The weather is beautiful these days but a little chilly still. I’ve noticed a neighbor keeps her small greenhouse up just in case we have another freeze which I certainly hope we don’t.
The Purple Martins are busily stuffing their new house with nesting material. A neighbor has several Martin houses up on his seawall but I don’t think they are habitable since they haven’t been cleaned in years.
I am seeing and hearing Eagles everywhere. Two flew low overhead the other day as I stood in my yard. On the levee where I go almost every day, the eagles are whistling and swooping. Perhaps all the dogs attract them. And I think these must be the young ones.
Crawfishing is busy. I haven’t heard much about quantity though a friend told me she and her family bought a sack and the price was $3 a pound so that makes what----about $120 a sack?? They said the crawfish were good but a little small. An expensive meal unless you share with family. I may buy a few pounds just for myself since I see a sign at the corner convenience place.
I just watched two YouTube videos on the Darien Gap, a 60 mile passage in the jungle between Panama and Colombia. It’s a route used by people trying to get into the US or at least some country where they apparently might feel or be safe. At least in one video, some of the people walking the gap trail came from India, Africa, South America, all had paid large sums of money to get where they were with no guarantee they’d survive . Sixty miles in a jungle wearing shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, women carrying babies. It is an awful place I’d never heard of until a friend told me about the videos.
Development along Hwy 70 in the Stephensville area seems to be speeding up a bit. I am not sure what is being planned but there is a lot of dirt work going on before the Stephensville road. Not so much between Stephensville and Belle River but I suspect the lack of activity in that area is hampered by no solid ground. But even the swampy places will probably be filled one of these days .
I like where I live. I have good neighbors but there are times when I wish I was back in the spillway, on a houseboat with only trees and canals around. I miss the solitude even though I never felt lonely when I lived out there. Of course, my husband was alive then and my children were little so it’s hard to compare. And realistically I know I could not manage that life style at my age. Lots of good memories though.
One thing I don’t miss is wondering if my house/houseboat—was still going to be floating when I’d been away. It was always such a relief to reach the mouth of the location where my house was and see the houseboat floating at the end, high and dry. We never came close to sinking but the thought was always there for some reason. Now I worry that I might have left a candle burning when I went away.
Belle River water level is high now. The water laps under my house making a funny pinging noise against one of the pipes. The batture of the levee is underwater in some places though not enough for boats. It is enough for off road vehicles to make a mess, doing wheelies or whatever in the shallow water. I suppose the deputies who check the landing don’t have the time or interest to keep these ATV’s off the levee. In all fairness, probably they just don’t have the time. It’s a shame to see the batture get so cut up.
Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be emailed at lindacooke1939@ gmail.com.
