Graduation

We returned to New Roads and the camp on False River for granddaughter Amada Louise's graduation from LSU.  Her ceremonies were held in the PMAC, the Peter Maracvich Atheletic Center, a huge areana for basketball and similar indoor sports like Gymnistastic events.  It is festoon with championship flags from the past.

Amada graduated from what I knew as the College of Arts and Sciences, today it is Arts and Humanities.  There were a little over 900 in her class, many with very high honors.  Most were just graduates.  It took almost two hours just to get her diploma.  It was well organized and every student was properly announced.  Indeed the arena was near full, perhaps about 80%,  Some seats were cut off in each end but that was to be expected.

She was in the second group to get their diplomas in the PMAC,  Two other large divisions also used the same facility.  They were separated by an hour or so.  So basically, every four hours they pumped out hundreds of graduates.  The PMAC was but one such facility in use.  Small colleges were using the Student Union Auditorium as but an example.

As a comparisom, when I graduated almost 50 years ago, there were about 700 graduates total in June of 1963.  In my day LSU had about 8,000 undergraduate students and maybe another 2,500 graduate students.  Graduation was held three times in a year, much the same as today.  But today, LSU has 28,000 undergraduate students, it is a huge institution.  And graduation was held in John M Parker Auditorium in my day which had the world's worst accoustics.   The birds chripping over head in the rafters drowned out the much amplified guest speaker.  So for us it was more of a sight thing, or rite of passage.

Robes for the undergraduates were all purple with LSU festooned across the breast.  Master Degrees were black robes also with LSU across the chest.  Doctorates got all different colors of robes and had three cheverons on the sleeves indicating a Doctorate Degree.   Medical degrees were in green gowns for instance.

In Amanda's class of Arts and Humanities there was one perfect score, all "A"s, a number of Summa Cum Lade, Magna Cum Lade and Cum Lade graduates.  Many had high honors and University award medals.  A lot of very smart young people finished their undergraduate degrees.  Many are off to higher degrees else.

So all over the campus were saw young people in the robes with their Mortor Board hats moving here and there.  It was their last day.   It was a grand day too, bight, sunny and filled with joy.

Our Lizards . . .

We have so many of them now we refer to all of them as Fritz's, sometimes with a descriptor like "side yard Fritz" or "Short Tailed Fritz" but they are pretty amy every where in our yard.  They seem to tolerate us.

The oldest one, Fritzina, has now become a permanent resident in Judie's yard shoes.  Sometimes she is joined by short tail Fritz in an adjacent shoe.  Judie has two pairs of yard shoes placed on the little side rack by the Baker Racks just outside the patio door.  We use the door frequently but once they bed down for the night they do not seem to mind our comings and goings.  So nights, I check and there is Fritzina and other nights she and another Fritz is in their respective shoes.  She is usually in place in her shoe by 6 PM, sometimes earlier.

I am sure the shoes provide protection against night predators like snakes.  If the lizard curls up in the toe well out of the way, it is well protected.  That the shoes are dark means they hold the heat and warm up in the mornings.  So they get a fresh heat charge so to speak.

They seem to rise regularly about 9AM.  It appears to me to be about 72 or so degrees and the sun has been on the shoes for maybe a half hour or so.  So it means they get an early warm up.

First you see their little heads kind of sticking up out of the rear of the shoe.  Its like they are checking for crickets and predators.  Next you might see them sprawled over the shoes sort of getting their bearings.  And then they are off.  across the carpet to begin the days hunting.  The younger Fritz usually scoots over under the green box (a big green cabinet on wheels that houses bird seed and the like on the patio).  Big Fritz or Fritzina does not care to go there, she is heading off to the edge of the patio.  Later we see them here and there looking for prey, sometimes on the carpet, even up on the patio furniture (gives them a broader view).  I think they are pretty smart little animals

We have seen them in the trees, in the side yard, even in the garage.  They are welcome as they are master bug eaters.  We do not have many crickets any more,  rarely seen now days.  That is by far their favorite food.

I always fear that they will have over fed and devoured all their food supply.  But yet they even remain.  I guess their shoe domain is too attractive for them - safer than a wood pile.

Swimming . . .

Do you recall who taught you how to swim?  I do.  My mentor was Lindy Boggs.  I learned on the Gulf Coast at Long Beach, MS out in front of the Boggs family compound.  The owned a strip of land, I think since the Civil War, that ran back from the Gulf of Mexico to the east-west railroad tracks.

My father's business partner and cousin, Stanley Morrison was married to Claire Boggs, who was Lindy's sister-in-law.  The business partners had two big meetings a year, one at Easter and the other at Labor Day.  Generally they got together in Long Beach for Easter and New Roads for Labor Day (at our house).

Lindy is my cousin, second cousin.  Her mother was a Morrison.  So the Morrison's are intertwined with the Boggs family, sometimes related, sometimes just kissing cousins.  Stanley Morrison was also a second cousin.  You can imagine that there are double cousins involved.

At any rate, Lindy got me to over come my fear of water and I began swimming.  I can remember ducking my head underwater and seeing a crab skedaddle away from us.  I only swam a few yards but I had conquered my fear of water.

Later I can recall taking bigger chances while swimming of Louis Morgan's pier.  But by then I had a great deal more skill and capability.  And even later I demonstrated my skill by swimming across the big pool in Monroe, LA.  My aunt T (T is for Thelma), my mother's oldest sister had a standing wager that if we could swim across the pool we would get five dollars.  Five dollars was a handsome sum in those days.

Alas the Monroe pool and Louis Morgan's pier are long gone.  Destroyed by storms and age.  There was even a pier of sorts in the Gulf in front of the Boggs domain, it too is long gone.  But I can still swim.

Lindy by the way was later to serve 11 terms in the US House of Representatives and was Bill Clinton's Ambassador to the Vatican.  She was always a great friend to our family.

Back Home Again . . .

The first thing I noticed was the lack of humidity here in Weatherford.  After New Roads, Angeles Plantation and False River it as quite dry here, only about 65% or so humidity.  While the temperatures in Pointe Coupee were not outrageous, the normal humidity was its typical self, high, damp and oppressing.  Small price to pay for paradise.

But it was good to return to one's abode, one's castle so to speak.  Lonely though as Judie was still in Madison visiting with grandson Will and his parents.  They will soon be off to a visit to France  for a week.  Anne and Will stay only a week.  Jake will be there for a long bike ride.

I miss Europe for the summer months but do not miss the political doings going on over the Euro.  I would love to spend a couple of weeks in Germany again, perhaps a few days in London to go with it.  But that ain't gonna happen.  I am sure it has all changed as my elderly memory slowly declines.  What I thought was a great place and climate might just be pretty tough.  Oh well, better to feast upon one's memories.

We will soon charge back to New Roads for Amanda Louise's graduation from LSU.  I am sure James and Joan will be glad that task is done with.  Soon Jammie will be on his way to some higher education.  I would not be surprised that he would go to Vanderbilt with all of Joan's connects there.  No matter that he festoons all kinds of LSU dress, these things can change over night with the younger generation as they too mature and look about.

Judie is back now.  Arrived last night on American Eagle.  Picked her up and we went and voted in the local election for city fathers.  We have yet another election cycle coming up for county and state officials.  We thought they would do it one time but that is not the case.  The Democratic lawsuits over Gerrymandering changed the dates.  The Democrats lost their lawsuit and the Supreme Court level, saying local Federal Judges can not over rule local legislatures that are acting in accordance with the state constitutions.  A five to four decision and sorely disappointed the local Democrats  Texas is a Red state now days, swinging ever more and more conservative.

Any way it is good to be home again.

False River . . .

A couple of years back there was a raging controversy that the lake eco-system was in trouble.  Biologists wanted to lower the water level drastically, then allow it to rise again.  They said that was the natural cycle and would restore the lake.  The US Corps of Engineers wanted to dredge the ends of the lake to remove the years of silt that had built up.

Things were moving along smartly until lake side residents protested that lowering the lake would cause their homes, their cabins, their beloved camps to have structural damages.  This they said was unacceptable.  And the US Corps of Engineers wanted some monetary contribution to add to their funds.  In austere times that is not going to happen.   The bally ho stopped, so called progress was halted in its tracks.

Oh the biologists were upset.  Their grand experiment had been side lined.  The lake was doomed they said.
Well I saw something that I had not seen since I was a kid.  I saw mullet jumping, not once but several times.  I noted the grass influx had greatly diminished (could be that there was some treatment to reduce the water plants).  But I know for a fact that the lake side homes and camps were all now connected to proper sewer systems.  That means "grey water," discharge from septic systems has been greatly reduced.  It means the discharge from washing machines that release phosphates from laundry soaps was no longer going into the lake.  In short the lake was cleaning itself up

We now have a significant population of Green Heads - Mallard ducks, that reside here year round.  Wild life is up, not down.  We see all sorts and kinds of water fowl. Great Blue Herons, Pelicans, and White Egrets.  Little birds never left and the Purple Martins that migrate in from Brazil to feed on the insects and raise their young are teeming.

Yes, False River is very much alive.  It is the summer Mecca of Baton Rouge and now people from all come to this backwater of America.  It is a semi-resort now days.  New houses and camps abound around the lake.  I say the biologist were wrong.  The US Corps of Engineers just wanted to get their hands in control of the lake.  That's not going to happen either, perhaps that is a good thing.

Ole Man River just keeps on rolling along.

Got Up Late . . .

I arose a bit late for me but then I did not have an alarm clock to bother me.

I rose, turned on the coffee pot and took my usual morning pills.  I seem to live on pills but I adapt easily and it that is what it takes, so be it.

Took my coffee out on the porch and observed the river in fog.  It was calm and there were a couple of ducks along the bank.  They were silhouetted against the water.  So I went and got my camera.

By the time I got  back to the porch, the fog had lifted enough for the ducks to launch and off they went.  But then I noticed a great Blue Heron sitting on the old boat house piece of a pier.  A lonely sentinel looking for his breakfast.

I took a few shots anyway.  With digital cameras you can take literally hundreds of photos and not worry about running out of film.  Young photographers of today will miss the ability to use black and white film all the benefits of a dark room.  Many shades of gray will be missed.  Now it is how many pixels you get and the cameras are constantly improving. Memory is growing and thus one seems to have infinite capacity to shoot pictures.  None of this work to compose, just shoot and it you shoot enough you will get some great pictures.

It was nice to watch the changes in the morning on the banks of False River.

False River Again . . .

Back in New Roads again.  Here to attend a wedding.  Susan Poindexter'r daughter is getting married Saturday in St Mary's.  The reception will be out at the plantation, an ideal location for family doings.

Wife Judie is in Madison visiting with with grandson Will and his parents.  It is her usual trek and not be put off.  So I get to represent the family so to speak.

Humidity is off the scale and the lake was calm and quite pastorial.  Its later now, and already the power boats have it a bit choppy.  Pretty day, lots of white puffy clouds abound.  Temperature probably near 90 degrees.  Normal Louisiana fare.