BitterSweetLife

With a hat tip to Sam Gamgee, we have returned from the far reaches of Louisiana, thoroughly renewed in mind and spirit and with a lot of gumbo under our belts. Actually, it wasn't as if we were way out in the sticks - just far enough out for comfort. My sister's fiance's family has what amounts to (keep in mind this is a city kid speaking) a small plantation about an hour outside of New Orleans. We had an adventurous, spicy, heart-pumping time.

I was telling Lindsay that this was the most carefree vacation I've had in quite a while. The schedule was structured, but just so it would give enough resistance to be comfortable. We road horses, tore around the property on a four-wheeler, climbed live oaks, and played football and volleyball and hide-and-seek, all accompanied by our intrepid hosts who also doubled as guides and made sure no one got killed in the rapier fights. Somehow we also found time to drive into New Orleans, including the French Quarter, which is remarkably intact, and I read half of Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing. Every couple hours we stopped the running, jumping and reading to eat jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, etc., and drink gallons of coffee with chicory.

While playing hide-and-seek, I rediscovered that frighteningly good feeling you have as a kid when you are sneaking around outside after dark, crawling through patches of shadow, listening to twigs snap, making strategic alliances with your siblings so that maybe they will get tagged instead of you when you are forced to make a run for it - the strange thrill of trying hard not to get caught. I also rediscovered the fact that I play a pretty mean game of hide-and-seek.

We love the new in-laws-to-be. We had a ridiculously good time.

Some of you might also enjoy this earlier post, which features some New Orleans photos. Now I must begin to adjust to the snow and ice which greeted us upon our return home...