How to make groceries in a pirogue

Chris came in to talk to me the other night. He was giggling. “I was just talking to Brian on the phone,” he said. “At first Brian said ‘Hold on a second, I might need to help catch an owl,’ then I heard him ask someone if he needed help, then Brian said ‘Hold on man, I gotta go catch an owl.’” I’m not saying that life here is full of owl catching, but we did spend a Friday night a month or two ago rushing to help deliver a baby goat and then I got dropped off at the house while Chris went to pick up a dead deer. The owl, by the way is o.k. I guess a baby owl flew into the side of some guy’s car and was stunned. Brian kept it for the night in his barn and it flew off the next day. I guess New Orleans was a time for me to have a wild life, and now Alabama is a time for me to see wildlife.

I know it’s terrible, but I am at a lost because I have just complete book 11 of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels and I don’t know what to do with myself. Twelve won’t come out until June. These books I’ve been reading are a little mindless, but I haven’t been able to put them down. Stephanie Plum, the main character, gets laid off from her average job and stumbles into work as a bounty hunter. The bail bondsman she works for gives her the “easy” cases, but she always stumbles upon some greater mystery which she somehow always happens to solve. My inner child is really wanting to be a bounty hunter when she grows up. Or a secret agent–the book I found to start biding my time until June is about female secret agents inside Germany in WWII.

I recently went to a viewing of “I fight with my camera”, a student documentary on Charles Moore. He was a photographer for life magazine and his photos are largely credited with garnering support for and driving forward the civil rights movement. Charles Moore apparently lives here in Alabama and was at the screening. I was very honored to speak with him briefly and shake his hand. To know that I shook the very same hand that had shaken MLK, Jr’s hand was powerful in itself. There is a brief biography on Charles Moore here .

Here are some of his photos:

The documentary really got me to thinking about Alexis and what a talented photographer she is and what a powerful gift she has. It was exciting to shake hands with greatness, but it is even more exciting with Alexis, because I get to be related to greatness. I love you and am super proud of you little sis!