§ Legend of the Swamp

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MONDAY MORSELS


Now there is a bit of historical significance to this primal cemetery within the swamp. First of all, I knew we were coming upon it because I read before we left what to expect. I knew OF the cemetery, but didn't know the historical facts. I also knew about the lone cabin hidden amongst the cypress trees...but, didn't know its recent history either. So, for my morsels this week, I thought I'd share what I learned...

Long ago, there was a small Louisiana village along the banks of the Mississippi River. The name was Frenier. Julie Brown [sometimes known as Julia Brown], who owned much property in the area, had been the town oracle [aka - a voodoo priestess] in Frenier [today, pronounced fra NEAR] for many years. In the early evenings, Julia would sit on her front porch singing and playing her guitar. One of her favorite songs foretold the destruction of the town, and the lyrics of the song included, "one day I'm gonna die, and I'm gonna take all of you with me." The year was 1915 - a year that rocked the USA's Gulf Coastal regions with many devastating hurricanes. On September 28th a storm was threatening the coast, heading toward Frenier. Julia Brown died just before...then, on the 29th it hit. Many lives of the village were taken by the horrendous storm --Julia had taken the town with her when she died. Buried were many. And as the crosses show on this property, Julia was buried a far distance [shown of the smaller cemetery photos - bottom right] from any of the other townspeople so she could rest in peace, and not ever be disturbed. Perhaps even in the midst of it all, those left behind feared her religion and voodooism. Also note: the cabin hidden only to come into view when traveling along one of the swamp's canals has been used for several television shows [like Survivor] and in a video for Country Western Music. One song video recorded was Black Fly by Linda Ortega....




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'tons' more coming
this one is taken within the
city limits of New Orleans
stay tuned...

§ If a tree falls in a swamp...do you hear it?

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

         Joyce Kilmer 1886-1918

I could have spent days in this area. The deep crevices and dark sinister shadows abound. Still, it is just too beautiful, peaceful, and quiet for words. Living here for me? No...too many venomous snakes for my taste and sanity but, to piece it all together - several movies, music videos and other filming locales nearby are duly noted; the oscar winner "Monster's Ball" was filmed here...LaPlace Louisiana. About 25 to 30 miles west of New Orleans, on the east bank of the mighty Mississippi River. All backwoods and nearly untouched by the wrath and pollution of the human handiwork - pristine comes to mind. A distant train whistle can be heard eventually, but the bird song and the gentle lapping of the swamp current is about the only sound noted. The small village a distance up the highway, is renowned to be the "Andouille Capital of the World." Andouille is a spicy, coarse ground sausage. French in origin, of course. Anyway, our tour's Captain Allen took us through twists and turns as we all ventured back in time when population was near nil -- back to nature as it were. With the shadows cast on the wetland, it all became ghostly and threatening by the end of the over two and a half hour tour; with voodoo history and swamp curses, my imagination started to take 'hold. I've read and researched our trip beforehand --the swamps are reportedly haunted. I wasn't gonna stick 'round to find any truth to the fact....

As I stated on yesterday's post; I love the beauty of bald cypress and the ever-hanging Spanish Moss, and always dreamed of taking a trek through the Louisiana swamplands to see the stately trees up close and personal. Saturday's post was wildlife we saw while going down the hidden canals in the swamp. "Cajun Pride" LINK HERE. Tomorrow I will continue with a bit more of the Cajun wetlands, with an ancient burial ground and a hidden cabin on the banks of the swamp's canal.











SUNDAY'S SUMMARY

This week has been nothing but 'catch-up work'. Around the house, I finished decorating our tree[photo here] one day with Bud , and then part of the week, I started doing laundry and then the dryer started not drying the clothes...I would run it for the usual 45 minutes and when the alarm went off, I opened the door only to find damp clothes...did it another 45 minutes and still damp. Had to wait and get it fixed ---by then, I had twelve loads of wash from the couple of days before Thanksgiving and the vacation clothes and all of this week's. I started washing at 4:30 one morning and didn't get 'em all washed, dried, and folded and permanent press hung and put away 'til about 7 pm. I finished putting out a few Christmas decorations...got that finished as much as I'm going to do....wrapped and packaged the gifts for the two grandsons and our daughter. Will get that to the Post Office for shipping this coming week. Spent one morning shopping for a couple of small gifts for Bud, and bought myself one. LOL Another day, I finally got to the grocery store for much needed paper and food supply. While on our trip to New Orleans, I bought three books and have been skimming through them to help make up my mind which I will read first....one, a book on all the historical buildings in and around the French Quarter, one of Jean Lafitte for Bud and another non-fiction for myself --Intimate Enemies about a baroness of New Orleans [her father in law shot her 4 times to kill her and inherit her money -according to French Laws back then- but she survived and shortly thereafter, the FIL died]. She then went forward and had designed some buildings in the Old section of New Orleans [her father designed and constructed the Cathedral and two other buildings beside the church in downtown New Orleans back in the late 1700s.] I hope these books are worth the money. LOL Also, began working and resizing the over 200 photos I took on our trip. And as I resize them, I will share some here on my blog as I've been doing the last couple of days...and more days to follow. Oh, and besides buying me an early gift for myself while shopping for something for Bud, I also found the cutest soft sculpture Snowlady, I just had to bring it home. And of course, Bud's reaction was "And where are you gonna put that?"

§ Cajun Pride....a swamp tour

...another reservation I had made for the three of us on the following day was to tour the swamps on a boat. And this is one I looked forward to doing. You see, I love the bald cypress trees with the Spanish Moss hanging so gracefully; swinging in the breezes --to me, it is what makes the swamps beautiful. That, and the colors. Being that our trip was Autumnal season, I was sure some of the grasses and low-lying plants may have some color [which they did]. Now the difference between swamp and marsh is ... swamps are more or less all wooded, while marsh just has grasses and reeds. The tour was on private property...250 acres of pristine, quiet, wetlands, with twists and turns along several canals amongst the moors! It was about 2 1/2 hours into the swamps, just coasting along the canals and viewing, viewing, viewing. We got a lot of history of the area along with seeing wildlife, Cajun cabins, and even an ancient cemetery!!! Since today is Camera Critter Day for blogging, I thought I'd show some of the critters along the way [I'll share the cemetery and cabin and the beauty of the water and trees on another post coming soon]....




One of the bronze sculptures at the boats' docks


The great gator wrestler...me,
and a turtle sunning itself along the tour's route


Gators galore!


Capt. Jack Sparrow Allen and Bud with 1 yr. old alligator


Baby alligator [held by Erik]


Egrets


Egrets and a snake...
Water Moccasin - The captain stopped the boat, circled around and came closer to the wooded area...telling us there is a snake there. He also said he 'smelled' it beforehand. I was impressed. Must be the Cajun upbringing! LOL....for I did not smell a thing! Nor did I see it. But I took a photo of the area he was pointing to and when I got home...I'll be darned, there it was - pretty as a picture!! [not!] Dang. [Captain Allen said the moccasins emit a very powerful musky odor...okay, gotcha. Like I'm gonna be walking in the swampland, smellin' out snakes!!!]


More egrets