Missouri: Cuivre River State Park

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

I spent a June afternoon at Cuivre River State Park with family members who were camping there for the weekend.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

We went on a photography walk.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

I played with my new camera, with mixed results.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

 Much more practice ahead.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

It wasn't all about flowers. There were crawdads in the river. Not sure how their taste would stack up against the mudbugs in South Louisiana.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

And I followed one of my descendants on the trail. She always likes to be out front.

Cuivre River State Park. June 2016.

Elton, Louisiana: On My Way to the Powwow: A Glory of Pink Spoonbills

Roseate spoonbills, Elton, Louisiana. June 2015.

I was on my way to the Coushatta Powwow in Kinder, Louisiana. I'd already stopped for a look-see at the Savoy Saturday Cajun Jam, and despite the drizzle, I was feeling good, and things just got better when I spied - holy moly! - roseate spoonbills trolling for crawfish right before my eyes!

Roseate spoonbills, Elton, Louisiana. June 2015.

As a detached observer, I get to appreciate the birds' pink beauty and grace, while farmers who raise the crawfish in their commercial ponds might view the birds as thieves. There were other partners in crimes present, as well:

Roseate spoonbills, Elton, Louisiana. June 2015.

Roseate spoonbills derive their pink color from the crawfish shells they consume.

Roseate spoonbills, Elton, Louisiana. June 2015.

I love that we will soon have a new postcard-stamp series with birds, including the spoonbills:

June 2015 release of USPS postcard stamps, coastal birds. Credit: USPS

Here's one of two videos I took of the spoonbills feeding:

Both videos become annoyingly jerky in movement, and not in that artistic cinema-verité way. But the first 10-15 seconds give you a terrific glimpse into the activity.

What a treat for me to see these birds alongside the road!

Eunice, Louisiana: Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off

Eunice Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off, March 2014. 

March brings the Eunice Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off. The 2014 event was the 29th Annual, sha.

Eunice Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off, March 2014. 

It's extraordinary to smell the fragrances of  muddy bayou, spicy crawfish boil, and cinnamon buns all at once. I couldn't decide if I loved it or felt repelled by it. Attempts to come to a conclusion required many careful inhalations, to no avail. 

Eunice Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off, March 2014. 

The cultural fusion depicted below is pretty astounding in its complexity, even though it may appear kitschy on the surface. Everything means something: the colors, the courir de Mardi Gras mask and hat, the more urban Mardi Gras crown, the use of the crawfish as a totem; the beads, the gold coin, the fishing basket.  At least some features date back more than a thousand years. 

Eunice Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off, March 2014. 

There was a woman at the festival selling handmade dolls for the Wishing Doll Project.

Eunice Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off, March 2014. 

The Wishing Doll Project sells the handmade dolls to support enhancements in high poverty, high performance schools. The current drive is for an outdoor reading garden at Eunice's East Elementary School.

Do you think I loved this t-shirt? It really made me laugh.

Eunice Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off, March 2014. 

The KBON radio guy kindly posed for me so I could get a good pic of it.

Of course, there is no southern Louisiana festival without music and dancing.

Eunice Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off, March 2014. 

And here's a slide show:

#30

Louisiana: Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival!

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

It's always the first weekend of May, and in 2014, the town celebrated its 54th festival.

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

Bags checked at gate - not even a bottle of water alllowed in.

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

Fabulous music. Fabulous.  Six months ago, I didn't know these people existed, but today, I can tell you it is very satisfying to see venerable musicians such as Ray Abshire and D.L. Menard in person.

Ray Abshire and company, Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

I filmed Mr. Menard's performance (with the band Jambalaya) of his famous song, Back Door, here. How I love this song! I'm not wild about the quality of my video, though, so I invite you to watch the superior video below, which someone filmed at the 2009 Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival:

It was also fun to see people I "knew" from having watched videos before I went to the festival.

Like this good-lookin', good-dancin' couple below:

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

I first "met" them in the much-viewed video below from the 2009 festival:

Now look at that still photo again (above the video). See the slender guy on the right? In the flappy-eared hat? Well, that's Leon of Cafe des Amis renown, and you can watch him dance in the video here, taken by a visitor to that cafe:

Note: Leon's dance partner is doing a damn fine job herself.

It's pretty hot and sunny in BB, Louisiana, and as I have learned from watching southern Louisianans with parades, they know how to attend a festival. It's first come-first serve at the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, but you can bring your own shade tent and set it up in permissible areas. This is a life-saver when you're at the festival for the long haul. 

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

Of course, everyone has a chair.

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

If I were staying longer, I'd definitely invest in one of those folding chairs with its own awning.  Below, you can see one or two of these awning-chairs, but otherwise, you'll see a variety of umbrellas:

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

I never tire of watching people dance, especially zydeco. It's fun to see the same people at the different venues. You get to know their styles, their signature moves.

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

(Between you and me, though, I've learned that a lot of people dance whatever the hell they want to zydeco music, especially the jitterbug, the two-step, some form of swing, or just whatever the spirit moves them to do.)  

As my dance teacher said, as long as you're moving to the beat, it really doesn't matter.

DL Menard with Jambalaya, Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

Louisiana: An Addition to the Crawfish Collection #3

Crawfish chair, Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

I have not been remiss in my crawfish collecting activities.

Crawfish crossing, Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival 2014, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

There is an idea that some animals are easier to rally for, such as in protecting, if they have large eyes and they're furry-ish and you can anthropomorphize them. Pandas, baby seals, puppies and kittens, and the like.

Crawfish undertakers, Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off Festival 2014, Eunice, Louisiana

Crawfish don't fit this profile, but nevertheless, they are beloved.

Well, they are boiled and eaten and beloved.


A crawfish slide show:

Louisiana: "Holy Week Crawfish Supply Should Satisfy Demand"

Crawfish Etouffee, Crawfish Etouffee Cook-Off, Eunice, Louisiana

Here's a newspaper headline you don't see in most parts: Holy Week Crawfish Supply Should Satisfy Demand

Excerpted from The Daily Advertiser: LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — Louisiana crawfishermen and the merchants who sell the crustacean to retail customers say the supply should be enough to satisfy appetites during Holy Week and Easter weekend.

It's a welcome turn to a season marred by a harsh winter that stunted crawfish growth, limited the catch and made profit forecasts bleak.

In the days leading into Holy Week, prices for a pound of live crawfish ran from $2 at Db Seafood in Morgan City to $2.49 at Tony's Seafood Market and Deli in Baton Rouge.

The price was somewhere in between at D&T Seafood in Abbeville, where live, small-sized crawfish sold for $1.50 a pound and the mediums went for $2.25.

"We're going to have a decent supply" for Easter week, said D&T owner Don Benoit. ..... 

This reminds me of some other Lenten food stories. 


Snails

Georgia: Snails (Part 1)
Georgia: Snails (Part 2)

Snail, Gori, Caucasus Georgia

Capybara

On my first trip to Alamogordo, while on a road trip with my mother, we learned about capybara and Lent.

Capybara, Alamogordo Zoo, New Mexico

Louisiana: An Addition to the Crawfish Collection #2

In wooden form:

Crawfish, Iberville Parish Visitor Center, Louisiana

In metal:

Crazy Bout Crawfish Cajun Cafe, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

And in signage:

Crazy Bout Crawfish Cajun Cafe, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

And here's a lagniappe below - Elvis Presley and Kitty Bilbrew (White) singing Crawfish, in the movie King Creole:

The lyrics: 

Crawfish
Well I went to the bayou just last night
There was no moon but the stars were bright
Put a big long hook on a big long pole
And I pulled Mr. Crawfish out of his hole
Crawfish

See I got him, see the size
Stripped and cleaned before your eyes
Sweet meat look, fresh and ready to cook
Crawfish

Now take Mr. Crawfish in your hand
He's gonna look good in your frying pan
If you fry him crisp or you boil him right
He'll be sweeter than sugar when you take a bite
Crawfish

Louisiana: An Addition to the Crawfish Collection

Crawfish Hut, Rayne, Louisiana

There's something not right about this ol' crawfish heating up the very water that's going to be the agent of his demise.

At least in this mural outside Tlaxcala, Mexico, there was a pretense of fair play:

Tlaxcala, Mexico

Which brings me to the pig around the corner from Crawfish Hut.

This was a big pig. Maybe the biggest I'd ever seen. And - she? - was in a trailer. She was so big, I stopped my car and got out to go say, hey.

Pig, Rayne, Louisiana

She looked me right in the eye. Checked me out. As I made to leave, she proceeded to try and untie the twine holding the trailer gate closed. I'm hoping that if she was on her way to a boucherie, there was some dignity in her death.

Lafayette: Rouse's Supermarket

Rouse's Supermarket, Lafayette, Louisiana

I'm pretty taken with the artistry of Rouse's Supermarket on Bertrand Road in Lafayette.

Rouse's Supermarket, Lafayette, Louisiana

It is an edible museum of southern Louisiana foodstuffs.   

Rouse's Supermarket, Lafayette, Louisiana

I like that you can buy potatoes boiled in spices.

Rouse's Supermarket, Lafayette, Louisiana

I thought you pronounced the name of the store like "rooses," but I heard a local call it "rowses."

The word is that because it was a cold and particularly rainy winter, the crawfish harvest isn't as good as it normally is, so the prices are very high.

I saw smoked turkey tails in Rouse's once and I regret I didn't have my camera with me because I haven't seen them since. Which just proves my point here.