I had a bit of a "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" moment this morning. The devil was these @#@$# cicadas. They are soooooo loud. They team up and when several of them are screaming, it drowns out everything....whether it's the pretty bird songs or my less-than-pretty guitar strummin'. It was deserted and peaceful around here this morning, so I grabbed my guitar and sat out on a bench to practice some of my new Cajun tunes. As soon as I started, the cicadas jumped in. First one - then two - then three.... It was so loud that I snapped - Bring it on cicadas!!!!! I played louder, then they played louder. I played so hard the strings were about to snap. The cicadas gave it their all and I played even harder. Louder and louder and louder we went. This went on for a couple of minutes, then something thumped on the bench.....then another and another and the trees went silent. I stopped playing, wiped the sweat from my eyes and studied the bench. There were 3 dieing cicadas spinning circles on the bench and ground. Their wings were shredded and all they could do was spend their last minutes walking quiet circles on the ground. I had won. I'm sure the other cicadas heard everything and I predict I won't be having anymore cicada troubles.
I walked up to the little stores to get a soda. The radio was playing a Cajun music station. While I was there, that annoying emergency broadcast signal came on. There was a severe thunder storm alert for our area between 3-6 pm. I was supposed to be in the Baton Rouge area at 4 pm so I decided to grab a shower and leave early to beat the weather. I was nervous about the drive anyway and having to drive in a storm really worried me. Driving on freeways is my nemesis.
Within a half hour I was on the road. I made it to Baton Rouge, but between there and Prairreville, It caught me. I managed to get to a Walmart parking lot and watch it rain. It rained hard with lots of lightening. I ran into the Walmart to get a coffee and the thunder shook the place. But, I seemed to be the only one that noticed (or cared). I think it is more exciting for a California boy. I thought it was the end of the world at the same time as 80 year old ladies were parking their cars and going in to shop.
After the little pit-stop I drove the last few minutes to my friend John's house. He and I became acquainted last year when he was looking for a cross-in-nature graphic for some T-shirts. He had email me through my web site (www.thecrossweb.com). One thing led to another and eventually to guitars. He bought three guitars on Ebay and had them shipped to me. I restored them and sent 2 of them to him. He gave one to a group that sends guitars, for free, to missionaries all over the world. The other has been at his house, waiting to bless the right person. Well, the right person came along a couple of weeks ago and John set it up for me to meet her while I was here and present the guitar to her. It's kind of a long story, but the new owner, Angela, hoped to get a guitar for her birthday. She knew someone that knew John, and everything fell in place. Amazing Grace is the first song she wants to learn, so I played my Delta blues version for them while John recorded it with his iphone. Its pretty darn interesting that his phone only recorded the video... no audio...hmmmm
I always say that I would rather someone didn't take a guitar unless they LOVE it. Well I could tell right off that she loves it. It looked perfect in her hands.
For the past year or so, John and Susan have been working on building a chapel on his property. His yard is full of giant 150+ year old oak trees. The little chapel is nestled in between the trees. It's not completed, but it is beautiful. It is built from reclaimed Cyprus, with thick beams and other wood that he has salvaged. There are old columns on the front and pine flooring from old buildings around New Orleans. The layers of worn paint on the old wood give the place a subdued, but colorful look. It has stained glass and cathedral windows. The coolest part is that it even has a copper steeple complete with a huge cast iron bell. This my kind of building!
No entry here would be complete without a paragraph or two about food. John treated us to dinner at "On the half shell". OK, are you ready? We started with oysters with assorted toppings. They were all excellent, but the ones with sundried tomatoes were particularly good. For the meal, I had blackened Mahi Mahi with a creamy crab sauce, salad and a corn side dish with a french name that I can't remember.
I said goodbye to John and Angela and headed back to the highway. The storm had passed here but the sky was beautiful. The highway turns into a causeway and travels above the water for about 15 miles. I crossed a huge bridge over the Mississippi river. In about an hour I was back to the cabin. It started raining just as I pulled the car to a stop. I grabbed my stuff and ran for the door. I spent the rest of the evening sitting on the porch, listening to the rain on the tin roof and watching the lightening streak across the sky. At one point, there was lightening bolts about every 5 seconds.
No need for TV or a remote - I was watching the original "Big Screen"
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