Random Thoughts and Thinking Rings

 Location: Bayou Segnette State Park; Westwego, Louisiana

This post is going to be a little different than most of my other posts, mainly for two reasons. Rain, sometimes heavy, occurred two of the three days I was here and this is the third time I've been in this campground and area. Both of those reasons resulted in almost zero explorations. I did find a couple of things that sounded interesting, but both were closed until Wednesday which will be tomorrow and moving day. I stayed here back in 2016 and explored downtown New Orleans. I'll post the links to those three posts. Although conditions have improved somewhat in New Orleans in the recent months, it is still considered an unsafe place for a person that explores on their own, like I do. Back in 2016, I didn't hesitate to travel around the city on foot as well as using every streetcar line. Here's the links if you're interested in New Orleans >>>>>>>>>

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2016/02/new-orleans-part-1.html

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2016/02/new-orleans-part-2_22.html

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2016/02/new-orleans-part-3-and-last.html

This last link is from my visit here in 2023 when I traveled as far south as I could alongside the Mississippi River.

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2023/12/where-mississippi-river-ends.html

I promise I'm not turning my blog into a link-only blog. This one and the last one were special circumstances. Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be moving to a new-to-me Campground on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. New explorations and favorable weather awaits (fingers crossed).

This is my promised road picture. It is South Louisiana between New Iberia and Morgan City.

My campsite here at Bayou Segnette SP. At $13.33 per night, with the senior pass, for water/electric is a good deal. The previous camper left a lot of trash and a few whiskey bottles behind. I cleaned it up a little and let the people at the office know about it. I figured they just hadn't had enough time to clean since I checked in early, so I didn't complain loudly. I just wanted to make sure, if they kept records of this kind of stuff, they knew it wasn't me. 

A few random thoughts:

1) I've checked my blood pressure and blood sugar every morning for the last several years. Like a good little former Engineer, I keep the results in an Excel spreadsheet so I can run averages, trends, graphs, etc. It works good when I try something new so I can identify if it's working or not. One such thing is a supplement I started using a few months ago. It is Berberine/Cinnamon/Chromium. I had read it was good at regulating and lowering both Pressure and Sugar. I've been using it for almost 6 months and it has, on average, lowered my blood sugar by almost 20 points and it has regulated it to reduce random highs. It has also had a positive effect on my blood pressure. I'm really satisfied with it. The only problem is the first 3 bottles I used had those three ingredients all in one capsule. I had a hard time finding that brand so I've had to get Berberine by itself and Cinnamon/Chromium by their selves. It's just a small inconvenience for such positive effects. 

2) My new truck (Ford F-250), is getting about 10 1/2 miles per gallon while towing Liberty. This is an improvement of about 2 to 3 mpg from my old truck (Ford F-250). That was good news although I still miss my old truck. This new one keeps hollering at me for no good reason. 

3) Last year, I bought 10 silicone rings of various colors. I have them in a zip lock bag that is hanging on my medicine cabinet door. They are located there so they will be very visible. After brushing my teeth in the mornings, I'll think about a subject, a word or a memory that I want to remember or think about during the day. I will then reach in and blindly choose a ring. The reason for the different colors is so I don't get used to the ring. I want the color to spark my mind whenever I casually see it during the day. While wearing it during the day, it will jog my memory/remind me/knock me up side my head so I will ruminate (fancy word for deep thinking) on whatever I thought about that morning before putting the ring on. For example, one morning I was remembering my father who passed away many years ago. Every time I noticed the ring during the day, I would remember different things about him. Don't get me wrong, I don't need something to remind me of him, but this way, I thought of him a lot more that day. Other days, I may chose a subject like "honor" or "loyalty", "truth", "liberty" etc. It is surprising how much you can think about a single word when the ring reminds you throughout the day. Yeah, yeah, some of ya'll are going to think I'm crazy crazier, but I don't care. Hey, guess what, tomorrow's word will be,,,,, "crazy".

My rings of many colors. I haven't settled on what to call them yet, but am leaning towards "thinking rings". I think I paid like $10 for all 10. 

On that crazy note, I'll end the Random Thoughts. As I said, tomorrow is moving day. I'll be taking about a 20 mile detour to avoid crossing Lake Pontchartrain on the Causeway (bridge). The causeway is the longest continuous bridge, over water, in the world at a little less than 24 miles. The reason I'm avoiding it, is it doesn't have shoulders. Although there are two lanes in each direction, if Freedom or Liberty has any problems, we're blocking an entire lane for an undetermined amount of time. Therefore, I'll detour by way of I-10 which means I'll be passing through most of New Orleans. As usual whenever I pass thru a questionable and large city, I'll just crank up the music and check for bullet holes when I get to the campground.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

Palmetto Island State Park

 Location: Palmetto Island State Park; Abbeville, Louisiana

I stayed at this campground back in December of 2023. It's conveniently located so I can visit my sister who lives about 35 minutes away. I didn't do any out of the way exploring this time due to rain showers and visiting time, but I did re-read the post I made back in 2023 and it was pretty good. So I think I'll post that link here and then post some recent pictures from this trip with captions. If the link isn't hot, then look at the archives on the right under December 2023. 

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2023/12/cajun-country-and-tabasco-factory.html

Campsite here at Palmetto Island SP. The rate is $15.83 per night for full hook-ups. Camping is half price for seniors (62+). The warned me not to hook up my sewer hose until right before I pull out on the last day. Apparently, the black bears have taken a liking to sewer hoses and ripped several away from parked RV's. 

The view out my back window while sitting at my computer desk. The frond-like plants are palmettos. 

This is the entrance to the state park. It is a reminder that there are animals around here that can kill and eat you. I'm more concerned about the black bears than the gators. I'm also keeping an eye out for the Rougarous that are suppose to be around here somewhere. 

Southern Live Oak trees with spanish moss along the road leading to the State Park.

I forgot to take a road picture so I got this one on the way back from my sister's place. The water on the right is a crawfish pond and the back dots are the traps catching the crawfish. Sometimes rice is planted in the ponds, but not always. By the way, it's "crawfish", not "crayfish". 

I had a hankering for some shrimp but wasn't sure if I wanted them sauteed like above or in a gumbo. 

I decided to go the gumbo route. But I ain't going to make the roux from scratch, no. I pulled one of the gumbo boxes I carry when I'm traveling up north (Yankee country). It makes a pretty good gumbo, although I like it with chicken and sausage better than shrimp. That is my electric skillet I'm making it in. That was one of the best things I bought for the new RV. I use it as a pot or skillet. I haven't used the gas stove in over a year. 

This picture may start an argument among some people. There is always a controversy about having the tator salad in a saucer on the side or in the bowl like I do. Of course mine is the right way and those other mis-guided people will come to their senses in the years to come. I will accept their apologies at that time. The red dots are cayenne hot sauce. 

I'm putting this picture here as documentation. In my last post I said I would take a picture and use it to see if Liberty is slightly nose down and it appears she is, which is good. I'm satisfied with the way the hitched up couple look in the picture. It would be nice if I could send the picture to the original Freedom and Liberty, but they don't have internet access. Oh well.

I'm sorry for such a boring post, but if that hot link was good, that linked post is informative and pretty good. Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be heading a little over 100 miles east to another State Park near New Orleans. The rainy weather is due to pass and it looks like it may get warmer and more humid. Hopefully not. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

Gulf of America and Initial Starlink Review

 Location: Intracoastal Park; Calcasieu Parish Louisiana

Yesterday was the first time I've seen the Gulf of America and it was a good day. It sure looks a lot like the old Gulf of Mexico. Although I didn't have any healthy bologna, I still packed a lunch of turkey/swiss cheese and headed south. Now if you head south from where I'm camped you will eventually have to turn east or west or end up in the Gulf of America. It's a leisurely 30 minute drive with a few interesting things along the way. I explored some of those things the last time I was here and didn't stop this time. If you're interested in them you can read my old posts here >>> https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2014/12/moving-day-cajun-riviera-and-circle-of.html and here >>> https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2023/12/marshes-and-gulf-of-mexico.html

It's always a good ride when headed to the Gulf and the weather was great. Window down and letting the Freedom Fragrance fly around.

There is a large LNG export plant just a little south of the campground. They collect natural gas through pipelines, clean it up a little bit, then cool it down to about -260 degrees where it turns to liquid. Once in the liquid state its volume has been decrease by 600 times. As long as it remains cold, it can be pumped onto ships like in the picture. This ocean going ship is on the Calcasieu Ship Channel and appears to be headed to the Gulf. The drilling for and exporting of natural gas is big industry in Louisiana. 

There is a small fleet of shrimp boats on the way to the Gulf. You can buy shrimp that was caught just hours before you buy it. I thought about it, but didn't want to mess with them. Most of the Walmarts in south Louisiana sells frozen Wild Caught Gulf Shrimp. Since I can't really tell the difference between fresh, fresh and recently frozen, I get mine at Walmart for the convenience. I do have a hankering for some shrimp gumbo now. I guess as Jerry Clower would say, "I've done flung a craving on to myself". 

For those along for the ride, here's your picture. The water on left if pretty much natural while the water on the right is probably a "borrow ditch". The dirt that was dug up was used to make the road. There a several places along the way where people can fish and crab alongside the road.

It was the first time Freedom2 had seen the Gulf and she was gobsmacked (you younger folk may need to ask a seasoned citizen for the defintion).

This is looking east from where we parked. Just like in Texas, you can drive on the beach. Even though my truck has 4 wheel drive and new tires, I didn't feel comfortable driving alone. Freedom laughed at me and called me chicken, but I held firm and stayed parked on solid sand.

This is looking west from the same location. Notice the rip-rap (stone) breakwaters doing their job at protecting and creating the beach. Money well spent.

This is the community of Holly Beach. The gulf is one block to the right in this picture. The entire community has been wiped our several time by hurricanes but people continue to rebuild.  

I've been using my Starlink Mini for the last six weeks or so. It's been doing really good and provides fast internet speeds even without having it accurately aligned. I guess if I spent time adjusting it more, the speeds would increase but I've fine as it is for now. I'll probably get bored one day and play around with it just to see how high of a speed I can get by aligning it more. I'm using about 1 Gb per day while using my laptop and haven't used it for TV or streaming movies. In fact, I haven't turned my TV on in months and don't miss it. I guess I need to make sure it works because it is useful when traveling if bad weather is around. The local TV stations give more detailed information than my Accuweather app. Anyway, back to the starlink. I get 50 Gb per month for $50.00. If I overrun the 50 Gb's, I'm charged $1.00 per Gb over 50. If I want to, I can go with the unlimited option for $165.00 per month but so far, the 50 option seems to work for my use. It will be interesting to see the challenges to setting up the receiver in future campsites. At any time, I can pause my service and resume it in the future. I've heard people talk about pausing it for a week and use it for a week. I don't think I'll do that, but we will see. That was a little bit rambling. If ya'll have any questions, just post it in the comments. I'll do an additional review after a few campgrounds. 

I'm looking forward to having a visiting lunch with my oldest son today. Tomorrow is moving day and I had planned to use the Cameron Ferry to cross the shop channel but the ferry is out of service so I'll have to go the long way around to get to my next campground. 

I took this picture while I was walking around the campground. The lift bridge is only used in special cases for over-sized loads. It hasn't been lifted since I've been here this time but was when I stayed here previously.

I've camped in many places where I could easily see the tow boats working but this place is the best. I can hear them all night long, but it isn't a problem. This was near sundown yesterday evening. The sunset was below average but the calm and peaceful feeling was above average. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

Trip Began and Questions Answered

 Location: Intracoastal Waterway Park; Calcasieu Parish, Louisisana

First things first, Calcasieu is pronounced Cal-ka-shoe and whenever you see the word "parish" in Louisiana, think of county. The parish is located in the southwest corner of Louisiana and borders the Great State of Texas. Interstate 10 bisects the parish and its largest city is Lake Charles. The Port of Lake Charles can handle large ocean-going ships by way of the 68 mile long Calcasieu Ship Channel, not much different than other places like the Houston Ship Channel.

This is the first "thru windshield" picture from the new truck while towing. It is on U.S. 171 in western Louisiana. I promised someone many years ago that I would post travel pictures for them since they wouldn't be able to travel. Promise kept.

The campground is owed and operated by the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (county commission)  and is located right on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The ICW is a 3,000 mile navigable route that was built and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is mostly located just inland of the Atlantic and Gulf coast. It begins in Boston, Massachusetts and ends in Brownsville, Texas. My campsite is about 50 feet from the water's edge of the ICW. I've been here about 15 hours and seen at least 25 tow boats , with their barges, pass by in both directions. If you're wanting to watch the tow boats work, this is the campground for you. Oh by the way, the cost is $12.00 per night for water/electric. Good deal Lucille. I've stayed here once before and have explored the area so this time will be used to visit with my oldest son who works and lives in the area just north of here. I will take the opportunity to drive down and see the Gulf of America which is about a 20 minute drive from here. I've heard it looks a lot like the old Gulf of Mexico but just more beautiful. :)

This is the view out my back window. I took this one while drinking coffee and writing this blog post. Nice, uh?

I took this one while I was setting up camp and noticed a tow boat approaching. I hadn't set up my starlink yet.

Same tow boat but now leaving.

This is the first trip in my new truck and I had some questions that couldn't be answered until we hitched up and started the trip. If any of these questions had a bad answer, the trip would have to be delayed. Fortunately, all of the answers were good, at least so far. There was no question that the new truck would be able to tow Liberty. In fact, even though the new truck is a 1/2 ton, while my old one was a 3/4 ton, the new truck has a little more towing capacity than my old truck. The question was about how much "squatting" she would do when hitched up. In other words, how much would the back end go down and the front end go up. Even if your payload capacity will handle the tongue weight of the trailer, there always remains a question of how it will handle it. If your front end goes up too much, then it's dangerous and hard to drive. The good news is after hitching up, the front end went up only 3/4 inches while the back end went down 1-3/4 inches. Both numbers were acceptable to me, but I still need to see how she handled on the road. She did good. The second question about hitching was how level the trailer would be in relation to the truck. There are a lot of opinions about it, but my preference is to have the trailer slightly "nose-down" after hitching. I have an adjustable hitch on the truck and can adjust it up or down to my liking but to do so means hitching up, looking at it from the side and if I don't like it, then unhitching, adjusting, re-hitching, etc. You get the idea, just a pain in the behind. I got lucky again, and after hitching, she looked just fine. I may have been looking at it with a "wish-full eye" so I wouldn't have to adjust it before leaving but I will re-look at it when I hitch up to leave this campground on Wednesday. 

The other big question was how my new wireless brake controller would work or if it would even work. When I bought the new truck I made sure it came with the tow package. What I didn't know was it didn't come with the "max tow package". I didn't know there was a difference but on the day I took delivery I noticed there wasn't a manual brake controller on the dash. I asked about it and two of the dealership salesmen lied to me and told me it was all electronic now. I was in a hurry to take possession of the truck and didn't google it at the time. I figured I could easily add one if needed since I wasn't planning a trip for a while. Come to find out, the integrated brake controller on the dash is part of the newly created and mis-leading Ford package called a "max tow package". Oh well, I started searching for a brake controller. It looked like an easy "plug-and-play" computer package. Ut-oh, all of them was on back order with a delivery date uncertain. That's when I stumbled across a wireless brake controller. I had never heard of one before. It was way less than half the price of the brake controller I was looking at and it was in stock at the local Camping World. I bought one and gave it a shot. I plugged it into my new truck and then plugged the trailer in to it. After downloading an app, I could take my cell phone to the trailer wheels and push the screen and hear the breaks working so I knew I was connected and the app/device was doing its job. Wow, dumbass me got it working right out of the box. I can adjust the gain and sensitivity through a bluetooth connection on my phone. There is also a manual brake lock-up like the dash mounted brake controller. Once you get it set-up, you can literally throw your phone out the window and it retains the last settings. After only a 3 hour trip, I'm happy with it but I will keep an eye on it. 

Curt echo wireless brake controller. I didn't take a picture of it connected so I'll do that another time. But it worked just fine. 

Although I will greatly miss my family, it felt good leaving on this trip. My homebase campground, that I just left, had filled up with pipeliners due to a large pipeline that was being built. It is crossing the entire parish (see above for definition). The campground had become a large work camp with diesel trucks starting up at 4:30 each morning and welders practicing their art. It sounds like I'm complaining but I'm not. I completely understand and agree with the work they are doing and the choices they made to live in an RV while traveling around the country working. They were all well behaved and polite with at least a fourth of them with wives and children. I just didn't like the crowded condition. Hopefully, they will have moved on before I get back in July.  

 

I took this the day before leaving. Of the RV's in this picture, 90% are pipeliners. Again, I'm not complaining, I just felt crowded. 

This post has gotten a little long but I wanted to do a first post of the trip as well as documenting the answers to a few questions. My time here is 3 days before moving east along the coast. It's time to go see the Gulf and maybe even buy some fresh shrimp off the boats. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road. 

General Update and Travel Plans

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park (homebase); Mansfield, Louisiana

It's been a while since I've posted and I'm about a month from hitting the road again so I thought it was time for an update. It's been about five months since my last travel post but I have snuck (that doesn't look like a real word) in a couple of short stories. I've spent these few months visiting with family during the holidays, which was great. The entire family (kids and grandkids) get together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I also visited with all three of my doctors and nothing was found to interrupt my life, meaning I'm good to go for at least another few months. All three wanted to visit with me again in May and made appointments. I'll fool them and reschedule their visits until probably July when I'll be passing through Louisiana again. I've also attended doctor appointments with my X-wife and Brandon. It's always a good idea to have someone else attend meetings with doctors so the information is heard by two people. Of course, I'm kind of hard-headed and don't take anyone with me. I'll have to think on that a little to figure out why I'm that a way.

I had planned on hitting the road beginning on January 6th, but I kept postponing it in one month increments (RV park rent period) due to my granddaughter's school archery tournaments. She started playing around with archery last year in her elementary school but this year it has become more competitive in her Intermediate school with state tournaments. The tournament season just about over but her school is ranked number two in the state and she is ranked 4th in her school. So they are 99% sure the school with qualify for the Eastern National Championship which is in Louisville, Kentucky during the first part of May. Yep, I already have reservations at a nearby state park during that time. If they do well in that tournament, then they go to the  Overall National Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in early June. Yep, if they go, I'll be there too.

That's Olivia in the purple on the left getting ready to launch her arrow. I've never attended an archery tournament until she got involved in it. I like it.

 Anyway, her last tournament is March 8th but she is also in Drama and their yearly play is on March 21th. After that, I'll be free to travel. I've made reservations at 8 campgrounds beginning on March 24th and going through April 20th. I will head south and follow the Gulf of America coast over to the Pensacola area before turning north. The first campground will be used to visit with my oldest son and the second to visit with my sister. I've been gathering information on things to explore in the areas of my reserved campgrounds, but if ya'll have any suggestions, please post them in the comments. Thanks in advance.

CG #1 and 2 are for visiting family and a little exploring. Stop #3 is another old CG for me, but is located in a good spot for this trip. # 4, 5, 6 and 7 will be new CG's for me and I look forward to exploring those areas since at least 3 of them have been on my list for years. CG #8 is an old one for me and is actually the very first COE campground I ever camped at back in 2014. I'm curious to see how it's changed. 

A few things have changed. One is Freedom was retired and turned out to pasture. Actually, she was sold to a car dealer who promised to treat her right. About a month after I sold her, I received a call from the person who bought her. He wanted to know any particulars about her in terms of mechanical issues. Of course I told him everything I knew and the reasons why I sold her. I also referred him to this blog if he wanted to know every place that the truck had been since late 2013 when she was born. At the end of our conversation, I told him that her name was "Freedom" and that she would respond to that name. That took him aback but I could tell he understood as he quietly promised me he would continue calling her that. It was sort of a sad day as I reminisced about all the places Freedom and Liberty had taken me over the years. But like everything in life, we move on, eventually. I now have a new Freedom and Liberty and even though it may be confusing, I still call the new ones with the old names. I started calling Liberty, Liberty2, but that didn't take. So bear with me in the name calling. My new truck is a 2023 Ford F150 Lariat with so many accessories that I'll never use all of them. Frankly, there are so many, I won't even know they exist, much less use them. I don't like relying on that much fancy stuff. 

Freedom2 on the left and Liberty2 on the right. But, like I said, I'll be dropping the 2 from both.

Even though I don't like the fancy stuff on Freedom, I am  now up to date in one area of technology. I bought a Starlink to solve the problem I had on this last trip where I couldn't get a cell signal in a few campgrounds. Without a cell signal meant no hotspot which meant no internet. I'm hoping Starlink will keep me connected. For those interested, the receiver cost $500 and the monthly service is $50.00 for 50Gb's and I can pause and un-pause service whenever I need to. My Verizon cell phone gives me 30 Gb's which I've never exceeded. I'm on the Starlink roaming plan which mean I can move locations as often as I want and I can actually be connected while traveling if I feel the need. Starlink is working towards providing cell service as well so I may eventually be able to cancel my Verizon cell plan. I hope I don't cut myself too deep by being on this "cutting edge".

That's the Starlink receiver mounted to the ladder. On moving days, I will unplug it and wrap the excess cable around something I haven't figured out yet. After using it more and traveling with it, I'll post more about it. I'm using it now but it needs to be mounted differently so it can tilt flatter and get faster speeds. 

This post if getting longer than I thought so I'll end it for now and make another on in a week or so as I start preparing for the trip which is about 4 weeks away. It will take me that long to get everything in order. The good news if the cold weather seems to have passed and decent weather is in store up to my departure date. Hopefully, my cold winter weather is over for me this year. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

Short Story Time Again

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

I'm still here in Mansfield and enjoying the kids, grandkids and doctors. My current plan is to leave on January 6th or maybe later. My plans are still up in the air. Fortunately, it seems like it is going to be a mild winter this year which is fine with me. I'll be keeping an eye on the forecast and the temps look like they are going to drop, I'll head south early. 

While coming back from Sam's Club, a short story popped in my head. Once I got back to Liberty, I started typing and a few hours later, the following short story was born. I haven't proof read it much, but that's OK. 

Here it is.

Two Very Different Lifes

It was raining and a north wind started blowing which made for a dreary day. The forecast however showed clearing by the afternoon with bright sunshine. He thought, “It would be nice if life was like that, sunshine after every storm.” Even though his 65 year old joints ached a little from the rain, it was Wednesday which meant it was laundry day, and after all he hadn’t been back to the laundromat in a year or so. As he gathered up his dirty clothes his mind wandered back. In the later years of their marriage, Wednesday had strangely become their favorite day of week. Their washing machine broke one day which forced them to go to the laundromat. His wife was always able to see the silver lining in any situation so she planned an entire day around the trip to the laundromat. First, there was breakfast at the café. On that first day, her eggs weren’t cooked to her liking but instead of sending them back, she ate some of them and pushed the rest to the side. She said, “half of the eggs were perfect which more than made up for the half that wasn’t”. That’s my wife and her silver lining thinking at work again. At the laundromat, she made up a game. It was a game just for us two. She called it “story-telling”. She would point out someone in the laundromat and make up an entire fictitious story about them. It might be some young couple and she would weave a story about how they met and even what their future held in store. She had a very active mind and she put it to good use. I would throw in a couple of details now and then but nothing important to the story. But, she would always congratulate me for my contribution without sounding too condescending. This process went on until a story was made up for each and everyone there. I always noticed the stories were happy ones, never sad. After laundry we walked hand in hand through the nearby park. We strolled the pathways as we reminisced about our younger years, children and now grandchildren. There are lots of subjects to talk about after forty years of marriage. After the walk we got cups of hot coffee and sat on a bench overlooking the river. We watched the river flow by hoping we would see some tow boats pushing their barges. Of course, she would make up stories about where the tug was going to or coming from with side stories about the captain and crew. The day would end with dinner and wine on the patio as we watched the sun set.

I replaced the washing machine with a new fancy one after that first visit to the laundromat but every Wednesday she would say it was broken again. I would act surprised and ask her, “Are you sure”. She would always answer with, “Of course I am, you know I can’t lie to you”. Somehow, she always had plans for us before and after the laundry with “story-time” being her favorite activity. That’s how Wednesdays became our favorite day. Those wash days were always good days.

This went on for six months before the doctors gave us the bad news. My wife had a rapidly spreading cancer and her time was short. I did everything I could to make her time as peaceful as possible. One day I asked her if she was sad. Her answer was typical for her and it brightened my aching heart. She said, “There isn’t anything to be sad about. It is just my time and I’ll be seeing all of my loved ones that went before me real soon. The only thing that would make me sad is if I thought you would be sad about me leaving you. I know we’ve talked about which of us would go first, and I’m sorry that you will have to wait to join me, but this is just the way it has to be”. I was there for her last hour, then her last minute. I was holding her hand when she suddenly perked up and looked me straight in my eyes, smiled and said, “Before my time runs out, I have to tell you, I lied about the washing machine being broken.” We both smiled. As her eyes faded and she peacefully drifted away, we told each other, for the last time, “I love you”. Then I was alone.

It’s been a little more than a year ago that my wife passed away and it’s another rainy, windy Wednesday. My mind was flooded with memories of that first trip to the laundromat. Just thinking of it gave me a happy and peaceful feeling. I hadn’t done my laundry there since her passing, choosing instead to use the “broken washing machine” at home. But today felt different for some reason. So, I packed up my dirty clothes and went to that comfortable and familiar laundromat. Nothing had changed and it looked the same. The good feelings I had from the earlier memories continued as I began doing my clothes. After putting my clothes in the dryer I sat down, closed my eyes and started remembering some of the old “story-times” that my wife had conjured up out of thin air. As I sat there smiling, I was interrupted by a pat on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw a pretty woman looking at me and asking something. I couldn’t understand her and thought maybe my mind was playing tricks on me with “story-time”. She then repeated herself and asked if I had an extra dryer sheet. I firmly answered with a “Yes”, but didn’t say anything else. She looked at me as if I was crazy and said, “Can I have one or if you insist, I can buy one from you”. That sounded like some something my wife would have said and it jolted me back into real time. I told her, “I’m sorry, I was distracted there for a minute. Here, you can two sheets if want. No charge.” She giggled and accepted the dryer sheets and went away to put them in her dryer. As she walked away, I felt sad and happy, which puzzled me. To my surprise, she returned from her dryer, sat down next to me and quickly said, “Hi, I’m a divorcee. In fact, I’m a two-time divorcee but both of my X-husbands cheated on me.” Her bluntness caught me off guard but I politely put out my hand and introduced myself. She quickly replied with, “I can tell you’re single by you being in this dumpy laundromat.” I started to tell her about why I was here and how much this laundromat meant to me but before I could say a word she leaned in and whispered, “What’s a good looking guy like you doing in a place like this”, then laughed loud and deep. I didn’t know how to take her and quickly excused myself to go check on my dryer. Even though the clothes were still a little damp, I took them out and started folding them quickly. I wanted to make sure I was out of there before her clothes were finished drying. She walked over to me, reached in my basket and retrieved some of my underwear. She pretended to fold them but was doing more fondling than folding. I was at a total loss as to what to do. Fortunately for me her phone rang and she walked away to answer it. I started folding quicker with hopes of leaving while she was on the phone. I still had plans for coffee and a bench by the river. If I could get away from her, maybe I could still salvage the day.

As I was leaving and heading to my truck, she grabbed me by my arm. As I turned around, I saw her crying big tears and saying I needed to take her to the hospital. I thought “Oh, crap, now what, a damsel in distress?” I suddenly remembered what the radio talk show host, Dr. Laura, had said years ago, “A damsel in distress is a distressed damsel, be on guard”. As she was crying, she said the phone call was the hospital and her latest X-husband, who had cancer, was asking her to come see him at the hospital. He could see how emotional she was and knew it wasn’t safe for her to drive. I walked her to my truck and helped her inside. We arrived at the hospital and I thought I would just drop her off but she insisted I stay with her in case she needed me. Begrudgingly, I parked the truck, walked inside with her and ultimately all the way to her X’s hospital room. As she walked up to her X’s bed, I immediately started having flashbacks of the days my wife lay in a  room just like this one. I thought of those last minutes with her. My sympathy was running high as I saw her X reach out a feeble hand for hers. She refused to take his hand which made me wonder what was going on. Even though the dying man was speaking softly, I could clearly hear his words. He was apologizing to her for all the wrongs he had done to her over the years. Knowing his time was running out, he was pleading for her to forgive him. I felt as if I was intruding on this highly personal time so I turned to leave, but before I cleared the door, I heard her response to him. “Not only no, but hell no”. I ran to the stairs and left the hospital with my tires burning rubber. I had never been around such a mean and evil person.

Two very different lifes.

My wife had always been innocent, nice and loving but was taken way too soon. This other woman; pure evil, but still around. I never went back to the laundromat because I was afraid of running into that crazy woman again. I realized, I didn’t need to be in a particular place for my memories to warm me up and brighten my day. My “silent echoes” are always inside of me no matter where I’m at or what I’m doing.

Ya’ll take care of each other. Maybe I’ll Cya down the road.

Sunrise from the balcony of the condo my X-wife and I stayed at in Galveston a couple of months ago.

      

 

Another short story (fair warning)

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

I'm sorry this isn't a travel post but I guess I just have to write these short stories to clear them out of my head. I'll try to post the part 2 of the trip but as more and more time passes, it seems to be becoming irrelevant. Oh well, we'll see what happens. If ya'll are wondering, Yes, these short stories are still cathartic.

The Tree

     He lay in bed but sleep wouldn’t find him. The night had been filled with tossing and turning as thoughts raced through his mind. Tonight, he couldn’t turn them off. His wife, of too many decades to remember without a calculator, lay comfortably next to him in peaceful sleep. He sure envied her for that trait on this night. With everything going on in their lives, how could she just lay there? He knew one thing for sure. A meeting with the guys would be needed and they would help him come to grips with the decisions hanging in the air. He thought to himself, “I sure hope they show up. They had always been there when needed, but there was no way to know for sure.”

     It was time to get up and he threw himself out of bed so fast that he “accidentally” woke his wife. He had been taught years ago to never let the sun come up before him. Today would be no different and he had his regular chores to do before the meeting with the guys. As he got up from the breakfast table, his wife gave him a soft kiss on his cheek and whispered, “It’ll be OK”. He smiled at her reassuringly and replied, “Sure it will, don’t you worry about it”, then turned to face the day.

     He and his wife were third generation farmers and had raised four children right here on this farm. Looking back over the last three generations, there had been a total of twenty two children raised in this old house. Sadly, the number of children had decreased with each generation. Their own four children were fully grown and scattered around the world like seeds in the wind. The oldest was a merchant marine sailing around the world. Growing up, he was always the wanderer and talked about seeing things other than the farm. The next was a successful businesswoman on the west coast rubbing shoulders with the “pretty people”. Third was an oilman in west Texas with a reputation of bringing in difficult wells. The baby of the family chose a peaceful life in the mountains of upstate New York. We all referred to her as the “hippie” of the family. All four of them had two main things in common. One was that they all worked hard on the farm as they were growing up. This built their work ethic and character that served them well in their diverse careers. Second, none of them wanted to take over the farm and be farmers.

     The tractor was a little hard to start this morning but it finally ‘caught fire’ and coughed into action. As he drove along the edges of the fields surveying the crops he had planted a few months ago, he knew the harvest yield would be down this year. How far down would depend on if rain came soon or continued to stay away. He never was able to justify the cost of an irrigation system because the dry years had always been far apart. It was like this every year at this time. It didn’t matter if it was a dry or wet year, there was always a worry about something or another. This year was different though, for so many reasons. The lack of rain, while a major concern, was only one of many issues they were having lately. As he looked over the corn he knew that harvest time was quickly approaching. The irony of “harvest time” didn’t escape him as he thought of the guys and wondered if they would they show up. He wished there was a way of contacting them directly instead of having to rely on them to just appear. Surely they both knew he had some really big decisions to make and he needed their experience, knowledge and guidance.  

     He drove the tractor to the meeting place but they weren’t there. While jumping down from the tractor, he thought, “Oh well, I’ll just clean up the place some and maybe they will show up.” The meeting place was a large shade tree in one of the corn fields. It was surrounded by ripening crops. He had brought a hand scythe to trim the small patch of grass that encircled the tree. It was quick work and he was soon sitting on the bench under the tree wiping the sweat from his brow. He couldn’t remember if the bench was first built by his grandfather or father but he knew he had repaired it several times over the years that he had been in charge of the farm.

     The tree had been a refuge for all of the generations. There was a well worn path directly from the tree to the back door of the house about a quarter of a mile away. The tree had been the place where all of his children had sat and planned out their lives. It was the same place where he had proposed to his wife forty years ago after she had let him kiss her in the moonlight. Over the years, Granddad always talked about how he and Grandma weren’t sure if they chose the tree or the tree chose them. Whichever way it was, the tree was saved when they first cleared the land for farming. It wasn’t much more than a sapling at the time but they saw its potential just as they saw the potential of the farm. Week after week of clearing, Granddad turned what used to be acres of trees into rich farmland. That farmland had provided a very nice and comfortable life for three generations but may end soon.

     It seemed as though all big decisions, for all of the generations, had been made right here under the tree. Another one needed to be made soon.

      He felt them sitting next him on the bench more so than seeing them. It was like that sometimes, just a feeling and nothing else. But today, they slowly came into focus and he said, “Hi Dad. Hi Granddad. Glad ya’ll could make it.” The only words spoken were his. Yes, he could see them sometimes, but they never spoke. It was their thoughts that would find their way into his head. Afraid they may vanish as mysteriously as they came, he spoke quickly. “We are thinking about selling the farm”. Anticipating their reaction, he expected a flood of their thoughts but only one came. It was “Wait”. “Oh no”, he thought, they want me to wait to sell. He then asked, “Wait for what?” He was even more confused by their reply, “Wait for them.”

     It was then that he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see what it was. It may have only been in his mind, but he thought he clearly heard for the first time since his passing, words from his grandfather. Those words were, “Ut oh, she’s coming”. The movement was his wife approaching along the path. It seemed as though there were two other people walking with her but he couldn’t quite make out who they were. It wasn’t unusual for his wife to do this. She would often meet him under the tree whenever she would see the tractor parked near it. She would bring him some cool water and maybe a bite to eat. When she finally arrived at the tree, he was shocked to see her companions. Mom and Grandma were standing there in front of him, clear as a bell. He had no words and could only say, “what, what”. He was used to visiting with and spiritually seeing his father and grandfather, but had never seen his mother and grandmother in the spirit. Seeing her husband’s confusion, his wife spoke next. She said, “Yes honey, they visit with me just like they, pointing to Dad and Granddad, visit with you.” We usually meet in the kitchen and discuss several topics ranging from cooking to men. We knew today was different so we all came to the tree. We decided to come to the meeting to make sure our husbands knew our thoughts on the subject at hand.

 

Epilogue:

On that day, the six of them agreed to sell the farm. It was sold to a young couple with two small children. There were two stipulations in the bill of sale. First, the tree could never be cut down and the area around it must be maintained in good condition. Second, the husband and wife could live in the house until their passing. The young couple became surrogate children to the husband and wife. The husband helped the young man around the farm and taught him the “tricks of the trade”. The wife helped the young woman with her children who became like grandchildren. Life was good. An evening seldom passed without the older husband and wife spending time at the tree. Sitting on the back porch after a long day, the young couple would watch them and it always seemed as though they were talking and laughing with people. Life goes on and there are definitely angels among us.   

Darrell Goza

October 13, 2024