Weds., May 7, 2008, 6:27 p.m., D.S.T., somewhere in southern Tennessee, headed south towards Louisiana~

Dear Journal~

Well, here we are:  to paraphrase that old Willie Nelson chestnut, "On the road again..."  LOL  (four hours later than originally planned! LOL)

Louie here.  Well, me, Bill, and the whole kittenkaboodle, headed towards Denney's, to get some grub as we continue our trek southward, to Louisiana, our final destination.

Let's hope we get there in one piece.  And with money:  just filled the gas tank:  over $200. OUCH.

Good thing God provided us with a little unexpected cash!  Otherwise, we'd still be sitting at the end of our driveway!

Lord, have mercy!!

This weekend will find us at the Crawfish Festival, held in my old stompin' grounds, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.  It is a big deal for this tiny town of 4,000 people:  over 25,000 crawfish-crazy people from all over the world converge for a weekend of sheer madness.  They come to celebrate a lowly little crustacean that looks like a miniature lobster--and tastes a lot like shrimp.

I've attended just about all of the festivals (have missed maybe 15 or so), not bad, considering the first crawfish festival was held 49 years ago, way back in 1959.  I make it a point to attend as many crawfish festivals as I possibly can, while I'm still able to.

My husband and kids have been indocrinated into this tradition.  They've come to realize that this is very important to me, as a way of celebrating my Cajun French heritage.

In other words, if I go to the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, then they go, too.

They've come to expect this from me, and now they look forward to it nearly as much as I do.

There's something about the mouth-watering odors of Cajun crawfish cookin' or the enticing strains of accordion-laced fiddle music that draws my family to the crawfish festival every year, as much as it does me.

This weekend we plan on eatin' our fill of Cajun delicasies or doing the Cajun two-step (or waltz) until late at night.  We will probably see the best of what Cajun music has to offer:  Belton Richard, Wayne Toups, Terrence Simien, Hunter Hayes, "BeauSoleil", too many others to mention.

Even my son Johnathon and daughter Ronee' are getting into the act:  they are performing, too.  They're performing on Saturday.  Ronee' performs first, after Hunter Hayes (and before Belton Richard), and Johnathon performs with Belton Richard.  They are both only fifteen years old, but both know how to get an audience to their feet. 

I pray they do well!  They always seem to do a good job whenever they're onstage!

Well, I have to seperate Janica from Emma-Ruth:  seems that they're about to get into a full-blown fist fight because Emma-Ruth took away her sister's Tetris game without asking her permission.  So before there's any bloodshed, I'd best deal with this, nip this in the bud. 

Take care and God bless!  Will write again soon from Louisiana; stay tuned for a full report from Breaux Bridge/the Crawfish Festival!  See you!

~Love, your friend, Louie May. :D AAIIEEE!! :D