It’s a beautiful day. The weather is mild and the sun is shining. Someone told me if they complained about the weather, they wouldn’t be grateful. In south Louisiana, beautiful weather comes twice a year, in the fall and spring. All other times it is hot and humid. I have lived in different parts of the country. Some were more than beautiful than others. But I always came home to Louisiana. There is no place like home. Maybe if I say it 3 times and click my heels, it will change. It is my home. if I leave it for too long, I get homesick, hot weather and all. But I am grateful for the mild weather. Years ago, I went to Colorado looking for work. I stayed at my cousin’s house. They lived on a dude ranch in a box canyon in Evergreen, Colorado. It was December and the snow was 5 feet deep. There was a creek running through the property. It was as scenic a site that you would ever want to see. But it was up in the Rocky Mountains and below freezing. I stayed for a month. Getting use to the cold weather took some time. Today, another cousin from Louisiana lives in Colorado. He has been there for several years. He sent me a picture of the 1^st snow in his backyard. They will have a white Christmas. If you have never gone to Colorado, you need to go one time. The view from a top the Rocky Mountains on the Continental Divide is breathtaking. Now getting back to south Louisiana. The French people who settled the area were a very hardy people. They were self-reliant. They learned to use what food they found here. Cajun cooking is all the rage across the country. And it is the simplest cuisine of all. To most people’s surprise, Cajun food is seasoned not peppered. You start with the basics, onion, bell pepper and celery. My family isn’t Acadian French. My family is protestant French, Huguenots. They came to Louisiana before and after the American civil war. My family were cotton farmers. Of all the crops in the world, cotton is the hardest to grow and harvest. It attests to the persistence of my family. But through it all, they trusted God and believed that all things work together for good. My family has been in America for 400 years.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com