Haunts and Tales from the Cajun Bayous

The French Cajuns of Louisiana are a Culture that live strongly on their history and folklore.  One of these are the Legend of the Rougarou. 

 A Rougarou is a beast that prowls the night throughout the swamps and bayous of Louisiana. 

The Shape-Changer, the story goes, is that of a poor soul who without control shifts into a creature of a half-man, half-wolf beast.  

Depending on the imagination and skills of the Story Teller, it occurs due to many different things.  1) That the person has strayed to the "dark-side". 2) That the person himself was attacked and bitten by another Rougarou or 3) That it is a person who has been put under the hex of a local ju-ju witch that also haunts the same lands, 

This story is shared many times especially around the coming of Halloween. Which is strongly enjoyed by the Cajun Culture and the story is told to the children just before they go out to scream and holler and created mischief on the Night of the Haunting setting the seed in their mind that there is danger in this night if you don't watch out for yourself.  

So, this is what I share with my little ones and others who decide to prowl the night on that evening.

Children and All People Who choose to enjoy this night.... Beware the Rougarou..

If by chance...

You find yourself in the Land of the Rougarou just before the Full Moon rises in sky over our swamps and Bayous,  when and the fog hangs low to the ground,  there are a couple of things you need to remember to do.

The First is... If you are a smart person... you will not wander into the Darkness of the Cajun Swamps and Bayous of Louisiana alone, because that is the person who the Rougarou is looking for.

The Second is.. If you are a smart person, is to glance over your shoulder every once in a while just in case you have been chosen by the Rougarou,.because no matter what if, you are chosen by the Rougarou, you will not see the light of the next day...

So heed my warning... trust me, I too have heard the howl of the Rougarou and cold chill went down my spine....

Just please be careful, If by chance....

You find yourself in the Land of the Rougarou on this Halloween Night...

Johnny

Gesundheit.....

Not just a word...

A gesture given from someone who has shared the same

 or are fearful of the possibility

 of the same happening to them.....

While some are not effected at all.... 

There are others who

 feel that whether not presently effected

 still feel they can be sympathetic.

Unfortunately, 

 There are others who don't realize

 that even though not presently effected,

They very well may be..

 If the stimuli is not put in check..

Terrorism must be stopped.

Easy Does It

I had gone down to the lake to try and catch a sunset across the water... I was to late by about 5 minutes... There were several fishing along the boardwalk.. Both fish and crabs were the targets...

Down at the far end of the walk sat a man.  I learned soon that his name was Jake.  The oddity with Jake was that the rod that sat beside him was not rigged for fishing..  He seem to be just sitting and enjoying the coolness that ws starting to creep in as the sun set.

I walked to within 20 feet or so away from him and snapped a shot of a private fishing boat coming in to the public ramp...  "You missed it by about 5 minutes."
He called out, giving me the invitation to come and share the bench he sat on.

We talked for a while, he telling me that the fish just weren't biting, but didn't want to waste a good sunset.  Then he asked me about my camera and that he had seen me there before.  I gave him one of my cards explaining my love for sunrises and sunsets and showed him a few that were within the innards of the camera...

He shared a picture on his phone of a shot his wife had made on the eastern coast of Florida just last week while waiting to get out of there before Hurricane Michael reached there. It was a beautiful shot with a mass of Seagulls right at the edge of the surf and the massive thunderheads to east with the first signs of the storm in the distance.

I expressed my relief that it had gone up the east coast and not made it into the Gulf Coast..  He agreed, but said he could just imagine what they were going through... "over there" and I agreed...

We shook hands and made it a point that we would see each other again there on the boardwalk along our lake in Lake Charles...

Nice Man... Good New Friend....

That Sunday Morning One Minute

I love a certain early morning show on Sunday morning that comes on one of the big 3 Television Networks...

I sit and listen to the stories they share... Most the time, they are about things that don't make the National News... Which is nice because I'm really getting tired of hearing about who killed who or who hates who and who is going to "fix" the world if their elected.

I watch and listen attentively. But what I'm really waiting for is that last 1 minute.  That is when they leave us with a visit to some far away place or a place not to far away that we just haven't noticed. Usually its out there in Nature away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives... No music, no narration, no sound but what Nature is offering for 1 minute.

1 minute that takes us away if for only that long to be able to say... It's Sunday Morning... time to prepare for a new week... Time to clear the head while watching the innocence of Nature make us smile....

Just 1 Minute.....

Lately though, I've notice that it doesn't last 1 minute..  Why?  Has the world gotten to chaotic that we can't have just a whole 1 minute of putting the world on hold while we enjoy what we should be enjoyed more, which is life itself.

Because... to me...... it's such an important 1 Minute...

Johnny
10/10/16

Morning, Mr. Sneakers

"You have your coffee, I have my acorn" is what he seems to say each morning about 7am when he comes and sits on the fence right outside my garden room. 

We both listen to the sounds of the morning, the ladies jabbering as they walk by doing morning walk together, the old man on the bike with his portable radio on so loud that you can hear it through the headphones he wears from 50 yards away and the 1st Mockingbird that has been trying too wake everyone up for the last hour.

Then, the same Blue Jay comes every day and does false strafing runs on him until he decides "Fine... I'm outta here" and runs to the end of the fence, pauses, and leaps the 5 feet over to the large tree and disappears up an into it's branches....

By now my coffee is either drank or turned cold, so I groan as I get up and go to get another... "Damn Blue Jay..." I think to myself. " Why don't you just mind your own business. We were have such a good time until you came along." 

Until tomorrow Mr. Sneakers....

Johnny

10/1016

I Am Such A Lucky Man

On this Christmas Morning, again.... I realize just how lucky I am.

I did not win the lottery....
No one died and left me their millions...
I did not find the cure for the common cold....
The Giant still has the Goose that lays the Golden Egg....
I did not just sign up as a Leading Quarterback in the NFL....
My GPS just went out so I'm not sure where the Emerald City is...
I don't even dare try to sing in the shower so forget a record deal..

But.....

I woke up today, so I'm still breathing....
I can see the night light on in the room, so I can still see...
I heard myself groan when I got out of bed, so I can still hear...
I made it to the bathroom, so I can still walk...
I can smell the coffee brewing so I can still smell.....
I walked away from the bathroom so I can still.....
I rubbed my toothbrush up against something in my mouth, and the toothpaste tasted sweet, so I can still taste and not all my teeth have fallen out yet..
All my bills are paid, well most of them, so we still have a little money...
The Police are not knocking at my door, so I must be behaving myself..
I'm typing this so my fingers still work....
I've checked Facebook and I have had at least one person "like" something I had wrote, so I still have friends...

And the most important thing...

Just before leaving the bedroom to come to my Garden room, My Wonderful Wife rolled over, and asked me if I'm OK, and told me she loves me...

What else can a man ask for?

Thank ya Lord...

Johnny

The Gentleman's Game

"I regard golf as an expensive way of playing marbles."

Gilbert K. ChestertonI

I stink at Golf..

.I've tried it 2 times.

The first time I played was when I was a teenager in Austin... I was going to play 9 holes... At the 3rd hole you had to shoot across a creek... I lost all my golf balls in it.. so I went swimming at Barton Springs instead.. 

The second time was on a 3 par course in the Philippine Islands and a monkey came down from a tree, grabbed my golf ball and took off with it. I went back to my cabana and had a beer and watched the waves roll in.

I'd love to play marbles again, like when we were kids.... But.... I'm afraid now I couldn't get up after the game and If I could, my knees would talk to me for 2 weeks..

So I thought... ahh Frisbee Golf.... but then I reminded myself... Wait a minute haven't you had 4 operations on your left shoulder? And aren't you left handed?

So...I think I will just stick to picking up my camera and grab a glimpse of the world around me...

If by chance, I see someone putting on a green, or lining up for a shot in marbles, or someone twirling a Frisbee on the end of their finger...

I'll take a picture of them, and wish them Good Luck....

Johnny