Lafayette

Yep, I'd move back in a heartbeat. Or to Arkansas, or even Georgia. Hell, I'm just tired of this town. Of course it's a temporary condition. I always feel this way when (a) I go out of town, or (b) someone I care about is moving. Both apply at the moment, so the feeling is strong. It could also have something to do with the fact that the school year is about to begin, and I know I won't think about much else for a while. Sophie's in first grade; Emme is in pre-K; Olivia's almost two, and Wendy is free for the first time in almost 7 years...

We've talked about moving before, but haven't got farther than a weekend of fantasizing about a place full of greener pastures -- good schools, good (like-minded) people. Then I'll go out in the backyard at night and look at my house with my wife and kids, in bed, asleep, fans blowing and AC turned down to 72, snug and safe. And I'm an emotional wreck.

And I think, too, of our friends and family that are here. The community surrounding my school, even, after only a year. My gig with Jeremy, especially on those nights when I get to lose myself in the music, creating something new. But the town, well. It kinda sucks a lot of the time. We have in town what could be the coolest riverfront in the state, along with what could be one of the coolest festivals, as well. But both are underutilized, underfunded, unsupported. There are some good things going on at the university, but the city is divorced from it, too wrapped up in opening new strip malls, by the mall.

So, Lafayette. They have a unified government, which means the money in the parish is unified, which means if you elect good people, then something can actually happen. While our city won't fund the Louisiana Folklife Festival, the city of Lafayette hosts the Festival International de Louisiane, bringing thousands downtown to their recently constructed stage and market. They have a huge Children's Museum, next to a newly located Museum of Natural History. There are many galleries downtown, as well as an Arts Center. Oh, and last when we were visiting, I learned about a new park/fountain, Parc Sans Souci (Park Without Worries). We took the kids and they got very wet.



We stayed with our friends Matt and Parv and their two kids, Charlotte and Vishwa. Matt and Parv are awesome people, both English teachers, transplanted from the northeast about ten years ago. They treated us like family and we had a great time. I went over to Wally's Friday night and then everyone met for lunch the next day at Deano's Pizzaria (home of the Cajun Executioner). Sophie and Charlotte became fast friends.



We actually got to go out Saturday night, without kids. My almost-sister-in-law Suzie (who owns the bar where Wendy's been moonlighting) has a good friend there, and they came over with cookies and popcorn and entertained the kids for us. Man, it was nice. We went to the Blue Moon Saloon and drank and danced to a cajun band (Dewey Balfa's daughter's band). The bar is just off downtown, a porch wrapped around a youth hostel. Afterwards, we went across the street to a place called Artmosphere, a sort of living room with couches and tables, with a bar attached, where our friend Kevin Gordon was playing.

Olivia now plays the accordian. Lil Pookie better step aside.



Anyway, it was a good trip. We need to go visit more often. Even now, after writing this, the burning desire to move has subsided, thankfully. Because I've got lunch to fix, the lit magazine to finish, summer books to read, ebay drum shopping to do. Friends are coming over tonight. The gravational pull of Monroe is hugging my pantsleg.

Not yet August, yet the end of summer

Since when did the end of July become the end of the summer? It was even cooler today by at least fifteen degrees.

These last few days have been exhausting. Too much has happened for me to really process. First, we went to Lafayette. That's not what prompted me to post, although there's a lot say about that trip. It was good.

It's been a time of wonder and discovery for the kids, these dog days. Today, we saw a walking stick, biggest I've ever seen, as long as my hand. It was on the glass door of a Pizza Hut where we were attending a fifth birthday party. When we got home, after decompressing from the Jungle Gym (emphasis on "jungle," as in kids running around like maniacs, and where Olivia did not stop for two solid hours), after that we went outside. Partially to wake me up, but also to enjoy the weather.

Wendy was at her new job as a bartender and then went to host a women's wine drinking dinner (WINOS, Wendy calls it: women in need of socialization).

So I made some coffee and we headed outside. We got the bikes and the bubbles and the soccer ball. Sophie's getting good on the bike and I suggested maybe we could raise the seat and take off the training wheels. Maybe Emme should have hers, she offered, and she could get a new one for her birthday? Emme was on the scooter mostly, and Olivia rode the tricycle and played in the dirt.

Another part of this story is that Sophie just lost her front tooth, after many days of anticipatory wiggling. So, a big deal around here. She asked me if she looked funny, the beginnings of self-doubt. I told her she looked beautiful, which is true. The Tooth Fairy "exchanged" her tooth for a new notebook (pink, with little, round ornamental mirrors on the front). The next morning she began drawing and writing the epic story of a princess and a giant "wevre" bird.

So, she's riding her bike and circles back around to pick up a stick. "I think I recognize this stick. I bet it used to be a stick bug." And then, while riding away, on seeing one of the training wheels wobble, she says with her eyes wide, "Daddy, it's loose! I think I'll let it fall off on it's own!"

Emme is starting school very soon, and she feels like she's been waiting forever. My sweet sweet Emme. She feels so grown up. Wendy is going to be lost for a few days.

And just this evening, James came over to share some news. He's taking a job in Hot Springs, teaching at the state-funded high school for gifted students. Plus he's getting paid good money for the gig. So I'm happy on the one hand, of course. But terribly sad on the other, knowing "how way leads on to way," to quote an overused but applicable poem.

Yes, lots of change.