Christmas Bonfires

Last night I traveled up to St. James Parish to see the bonfires along the levee--a 200+ year old tradition that involves bonfires lit to show Papa Noel the way on Christmas Eve. The fires stretch for miles, with over 200 of them being lit at the same time. The little town of Lutcher, population about 3,700, gets roughly 86,000 visitors for a few hours on this night, so you can say it's big. Add in music and fireworks and small-town American patriotism on display, and it was a great night for all.

Merry Christmas

The Birth of Jesus Christ
Luke, Ch.2

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

A Christmas week with family ends

So my mom, my sister and my nephew, The Spud, were all here for most of the past week. And as luck would have it, I was sick and my leg as messed up. Still, we managed to get some things done.

Wednesday I got them out into the swamp on an airboat.

We were out for about three hours. And Spud got to be helpful by picking up some trash.

Hard to believe that he's going to be 18 in a month.

It was a sunny 75 degrees and we saw nutria a-plenty and even a few gators were out--rare for December.

Thursday we did the World War Two museum and Friday it was a river cruise on the Steamboat Natchez.
Here's a well-known performance artist (sigh) getting hold of my mom and teaching her how to be a mannequin. I only allowed this because I know who he is and I can find him again easily enough if I have to...but I kept a close eye on him all the same. And my mom had a ball.

Last night--Christmas Eve--was a trip down to Lutcher and Gramercy for the Christmas Eve lighting of the bonfires. Here every year, they build and light off bonfires on the levee all along the river for miles, tradition says to light the way for Papa Noel and his sleigh.

They touch them all off at once, with much celebration and not a few fireworks, and it's a spectacular sight that, alas, my camera really couldn't get. This year there were 138 permitted bonfires on that levee and it was a beautiful sight indeed.

Then I took them out for something Spud hadn't had before--raw oysters. He said that he liked them, but he only ate three. Maybe he'll mature into them.

This morning, we had a final breakfast then I drove them around parts of New Orleans for a bit, from the Bywater to the lower Ninth Ward to the Lakefront, before dropping them off at the airport.

Murphy and Belle are going to miss their Great Grandma.

Here they are panhandling as she tries to open some dog treats that she brought them. As you can see, she has their undivided attention.

Murphy got a ball for Christmas, among other swag.

Bells just wants attention from my sister, who is always glad for someone new to talk to.

Now they're gone, and it was a pretty good Christmas. I hope that each and every one of you had a great Christmas as well.

Ready for Christmas

The lights are up.

And I got a tree.

It was 68 degrees today.

Bring it.

Back--and now with computer access!

OK, the dogs and I are home now...and I have a computer again, so I don't have to try to blog from an iPhone or iPad, both of which are pretty iFrustrating and iDifficult.

Trip up to Michigan went pretty much ok. About half way, in western Pennsylvania, my old Jeep, which is now relegated to being a dog hauler, began to make loud grinding noises from someplace below the vehicle in the area of the transfer case. This did not make me happy, and when I stopped to check it out, I could see nothing hanging that might be doing this. So I paid a visit to the Firestone garage in Cranberry, PA, and even though it was the height of holiday travel time, they got me in pretty quickly, got the Jeep up on the lift, and figured out and a heat shield from the exhaust had broken loose and gotten itself wrapped up around the drive shaft. In no time, I was back out on the road again and they only charged me $15.00 to lift the Jeep and cut the remains of the shield out of there. And it's amazing how fast a busy garage can get you in and done when you bring your travel companions into the waiting room.

My sister got her new handgun, a S&W Shield in 9mm. Aaron and I took her out to the range to teach her how to use it.

I took my nephew, The Spud, out for a day in the woods with the dogs at Proud Lake Recreation area.

We hiked the trails for a few hours and I brushed him up on his fire-building skills because he wants to go winter camping with his friends next month.

On Christmas Eve, we had an extended family dinner with Aaron and his family and Proud Hillbilly and hers over. Due to the number of people and close quarters at my mom's, the dogs were sequestered in a back bedroom together. But they had lots of company because PH's granddaughter seems to just know five words, and she used them every few minutes: "Let's go see the dogs!"

New friends.

We had our own dinner on Christmas Day. And Murphy was up to his old table-surfing tricks.

Afterwards, the dogs got presents just like everyone else.

Stuffed toys were unwrapped, cuddled, stolen, tussled over...they had a good day, and I thought they'd never wind down. But finally they did.

Pals forever.

Merry Christmas

Let us never forget...



Jesus is the reason for this season. May He bless you all.

Merry Christmas to all.

"Belle here. The boss is off to work today, so from our family to you and yours, I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas indeed. And watch out for reindeer!"
"Merry Christmas!"

Early Christmas And Home...

Well it was a short Christmas trip, and since I was (and still am) sick, I did very little of what I'd planned to do and saw precious few of the people I'd planned to visit. But I did see the family and we had some nice time together and exchanged a few gifts, and the dogs got to act all nice for their Grandma so now she doesn't believe all the posts here about what fools they act.

"Don't listen, Santa...we gud dogz!"

Of course Murphy being Murphy, he did lift two roast beef sandwiches off of the kitchen table right in front of everybody just seconds after I chased Belle away from them. And when I pinned him to the floor to correct him and recover at least one of the sandwiches, Belle shot in like lightning and nabbed the stray sandwich. I was mad at her, but kinda proud, too. Pretty slick, Belle.

But the dogs had a pretty good Christmas, scoring a couple of toys each even after the Milk Bone incident.

They played until they were all played out, and then they napped together in the sunbeam.

Later, Belle "helped" by appointing herself Safety Officer of the kitchen and keeping a close eye on the food and the people cooking dinner...and the food.

And speaking of gifts, I found the perfect scented candle for my sister.

Everyone should have a thoughtful brother like me.

It was 8 hours of driving each way for four days in between, but it was worth every minute of that sixteen hours in a closed car with the mutts for that time, even if I didn't get out and actually do anything.

Now it's back to business as usual, starting with work tomorrow morning. I wish you all a happy Christmas morning with your families, and I ask that you all take a minute to remember that there are many thousands of people working or serving in our military on Christmas day.

Christmas with the dogs.

So it was off for Christmas to Grandmas's house last week for the dogs, and for Belle it was the first time.

We started off on a sour note, with baths for the pair.

"Turn that water on and you're gonna regret this..."

"Yup. I will get you for this. Count on it."

"No fair! I just had one of these last month!"

"We put it to a vote. It was unanimous. You suck. Now let us in so we can shake water all over your stuff."

Then it was off for an 8-hour drive up to Michigan. (OK, 8 hrs, 20 minutes, but only because I let Proud Hillbilly, who carpooled up to see her family, drive part of the way. Talk about Letting Miss Daisy Drive...) The dogs, penned up behind an impromptu cargo screen made from a baby gate and bungee cords, rode fairly nicely. Murphy still has riding issues, but it seemed like Belle calmed him down a lot. The dogs did fairly well at Grandma's, except for Belle mistaking Grandma's bedroom for the potty place. (Cost to rent carpet steam cleaner: $36.00.) But on Christmas morning, Santa didn't hold it against her as she and Murphy got hooked up with a pair of Kong Wubba toys. My mom got them each one. (And they squeak. I'll get even for that.)

Here, the male/female difference was apparent. Murphy chomped his, swung his, threw his and basically did everything that he could to kill it. Belle, on the other hand, gently caressed hers, grooming it and nurturing it and treating it like a cherished doll or a pup. Naturally Murphy spent most of his day trying to get hers too, and she did everything that she could to get his, so the Kongs changed hands (paws) quite a bit while my mom tried to explain to them that the light one was Belle's and the dark one was Murphy's.

"I win!"

Here, Gunnery Sgt. Murphy inspects the Spud's new shooting muffs.

"Do you think I'm cute, Private Pyle? Do you think I'm funny?"

Santa's armorers hooked Spud up with a new Airsoft H&K MP5 this year. Full-auto plastic BB fun.

In the end though, as everyone else pitched in to clean the house, the dogs called it a day and dozed off, no doubt dreaming of a fat UPS man in a red suit, and reindeer steaks.

We hope your Christmas was good, too.