Beignets anyone? I stopped by one of our local churches yesterday, a mega-church. They have an amazing coffee house with wireless internet! Threre were huge crowds, which is unusual for a Saturday but there were these multiple weddings – the weddings were over and the different parties had spread out for multiple photographs. Weddings are always a marvelous anthropological vignette of any society. All the various colors of clothing, babies tied around their mother’s waists and such joy and excitement in the air. But the moment that made my heart just leap, was the presence of a brass marching band walking down the driveway, in uniform, crowds of wedding guests following…The whole thing was extremely New Orleans. Now, I’m not from Louisiana, but it was a southern enough moment to give me a few moments of continental connecting. Chicken wrangling My housemate, Brooke, has apparently always wanted to have chickens. As opposed to the south, where we have chickens just everywhere, the northwest, I suppose doesn’t get to enjoy this phenomenon. Ergo, she took the opportunity of living in Zim as a gateway to have her own chickens. After 4 weeks of getting hyped up about chickens, she finally found someone to give her five. Now, Zesa went out this morning and I was bored, so I went along for fun, as it was early enough before church. There were two jack russells there – Pip and Nala – who would NOT shut up and who have been raised to be VERY protective of the chickens. Needless to say, I almost was bitten twice. For those of you intellectual types – you’re going to have to suck it up and deal with the next paragraph…. But…it was just like on the episode of Friends, where Phoebe and Rachel and Joey go to see Phoebe’s dad and this little Jack Russell is jumping up TO the car window and they look up and the dog is just perched there half through the open window and growling. Sort of like that, but happier dogs. Once we get three chickens in the coop – Becky starts to round them up ONLY to find out there’s a bloody HOLE in the coop – so we hard to start again. Thirty minutes later, Brooke had her chickens in a box in the backseat, while I drove INSISTING that she hold the top of the box down – I was NOT having those clucking buggers flying all about the Volvo – it’s bad enough I still have plywood on the back window!!! Still – good times! Cleanliness is next to something or other… Out of three bathrooms – mine doesn’t pump hot water (there’s a valve issue –it’s been noted by maintenance), and the two on the other end of the house – one shower only runs hot, one only runs cold. Well after my horse-riding lesson on Monday –I was the soul of ICK…what to do what to do. I’m hardly above just jumping in my pool only it’s still too cold (October is the peak of heat around here)…so I drew a half bath and used the big cup (or Greek yogurt container) method. My daddy would be so proud!!!!
