A plethora of pictures

String in a tree in the park in Port Allen, and why not?

I find it strange how quickly life becomes normal, however big the change. Normal for me just now is getting up buggering about for a bit, maybe prepare something for supper, do some laundry, read a book, muck about on the computer, watch the world go by, or if the missing people gets so painful that checking them out on facebook doesn’t dull it I pick up the phone and call anybody that might answer. Life this week has been mostly normal and I’m really enjoying it.

The big news is that I have a social security number so can get a driving license and a job, should anybody want to employ me, but just now there doesn’t feel like any rush to do either. The other news is…it has got a bit chilly…well if you’ve not gathered from all I’ve written so far that I’m not doing much the fact the drop in temperature is news should make the pace of my life abundantly clear!

The weekend was completely lovely though, Jim actually had 3 days off in a row and on Friday we had lunch on a bench on top of the levee in Port Allen before exploring a shop that every time we pass I beg to stop at, most of what they sold seemed overpriced and of average quality BUT they did have the most amazing wind-chimes, the pipes were at least 10 foot tall and the tone they made was heavenly, if only I had two thousand dollars and an enormous structure to hang them from!

The new bridge across the Mississippi was opened in April 1968 and at times is like a car park, but I think it's sad there's not still a ferry for pedestrians.

 Our lunch, which was much more tasty than the brownness suggests, baked potato with bacon and cheese and something green smushed up in it.

Looking left from the old ferry landing towards the massive Exon oil refinery. The thing that looks like half a bridge is some sort of dredger and the red and white paddle boat is the Hollywood Casino. The place with the big windows under the green roof is where they have their buffet, yummmmmmy, and a beautiful view.

Looking right at the new, Horace Wilkinson, Bridge which carries interstate 10 over the Mississippi, only the tops of the lorries really show but trust me the gaps between the lorries are filled with cars, three lanes in both directions. The river is very busy with big barges carrying all sorts, I think driving one would be an amazing job to have.

It was there and so  was I.

It seems hard to believe that just a few months ago all of this was underwater. The river reached almost to the very top of the concrete levee, it must have been almost double the width it is today.

Looking into Port Allen from the ferry landing, the shop with the wind-chimes, "Brian's" is half way down on the right...or maybe it was the next block along...

 

 

On the way home there's oil related stuff everywhere, but I think one of those big tanks could be turned into an amazing house with a bit of welding and a lot of love.

I'm learning to drive over here by noticing stuff from the passenger's seat for now.

The noses on the lorries was the first thing that really struck me as different when I first visited.

This is the old bridge across the river and works for me a bit like the cattle grids did when I lived in the forest, the sight of it means I'm home.  The thin span across the top is for trains which are so long the engine can be off the bridge before the last truck has even started on it, and the steeper slope is for cars.

The scary laundrette next to the scary petrol station and the even more scary (though not the MOST scary) trailer-park.

The knicker lady bar whose flashing lights guide us home at nights, well unless it's a Sunday, even knicker ladies need a day off. As you can see, a classy joint!

We got some reed screening for the porch last weekend and I think it looks pretty, it makes the porch more private and much more shady and is environmentally friendly too.

This fantastic thing is going to become our new wind-chime, well the bit that the pipes dangle from anyway, I'll keep you updated as we progress.

 We spent sometime on Saturday and Sunday at Jim's sister Margaret's  house messing about on her back porch, just moving stuff around and chatting and for much of the rest of the weekend I pointed my camera at anything and everything, often from the window of a moving car, the light is so bright here that in most images you can hardly tell. 

I was really after finding a way over the levee that would let me see the bayou on the other side but so far, despite following google maps, have failed, but we did follow a wonderfully winding road alongside the levee that bends with the river.

Every cow in this field seemed to have a white bird standing beside them. (This one's hiding under the cow's tummy)

This bloke seemed to be allowed to drive along the top of the levee!

I have no idea what this big chimney was used for but there do seem to be a fair few dotted around the place. Jim says it might be something to do with sugar production and given all the cane fields he's probably right.  OH! I forgot to mention we saw big cotton fields a week or two ago and the sides of the road were covered in balls of fluff all the way to the cotton baling plant, I want to grow cotton and peanut plants! (we saw fields and fields of those too)

Sometimes here looks so much like there.

Just because...

As we drove along this tiny back road this massive bridge suddenly appeared...

...it's so new they've still not moved the diggers from underneath it. Mind you things don't seem to happen in too much of a rush here in my experience. There's an advert on TV at the moment for a fast food chicken restaurant and the catch phrase is "Louisiana fast" which makes me think you may be waiting a while for your order there.

This bridge was beautiful though, and all but empty too!

Bridges here are HIGH, almost to the tree tops, I thought it was a bit extreme until I saw how quickly the river rose this year!

You can travel a bit faster on the big roads...

There seems to be so much big industry just scattered all over the place, I think this was a paper mill, I just loved the great big fan.

Port Hudson military cemetery, we just happened across this on our mystery drive but I've since been reading about it and really want to go back knowing the stuff I do now.  http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/porthudson.asp#hi

Gallons of water being sprayed onto heaps and heaps and heaps of wood.

Another dark and woody road that could easily be in Hampshire...

...until you come across the storm damaged, deserted buildings

Caught in a sunbeam

A porch and a balcony are all you need.

So many deserted factories; Jakey would love it; I would worry...what's new!

I have a real love of the look of the petrochemical plants, I'm sure they're pumping all kinds of crap into the air I breath daily but they look so otherworldly, especially at night.

The Capitol building through the windscreen.

The city is crisscrossed with railway tracks, the loooooong trains travel at about 5mph, you can wait for an age at a crossing if you happen to get there at the wrong time.

Old State Capital Building a "Little Sham Castle" Mark Twain

The walkway from the Belle Hotel to their Casino riverboat.

The new bridge from the Casino car park on the East Baton Rouge side of the river

The Belle of Baton Rouge Casino balconies.

The levee looking towards the refinery.

The River Center and downtown.

The USS Kidd, I never seem to be wearing the right sort of shoes to tour this boat whenever we pass, they don't like heels or flip-flops, but it's another place I'd like to visit.

Port Allen reflecting in the Mississippi.

Barge lights.

See, otherworldly, or like a computer game.

HOME!

Well I think that's about it for now, although whilst writing this I have managed to finish the last of the marmite on a toasted muffin, I think I might go and see how much it costs to order online as I think it's an essential food item. Although to give my eyes a rest I'm going to sit on the porch and watch the bananas grow and the humming birds fight the big wasps (they're almost evenly matched!) and listen to the wind.  Speak soon xxx