We both slept in Monday but I got up a bit before Amanda. I went outside by the pool to write on a post looking for a dog to pet. My aunt is a dog lover and helps rescue them. She’s always had a ton since I was little, at one time up to 15 I think. Currently it was 5 or 6 so I had my pick but couldn’t find them, they weren’t there dog houses, an addition to the carport with fans and ac. They finally came out of the living room following my aunt and I got some love from my favorite, the Boston terrier Buster. My uncle came down to visit for a bit he wasn’t off working like he thought he’d be.
I went to check on Amanda, she was up we both got ready and I made the bed. My aunt keeps an immaculate house vacuuming herself out of every room everyday, the place is perfect, always has been every time I’ve been there. Even staying the summers as a kid with her I knew I had to make the bed up. I joked with Amanda that I thought I’d made the bed more at her house than my own, we aren’t a make the bed up every day kind of couple! We’ve stayed with her a bunch over the years even coming back from the Cleveland clinic when we’d drive. We are always welcomed with open arms, it feels like a second home especially with all the dogs!
When I came back outside my cousin was there petting a dog. This one’s name was Bossy and that he is, if you stop petting he lets you know of his disapproval. An overly fluffy wiener dog, his claim to fame is sitting like a “circus dog” on his very flat rump with his short legs pawing out front. We talked, my cousin and I not the dog, for a while then Amanda appeared we were waiting on my other uncle to show late morning but he was running behind.
All the places to eat seemed to be closed on Mondays we didn’t want a heavy meal just a salad. So we settled on a salad and sandwich shop downtown in an old building where I use to go to a children’s center ran by one of my mothers good friends. My father also had a farm feed store right next to it as well. It is a neat little old German town with cobblestone streets still in place all through the downtown area.
After lunch we headed out to my old hometown not but 15 or so miles away to see someone who lived not far from us as a kid who’s daughters babysat me. I hadn’t seen her in years, it was good to catch up, her neighbor showed up to say high as well. This was the son of an older lady that worked for my mother at her fine dining restaurant which was on the back porch of our ranch house overlooking the pastures. She was like a grandmother to me I would regularly stay over with her and play with her youngest grandson. Until her passing she was a pillar of her small county Baptist church and would be so proud of Amanda and I in our servant roles.
We made our way back to our old ranch, it encompassed a couple hundred acres on the inside of a loop that bordered railroad tracks. The people that have it now, I believe the only other owners, have done wonders with it. It was a nice place my father built the house and surroundings in the 70s. A nice set of pens, large barn, and stable for his horse breeding operation along with registered Brahman cattle, the ones with camel looking humps. When we left it was a fine place but this wealthy couple made it grand, it only takes money I guess. I’ve never missed a time when I’m back in Louisiana that I don’t drive by.
We’d had dinner at a local seafood place, one of the only ones open, planned with the family. A few of my cousins and their kids and grands came along as well. It was good to see everyone and get to chat. This restaurant is right on the bayou and my mother use to tell me a story of an alligator that lived under this bridge. You had to pay him with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to cross it, I have vivid memories of standing on that bridge with my mother looking for that very gator! It’s funny how going back to old stomping grounds stirs up memories.
We felt as though we need to repent after our eating out. Amanda was good getting a baked potato and veggies but we both partook in a few to many finger shaped hushpuppies, my personal favorite, and bean soup for appetizers. I however was not as good I ate crawfish etouffee and grilled shrimp. To make us feel better about our bad dietary choices we went to grab some fruit from the store, we needed a few other things anyway. It was off to bed after that since we were headed back home the next morning.
It was a slow day we needed, Amanda was pretty tired but so was I. Her back had been hurting, some from hiking some from driving and a lot from not sleeping in our own bed. As hard as we’d been going she was doing amazing in my opinion.