The 20th Annual Sassafras Festival

Oh, the excitement of Fall and Fall Festivals! Especially the 20th Annual Sassafras Festival in San Augustine taking place right on the town’s historic city square. There was live music, delicious food, vendors that sell their crafts and homemade goodies, wheel chair races, antique car show, pet parade, and the always exciting Bonnie and Clyde bank robbery reenactment. The Sassafras Festival is definitely unique in this area and I have enjoyed attending and taking lots of pictures.

I was invited by one of the bank robbers the day before to get close in for pictures. (I guess that would make me an accessory to a federal crime if this had been the real deal.) He explained the plans and gave me some ideas of where to stand. The actors really outdid their selves this year with a little longer version and some extras. Lots of gun toting, shooting, gun smoke, and hostages--too many to fit in the getaway car.)

This year I entered the photography contest again and won several ribbons for my work. It is always nice to be recognized. The court house reconstruction was complete just in time, and is a beautiful landmark of green and stone making the city more proud and alive than ever. At the festival, I always see friends and enjoy meeting new people and discovering something new about this city that I did not know before. My special thanks to Devon Energy for your sponsorship, the San Augustine Chamber of Commerce for organizing this year after year, and for all the volunteers and participants that made such a wonderful day for our community and visitors.

When the lights go out ...

Did I mention that many people in this area have generators to keep their lights on when the power fails? We do not, of course. Tonight a powerful storm came through blowing limbs and leaves and maybe some hail. I was visiting a friend in our subdivision at the time. My husband was out of town on business and I was alone. Our lights flickered off and did not come back on. I remembered a small flashlight in my purse which we used to navigate out of our neighbor’s house and back to the car. We drove in the rain to our own homes. I lit three decorative soy candles that I saved for such an occasion; then called City Hall to let them know that our neighbor and I were without power. I called and checked on our neighbor to make sure she found flashlights or candles and made sure she was ok.

Now what? I called my husband (as if he could do anything.) Now what? I am alone… and for how long. Now is the time when all those scary movies you watch could take control. Thank goodness, I do not watch scary movies. Although, I did catch my reflection in a glass framed picture as I was coming down the hall holding a candle and just about jumped out of my skin! Hssss! Oops! I stepped on the cat! Sorry!

I like to be productive no matter what the circumstance and if I just wait for the lights, I will start imagining things. So I decided to take pictures… of the candles… of the flames specifically. I practiced with three different lenses, and at different settings, with a support, covering the flash with my hand, no flash, and with the flash. The flame was a glow on most shots. It was pretty, but my goal was to get that flicker. I need to research that. However, at this point and time I do not have Internet. So I think to myself that I do have battery power on this laptop, so I could write about this dark, dark experience.

I hear voices outside, dogs barking, and generators running in different areas of the subdivision (but not at my house). There is thunder and lightning, but the wind and rain has slowed. The flame flickers so silently beside me and smells of Warm Cinnamon Pumpkin...

I have decided that the best way to get the flame on a candle is with my long lens zoomed all the way up close and using the flash. What do you think?

Yet there is something to be said for the glow of a candle flame.

The lights are still out. I will call my neighbor again and check on her. Thanks for listening. I am sure I will be ok. I will play spider solitaire until my battery runs down. Goodnight all.

Canoeing the Attoyac

Labor Day in San Augustine... a day to ask what is more important? Work or play? Play today, of course! Jeff and I loaded the canoe on the trailer, checked the weather, packed some sunscreen, drinks, and life vests and decided to explore the Attoyac River near Etoile.

After leaving the launch area near the bridge, we maneuvered out of the cut into the river and began our journey. It was a calm day, the sun shone bright on our backs, and the temperature was 91 degrees. The water was brown from the recent rains. We investigated patches of lily pads that were in bloom with large beautiful yellow Water Lotus, and some had dropped their petals and left the center pod sturdy on the stalk. Further down there were Water Hyacinths, purple with a yellow eye on each petal. Once in awhile a fish would break the water or turtle slide from a log. A bird with a long neck hid under the water, until we passed. I did not see a snake or alligator, although some fellow paddlers did warn us about some ahead.

Jeff and I paddled slowly upriver, watching behind us so we would recognize which path to follow back to the boat launch area. He warned me about the dangerous mythical Kraken, a monster, that lives in the seas, rivers and bayous around us, assuring me the only way we could turn the boat over was if they suddenly appeared and attacked us. Jeff also contemplated the use of solar panels to create energy to power a motor for our canoe, considering how they would be mounted and how much power it would produce. He also wondered if an A&W Root Beer can would float on a lily pad. I daydreamed about explorers before us, like maybe the native Indians who may have used the little river for transportation or hunting. I always wondered if there were some areas of the world where no man has ever set foot, such as the little islands that get covered with water when the river rises. There were ducks and egrets all around. The highway sounds got further and further away. The only insects were the little black Whirligig Beetles moving feverishly along the top of the water.

We watched our time and decided to go a little further to see what was around the bend, and again to see what was around the next bend, and the next. Then I looked up and saw the dark clouds. A storm was brewing and after looking at the entire sky, we decided it was brewing fast and we needed to head back even faster. We paddled vigorously for about 45 minutes resting very little and battled the wind produced by the the storm a good bit of the way. I did not want to get caught in lightening or have to wait it out on an uninviting river bank. Refreshing rain began to fall on us close to the end of our journey; there was never any thunder or lightning; and thankfully, the Kraken never showed the light of day!

Thanks to Jeff, my husband, for being patient and paddling me around on a second canoe trip to the Attoyac so I could take so many pictures. And if you are wondering, we took our soda can back with us and did not leave it on the lily pad. :)

What are the odds? and Home Again!

We had four encounters with the law this week. What are the odds? I was pulled over twice for speeding and Jeff was pulled over once for speeding. In a way, they did us a favor. Sometimes you get use to the road you are traveling and start bad habits. It was understandable that we were speeding and any good folk would have been caught by the speed in those situations. We were in the little black Vibe, and so we have declared it a bad luck car. Caleb better be extra careful in it when he comes home and starts driving it again. I truly respect and admire police officers and state troopers. They have a dangerous job and pulling over and writing tickets is one way of keeping everyone safe including the speeder. I observed how careful they had to be when approaching my window and how observant they were while conversing with me. I won’t go into detail except to say, I must have an angel face or something, because only Jeff has to pay the piper! I did learn my lesson though.

So I had a fourth encounter with the law. Today while planting lily bulbs in the yard and enjoying the sun, a police officer pulled up in the driveway. I was thinking what now? Did they change their mind about me? Did a camera snap me unknowingly running a red light? Did we play the TV too loud last night? He walked up and said that he was investigating a missing child case. I was immediately heart sick for the parents and wanted to help, but I also had been calling my dog, Maggie, for 30 minutes and really needed to go look for her. The car made an unexpected sound, so he walked back to the car before we could really get into the case he was working on. Then, he let Maggie out! He had found her on a main road and called the “Home Again” tag and ultimately my husband to find out where our “missing child” belonged. I am forever grateful to Officer Blackwell for bringing Maggie home and for the tough job he and the San Augustine Police Department do for the citizens of San Augustine everyday!

You know you are in San Augustine when...

• you live live in someone's house that lived a long time ago and not really at an address.
• you cross paths with deer, rabbits, snakes, turtles, wild hogs, foxes, coyotes, armadillos, skunks, chickens, and roosters on your way to or from work.
• you get a little sugar high from the grapefruit kneehighs at the San Augustine Drug Store.
• an 18-wheeler truck of pine logs, wood chips, saw dust, or chickens is behind you, in front of you, or coming at you. After hurricane season you probably followed a convoy of FEMA trailers.
• everyone there knows everyone there and they share stories that mostly warm your heart.
• you see a row of trees driving down the highway and suddenly it opens to beautiful rolling pastureland and most often grazing cattle or horses or it opens up to rows and rows of big metal chicken houses.
• you see the pine logs stacked majestically 3 stories high at the timber company.
• you see a tractor drive on the square to get . . . . who knows where it went.
• you drop by the Pinto Pony Cookie Factory and can enjoy a free cup of coffee and samples of their famous delicious all natural cookies.

That's how I know San Augustine!

Snow!

What a great day! I heard this was the first snow in 10 years in San Augustine. That means that this opportunity for pictures does not come around often. I woke up before daybreak and took a few pictures with a 50mm F1.4 lens and 270EZ flash. The neighborhood was eerily quiet and snow was still falling softly to the ground. I avoided disturbing the blanket of white and snapped away. Several shots actually showed the geometric delicate shapes of the snowflakes, which I am so impressed with. I ended up being able to take the day off and took even more shots after daybreak, including the little birds. They are sparrows or wrens, I think. They seemed more agressive this morning with their feeding. I think cold weather makes me hungrier too. The cat and dog did not really want any part of that white stuff. Children played in the distance laughing and enjoying snowball fights and making angels and snowmen. I drove to the dock after the roads cleared a bit and watched the geese move to the other side of the lake yet again. Tomorrow the snow will be gone, and life will return to its normal grandness -- for San Augustine anyway.