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Even the names of the food sound exotic and foreign ... gumbo, jambalaya, boudin (pron: boo-dan or boo-dah) ... these are the things we eat with gusto. We do everything that way. You want to know what the recipe for a good time is? Gather a group of your closest friends and fill the fridge with beer. Put on the ball game or some kicking cajun music and mingle. In a large pot, add 200 pounds of crawfish, corn on the cob, new potatos and sausage. Spice until the mixture is hot enough to peel paint and boil until potatos are done. Strain crawfish, line picnic table with newspaper, dump the contents of pot on the table, take everybody's keys and mingle some more. Later break out the watermelon that has been chilling all day in the cooler and watch the sun go down.You may doubt me but it's the best time you will ever have.
Louisiana is the "Sportsman's Paradise" and many of our activities involve the outdoors ... fishing, hunting, camping or just visiting the lake for a barbeque ... we love the outdoors. I am proud to say I have taken part in all of those activities although not as much lately as I used to. That's sad because there is something about throwing a motor in the back of the truck, heading to the lake, renting a boat that leaks like a sieve and trying to keep it from filling with water as you try to coax a bass into having lunch on you that makes you feel SO alive.
I am a proud carnivore. I eat meat ... lots of meat and it don't really matter what species it comes from. Try getting someone from New York (no slight to my New York friends intended) to sit down with you and belly up to a plate of alligator balls! Can't really blame them I guess but they are not the "man rocks" of alligators. I promise! You ought to try them sometime, seriously!
We also have a sorted political history. From Huey P. Long and his brother Earl to Edwin Edwards Louisiana has a history of crooked politicians that everyone in the nation knows about. I believe we have more former elected officials in jail than any other state in the nation. Rep. William Jefferson (New Orleans) will be the next one to have a cellmate tatto the word "bitch" on his ass. Mark my words it's coming folks! The strange thing is, for years that was a secret source of pride to many residents of the state. We might be piss poor, our education system may mot be at the top of the list but we had the crookedest politicians in the nation, brazenly crooked and we loved them for it! The governor is having an affair with a stripper named Blaze ... in the Governor's Mansion? Hell yeah! You go man! We're with you!
But it's the 21st cenury now. It's time to give up that past and try and reform Louisiana into a state we can be proud to call our home. There are people trying to do that but the corruption and the "good ole boy network" is fighting tooth and nail to keep the status quo. We will win, but it may not be in my lifetime and that saddens me. Here is a good example of what I am talking about. Committee kills cockfighting ban
Why? No, Seriously. Why? WTF! I just don't understand it. But I don't want you to feel bad for us. We made this bed a long time ago and are still sleeping in it. The mattress is lumpy from all the bribe money that is stashed inside it but there is room for all of us to sleep comfortably. Self inflicted wounds take a long time to heal. One day we'll fumigate and get rid of the roaches. When they are gone and a new day dawns in the Bayou State, you and I will sit down and get to know about 200 pounds of mudbugs over a nice cold beer. And hey, if all else fails I was born in Houston and still hold that Texas citizenship! Hmmmm. Now if we could just talk someone into spiking the watermelon ...