning was flashing and the wind was blowing the rain around. The mood inside the tent was still festive however. One man borrowed Jen’s rain parka so that he could make a beer run. We were located directly across from the food booths, but the rain was so fierce that nobody wanted to leave. Finally, Jeanne couldn’t stand just looking at all the available food, and decided to make a run for the gumbo. She got soaked, but the gumbo was worth it!

After a while we disregarded the rain and made a run for the Gospel tent where we stayed for a while. We heard one group and then part of Shades of Praise. We were hoping to stay for Irma Thomas, but the weather kept getting worse and we still had to make a run for the car parked several blocks away. We left before Irma, didn’t get to see any of the crafts because all of the booths were closed down, didn’t get to buy any posters or music. My son Jay says that’s” part of the whole Jazz Fest experience” – well I guess we experienced everything!

Signs of Spring

It's the first crawfish boil of the season! Actually it's my brother's annual crawfish boil that first started to celebrate his birthday. Every year he adds a little something new. This year he teamed up with my sister Trisha and her husband to celebrate the big event. His son Bret was chief of the "big boil" and the mudbugs were hot and spicy! There was lots of other food and drink onhand just in case you still had a little room left after the crawfish. The weather was absolutely perfect and the kids took advantage of it and jumped in the pool for the first swim of the season. Ooooh, it was still too cold for most of the adults.

We are just realizing that the new generation of grandkids seem to be all boys, other than Etchie's two little girls who live in Birmingham. There were 5 little boys onhand for the festivities and lots for them to do. Besides the pool, there was a tree house for them to enjoy and then there was the big event of the day, the pig wrestling challenge! Yep, that's right - Bubbie had a little pig, put him in the fenced corral and challenged the boys to try and catch him. Poor little piggie -I never heard such squealing, even from the kids.

 








I visited my sister Etchie in Slidell and took some pictures in her backyard.  Even four years after Katrina, her neighborhood is far from recovered.

These two photos were taken on a recent trip to Arkansas. We were in Mountain View and the picture on the right was taken from our cabin located at the top of the mountain. On our first morning I awoke to a mist filling the valley below us and no houses were visible. As the mist gradually lifted, this is the picture I snapped. Later in the day we took a trip to Blanchard Springs Caverns and after our tour we drove down to see the springs themselves. It was lovely here, cool and shadowy with the constant sound of water. Here the water has found an opening in the rocks and is cascading out.

Sunday, November 22, 2009
Class Photos

Here are some photos from my digital photography class . I've been having fun learning to use the new camera I purchased. In the past I just pointed the camera and hoped I captured something worthwhile, but this class has taught me that you really have to plan your shots. I've been learning about the different settings and different lighting and how to look at things in a different way. We started off with about 10 people in the class and it has dwindled down to about three of us. I'm going to move on to editing for the next semester. Sad to say, my basic drawing class is not going so well. Although everyone else in my family is very talented when it comes to drawing and painting, I am only a wannabee.