Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas)!

Darlene & C R Albritton

Finally out of Grand Rapids, Louisiana looked absolutely wonderful while we fretted over schedules of where, who, when and how we would all get through family days together. It was great that my Mom could come down with Darren, Donna and the kids and get together with Jared, Jaime and Henry along with Blaise and Laurie. While some had in-law family functions needing attention, others went in many directions over the weekend. Mom and I got a chance to get out and drive down to Gramercy & Lutcher on the River Road and saw the old plantations and countryside. My real intent was to show her the bonfires on the levee. Each Christmas, people on the rivers build huge bonfires to light the way for Papa Noel to find his way to the good girls and boys on Christmas Eve.Decades ago, these bonfires also helped families find their way up and down bayous and rivers as they found their way to and from midnight mass.

Most of the levee bonfires are seen near Gramercy and Lutcher, LA. While most are conical bonfires cut from local willows down behind the levee, some are more elaborate in various shapes. I've seen them shaped like the state capitol, airplanes, trucks, houses and this year, a motor home.

Adding to the confusion, I got a call from the office asking me to be in Honolulu for a while soon after Christmas. Without hesitation, Darlene asserted her desire to go too, so we booked both our flights and flew out on Christmas day, thinking it might be less hassle and crowds then. This was true to a point.

I took Darlene to the New Orleans airport early then turned back to Baton Rouge where I caught out 3 hours later. The different schedules and airlines were to put us into Honolulu within 30 minutes of each other but snow and delays in Denver let Darlene sit in a plane on the tarmac for 4 hours and making her 6 hours late.

Oh well, we're here. During the weekdays, Darlene spends time walking around downtown Honolulu and Waikiki, getting shin splints from wearing sandals.

Saturday, we took somewhat of a tour around the northshore through the towns of Mokuleia, Haleiwa the beaches of Banzai Pipeline.
Although the big waves were not here yet, there were several in the 15 foot range. Locals tell us we should be able to see the "big ones within the month if I'm still here.

Beautiful seascapes included things like Chinaman's Hat near mountains where scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed.


This is Sunday, so we'll be out and hopefully tonight I can edit a few surfer pictures.
Sometime in the next two weeks, we plan to visit the USS Arizona/Pearl Harbor Memorial.


Here's the link for all the photos on the Hawaii blog. (Click for the photo link)

We made an attempt a snorkeling at Hanauma Bay but arrived an hour prior to low tide and by the time we got through the lines the water was so low, it made for miserable swimming over the dead coral in the extinct (we hope it's extinct) volcano cone.
We decided to cash it in and gladly pay the buck apiece for a ride up on the trolley.

Grand Rapids.......Outta there!!!!!!!!

A body can only take so much cold......well, that's my take on it and probably there's a million MichiGANDERS who might take issue with me on that but I for one, can't see why someone in their right mind would live in a place where snow is on the ground for 5 months of the year ....on purpose.

Anyway, I busted out of there this past Friday morning and flew to O'Hare in Chicago where we let American Airlines delay us for an hour for our flight to Baton Rouge.

Saturday promised us rain but it pretty much stayed dry so I took advantage of the warm morning and mounted the marvelous contraption for a few miles before the clouds formed and the thunderstorms swept in.

As I was leaving, the home office called and scheduled me for a few days in Abbeville, LA. Monday morning found me on I-10 headed west to Abbeville in a rented Impala to where I had not visited in 10 years, way back in my optical sales life. Not much had changed.

After settling into my hotel in Lafayette, I met up with Toni, the rep I'm working with temporarily, and had dinner at Mulate's in Breaux Bridge. Great food and tons of atmosphere.
Too bad we were both ready to leave just as the band was pulling out the fiddle and the accordion.

Tuesday afternoon, I headed back home again, admiring the Atchafalaya swamp on I-10. Darlene had forgotten that Rebecca and Jacqueline was to be in a Gonzales community play
(That's Rebecca in the blue)
so we changed clothes and made our way into town.

Probably wasn't an Academy Award production but it's family. That's what it's all about, isn't it?

Relief From the Cold

Friday, December 7: Wearing a wool cap and a leather jacket over a wool sweater, I hopped on a plane out of Grand Rapids for home and just didn't feel bad about it at all. On arriving in Baton Rouge, I had already shed the jacket, rolled up the sleeves of my sweater and stuffed the wool cap into one of my bags.

Darlene had been sick with the crud and missed 3 work days so she wasn't into eating out or visiting friends and relatives so we went directly home. Both of us were a little hungry so I fired up Boudreau and ran up to DeAngelo’s Pizzeria for her and picked up a calzone and a shrimp poboy at Gulfnet for me.

Saturday morning, Darlene was still feeling badly and the last thing she wanted was me hanging around while she continued to sleep. Even though I felt a little guilty for enjoying myself while she stayed home, I overcame my reluctance and rode the motorcycle into Baton Rouge to see my grandson, Henry (yes, Jared and Jaime too). Pretty spooky in that much fog.

By 11 AM, the fog had begun to burn off and the road was dry so I called Louis, a friend of 25+ years and agreed on meeting in St Francisville. Arriving there, I found the streets crowded with people enjoying "Christmas In The Country", and annual event that draws people from Mississippi to Baton Rouge. After making a few passes through the middle of town and dodging jaywalking pedestrians I managed to find Louis taking aim at a jambalaya stand. I parked the Harley, talked a bit with Jan and some of their relatives and wandered back into the center of town to check out a black gospel band. The smell of barbecue and the smoke of open grills permeated the warmness of the day. I think I had missed the parade.

Before long, Louis and I cranked our bikes up and headed east on Hwy 10 through Jackson, turned north on 19 and drove through towns I'd never been in like Wilson and Norwood before getting to Centerville, MS.,where we then turned back west toward Woodville and eventually back south to St Francisville. I have to admit, that was some pretty country up in the northern part of the Felicianas and southern Mississippi. As we cruised in 80 degree weather, I couldn't help but think of the cold and snowy conditions in Grand Rapids.

Arriving home, Darlene was feeling a bit better but wasn't into going out so we concocted a batch of red beans & rice and apple pie before both nodding off while watching a boring movie on TV.

Sunday was equally beautiful but Darlene was still in no mood for getting out so I went up for a short visit with Jared, Jaime and Henry and met Blaise & Laurie before having to come back, repack and catch a plane for Grand Rapids. I'll note that there was a fifty degree difference between home and the 28 degrees I arrived at in Michigan.

Again, it was a wonderful weekend.

Winter......redux

Last winter (2006) started with me seeing a light dusting of snow in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas then on to White Bear Lake(MN), St Paul (MN), Navarre (OH), Ada(MI) and eventually finishing out in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

What do these all have in common, you might ask. Answer: I froze my rear end off at all these places and saw more snow that year than I have in my life.

I have the sneaking suspicion this might be a repeat of sorts. This weekend, it started snowing and according to the forecasts, the Grand Rapids area will get snow every day this week. My feet may never thaw.

On the optimistic side, I'll be out of Michigan within the next two weeks but the pessimist side of me says this is just the preamble for a really long, cold and white winter. I really miss ole Boudreau and those warm winter days on River Road in Ascension Parish.