The View From The Homestead

I'm sitting under the shelter on the deck at the end of the pier on the river bank of False River, which is not a river, but a crescent-shaped lake. The Mississippi River once flowed here, but a long time ago, Ole Man River changed course and cut off this area from its flow. Thus the reason for the name of the parish where the lake is located - Pointe Coupee.

When I stepped onto the the deck, I chased away a female wood duck. I see several eggs in a corner. Perhaps, she's hatching them? It's lovely to have the wood ducks around, but, on the minus side, they leave behind big white plops of duck poop. I wanted a picture of the ducks, but none are nearby.


To get to the water, we cross a well-traveled road, which must be done with care, because there are curves in the road in both directions. It's nice and breezy out here, but it's hard to see the computer screen, because it's so bright. I keep losing the cursor.

My daughter and my grandsons caught a mess of catfish and one perch yesterday and today. Grandpère cleaned and fileted the fish, and they will take them home to fry.

Earlier today, Diana and I went for a walk in the back pasture, which was formerly a cow pasture. The whole yard, front and back, was a cow pasture when I first met GP. You had to walk looking down, because cow patties were all around. Diana pooped in the pasture, and I didn't need to scoop the poop, because this land is my land, and the pasture is large.

The pasture was once the location of one of GP's follies. He had a pond dug on one side of the pasture, but he did not line it with clay or plastic, and the pond didn't hold water for very long. He left an island in the center, where we placed a statue of St. Francis, but, as the pond went dry, weeds and little trees began to sprout, until the whole thing became a tangled mess. Poor St. Francis was in the midst of the tangle, and no longer visible.


GP finally had the pond filled in. Good thing he left the scooped out dirt around the pond, because it was used to fill the pond and level the field to its former state. Now St. Francis stands alone and bereft in the field. I want GP to move him to the front, but he says that he's too heavy for one man to carry, and when he comes here with other men, they have better things to do than concern themselves with moving poor St. Francis to a better location.

Behind the pasture is the farmland, which once supported five families, but is now given over to a farmer to make hay for a percentage of the price that he gets for the hay. Behind the farmland is woods, which was always there.

You can see the hay bales in the picture along with the small pecan trees which my son and GP planted recently along the sides of the field. One day they will produce pecans, but perhaps not in our lifetimes. The trees will benefit our children and grandchildren.

Note: I wrote this while I was on the swing under the shelter, but I'm posting from home, because I was working on slow wireless at the homestead, as many of you already know, and I could not include the pictures.

Pardon me if I'm late in answering email, because any mail that had an attachment or a link to a picture or a video would not open.

UPDATE: Below is a picture of the steps leading down to the riverbank. They're a tribute to my father-in-law, who, amongst his many occupations, was a welder. The steps are made of iron, which he welded together, carried across the road. and laid down on the steep slope. Ingenious, don't you think? They're a perfect fit. He got it all right, the angle of the slope, the placement. They've been there for many years, and they will, very likely, be there for many more years.