It’s that time again.  The time where I come across one of my favorite things on the bayou:  WILDFLOWERS!

This week some beautiful flowers on the shoulder of the road caught my attention.  I literally stopped traffic to get a photo because I had to park on the road, since they were on the shoulder and I didn’t want to run over them.

First, I want to post a photo of some very special flowers that LilSis (Heather Here) thinks are not so special.

Ok, I know what these are.  They are in a pot next to my house.  They are special to me because this original clump of flowers was in the flowerbed of a little Houma Indian woman I greatly admired.  After her death, her son dug them up and brought them to me in a bucket.  If I had asked for a remembrance of her, I could not have thought of anything better.  I call them Wild Petunias.  Some people call them Mexican Petunias.  Either way, they spread rapidly and will take over your flowerbed if you’re not careful.

And then, there is a striking resemblance to the road-side flowers . . .

And for a closer look . . .

The purple ones have five petals just like the Wild Petunia, but the leaves and stems are not exactly the same.  Take a little closer look . . .

In the past, I could tell you the name of the blue flower, but it escapes me now.  Here’s what I need from you.  I am NOT going to look up these flowers in my oh-so-handy-wildflower book.  I would rather draw from your wealth of knowledge and have you educate me about this purple flower.

Please note that I have NEVER seen these two flowers growing side by side anywhere on the bayou before this week.  They are cropping up in great numbers, and I have to wonder if the seeds were washed in on the waves of Hurricane Rita tidal surge and have just taken this long to germinate?

Okay, my brilliant ones, any ideas on this flower phenomenon?  I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Award-winning videographer Guy Hernadez taking a serious look at the Terrebonne Basin near my home

This past spring, I had the honor of taking out a producer and a videographer who were in the early stages of a documentary about the cultures and way of life that will be gone when the Louisiana wetlands are no longer here.

It is my pleasure to ask you to take a few minutes of your time and visit the website for the documentary: Tide of Tears.

Then, if you would, please click the link below to help nominate this documentary to win some of the money American Express is so eager to give away. This banner should take you straight to the project we would like you to nominate.

I trust the producer, Stephanie Kovac, to do a good job of relating to the nation and the world what is at stake here if America does not stand up and lay claim to coastal Louisiana in the form of substantial coastal restoration. I could go on and on, but I won’t. It’s crucial that you go nominate this project and let the voice of the Bayou People be heard through those who have the means to shout it the loudest!

And from the bottom of my bayou heart, thank you all very, very much!

Merci beau coup, mon ami!

BW

8/18/08 My net has been down for two days. I have new posts I want to make but a pressing project has me seriously occupied from sunup until sundown.

Please go to AE and nominate “Reclaiming the Cajun Coast” project. We have until September 1st to help it reach the top 25 nominations! Please, you can help make a difference for the culture and way of life for all bayou people with just five minutes of your time. To all who have already voted, I can’t thank you enough. Merci a thousand times!!!! And please pass the word on nation-wide, no–worldwide! BW

Once again, Heather Here and I did not get to do all the things we wanted to do while she was down for a visit recently. And some of those things were going to have photos to go along with them just for YOU to see and enjoy. That means she’ll just have to come back when we can do nothing but fun things and NO WORK.

On her last evening here, I took her to a secluded spot to watch the sunset. We saw some interesting things along the way . . .

like this fire hydrant, at the very end of the road, where there was no more road, only water and marsh. There it stood, pouring water onto the ground, with no one around tending to it. We thought this was quite wasteful, and you?

and then there was the Leaning Tower of Dularge. It looks like just a touch of a feather would knock this building right over into the bayou. I just hope there is no one passing nearby in a boat when it finally falls.

And next there was Bayou Fabio’s stuffed garfish, which he taxidermied all by himself. Even though its head is starting to fall off, you’d think it was made of gold the way he displays it alongside the highway for all to see–marking the spot where he sells fresh garfish fillets.

And there we were; just two sisters at the end of a four-day work visit, still in our dirty work clothes, watching the sun set one last time before she had to leave.

We were just on the bayou bank, taking pictures of ourselves, giggling like silly school girls, when all of a sudden . . .

we got this creepy feeling that someone or something was watching us from behind the marsh grass.

something WAS watching us from behind the marsh grass . . .

and it was getting closer. Since I’m so brave and Heather is a chicken, I sent her with the camera to go take a closer look while I tried to distract the “something” away from her . . .

But it only came closer! And we could see its FIRY RED EYES, and it was SCARY!

But Heather was so brave, she just had to get one last photo . . .

before we made like hairs and SPLIT!!!!!

This is us, leaving that marsh monster behind.

We never did get to see the sunset.

But I promise you, next time we will have a pictorial post to beat all! Won’t we, Heather?

BW

Okay, I’m not talking about skeletons! I’m talking about memories. I’m talking about items with sentimental value. If they are in your closet, take them out and find new and inventive ways to display them in your home.

And this post is going to help you with that creativity! It just has a twist. I would like YOU to tell me about something you’ve kept over the years and why.

The older we get, the more memories we have; and hopefully, the more people our lives touch with each passing year. And as we get older, our grandparents are gone and our parents are most likely gone on to their reward and have left things behind for us to treasure.

What is your most sentimental treasure? The one that tells the most memorable story. It can be an item that reminds you of a person, a time, a place, or of just a memory.

I’d like you to write the story behind that special treasure. Why have you kept it? What does it mean to you? How often do you look at it? Is it on display? If not, then why not? Even painful memories are important and better than no memories at all.

I’d also like a photograph of that object, and make it as photogenic as possible. Get creative. Use fabrics behind it or a beautiful bedspread or piece of wood or furniture as a backdrop. Or an outdoor scene.

And along with that, I’d like your permission to share your story (edited by me) and your photo (which I will also edit if needed) on a special readers’ blog post.

I think it will be fun and interesting to see what kinds of things our readers have kept and why!

EMAIL your submissions to: captainwendy@wetlandtours.com
SUBJECT LINE: Treasures
DEADLINE: August 31st

Please attach your story as a Word Document. Please submit photos with the largest dimension being 800. If you don’t understand what I mean by that, ask a question in the Comments and I’ll be glad to clarify.

Go ahead and leave comments here whether or not you plant to participate, and if you hate the idea, go ahead and tell me that, too.  My feelings won’t be hurt, and that way I can stop checking my email box every five minutes and go do something productive with my life!

Okay, everyone! Get busy writing and photographing. I will have a surprise for you when we’re finished!

BW

Terry, one of our readers, is looking for a fig pie recipe. I have not yet made this recipe, but it comes highly recommended from my friend Lynn’s website: Eat Like a Native. This site features real Louisiana cooking by local folks. If you haven’t visited, please feel free. I put out a bulletin over there and this recipe was the result:

FRESH FIG PIE
5 c. peeled figs, cut in half
1 tbsp. cornstarch
7 tbsp. sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
6 tbsp. butter
10 inch lattice-top pastry
1 tsp. cinnamon or apple spice
Select figs that are ripe and firm. Cut in half. Place figs in an unbaked 10 inch pastry shell.
Combine cornstarch, sugar and spice; sprinkle over figs. Add lemon juice and dot with butter.

Form lattice top with strips of pastry. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until brown.

If you make the pie, please let us know how you liked it, ok?

BW

PHOTO CREDITS:  Termite!

Ok, let’s have some more fun, shall we?

Anybody care to guess?

CooNee: “Hey Mommy, whatcha doin’?”

Me: “I’m doing the laundry, CooNee.”

CooNee: “Pewee! This laundry is stinky like me!”

Me: “Well, this is how we give the laundry a bath , CooNee”

CooNee: “May I take my bath with the stinky laundry?”

Me: “No, CooNee! The washing machine is a dangerous place for little raccoons.”

CooNee: “Please help me close the door, Mommy!”

Me: “Come on out of there right now. That’s a good girl.”

CooNee:: “Ohhhhh, I see what you mean . . . dangerous . . .”

“and scary. Look at that stinky laundry going round and round.”

CooNee: “I don’t think my fur would like that very much, huh Mommy?”

Me: “No, baby, that is why I bathe you in the bathtub.”

CooNee: “I hate taking baths.”

CooNee: “And what’s this box for, Mommy?”

Me: “Oh, that’s a big barrell that tumbles round and round blowing very hot air to dry the clean laundry and raccoons who don’t like to take baths.”

CooNee: “Ok, Mommy. Let’s go take my bath now. Last one in the tub’s a stinky laundry!”

BW and CN

Ok, can’t stay here long, cuz it’s late and I gotta get some rest, as I must get an early start in the morning.

I did manage to get one quick photo of this bird while it was stalking crawfish in my yard!

I would like one of you who is a NON BIRDER to take some wild guesses as to what this bird is.

And please make your guesses good and funny so I can laugh really hard when I come home from slaving all day!

Ok, let her rip, folks!

I didn’t tell you that CooNee was gone, because I was too sad about it and I was hoping she would return.

Last Monday while we were gone all day, something happened to The Big Yellow Dog and CooNee. They disappeared. KatyBug sent me a hilarious story of how she imagined the two of them off on an adventure, CooNee riding on Yellow Dog’s back. I like the story and might use it one day, if she doesn’t mind!

It’s one week later, and CooNee has come home. There is still no sign of Yellow Dog, sad, I know.

She said to me in coon language, “Mommy, it’s me, CooNee. Please open the door. There are a bunch of cats out here, and you know I don’t like cats, Mommy.”

“Listen you felines, line up right there and don’t touch my bowl. Mommy is coming out here to feed me any minute now.”

“Don’t come any closer, or I’ll give you what for!”

“Mommy, pleeeeeeeease give me something to eat. I’m tired, and hungry, and thirsty and I have a hurt leg.”

“Thank you, Mommy. Now please give the cats theirs so they can quit staring at me!”