Photo by B. Fontana, with thanks. Growing up here, I spent a lot of time in the woods . We had lots of crayfish in the river back then, and always had to watch our feet when wading in the river. Alas, there have been very few recent sightings of crayfish; I haven't seen one in the 6 years I've been back.
But wait! This picture isn't too clear, but it's exciting!
Another woman who loves the woods snapped this picture several days ago and sent me a copy of it - a crayfish! I hope this means they're returning. Signs of crayfish, along with bull frogs, swans and other life forms mean that the river is getting healthier and that is a very good thing.
Of course, now I cannot stop humming Hank Williams' song:
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file' gumbo
'Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou
'Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou
It's a toe tapper for sure!
After viewing this picture, my mind wandered back 4 years to New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. That was beyond terrible. I simply cannot imagine the horror of the humans and animals with the onslaught of water and wind, not to mention the fear of being stranded on rooftops and the grief of leaving behind beloved animals to fend for themselves. I shudder and weep still whenever I see a documentary about that catastrophe - which didn't need to be as horrific had Bush not been installed as POTUS by the Supreme Court (I don't believe Al Gore would ever leave that City and all her inhabitants to drown and yes, I do think he would have been a 2 term President had we had a legimate election), had the levees been repaired and had the shrimpers been listened to. I hope Marie Laveau haunts Bush's dreams. Cheney's, too. And often. You might even enjoy a bit of this yourself! Yes, I know, I'm bad. Bad 7 year old witch - do you hear, bad! To which I reply, "You've been fired, censor - begone or you might find that you're food for that crayfish."
One of my sisters is a very talented mosaic artist and she did this piece. If you follow the link to her Flickr page, you can view it in more detail and also read her story about the piece.
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2 comments:
I just read a book called Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, about a Muslim-American family caught up in the Katrina mess. Unbelievable what Homeland Security/FEMA did to them. The maiden name of the woman in the story is Kathy Delphine!!!!
Thanks, Donna - I'll have to look for the book especially with Kathy Delphine in it! I'm sure that I'll be disturbed by it, though - there just was NO need for the loss of life, both human and non human, to occur from the delayed response. It's just sickening and criminal.
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