#AdventWord #Robes

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In the biblical story of the prodigal son, the wayward boy returns to his father straight from feeding leftovers to pigs in a field. We are not told what he was wearing, but… my sibs and I did that growing up on an Iowa farm. We called it “slopping the hogs,” and I assure you, we wore our crudest farm chore clothes to do it. It was as dirty a job as it sounds! We are told that the loving father greeted his son by immediately commanding a servant to bring the finest robe and put it on him. Maybe…

August: Cat Island

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Cat Island is a National Wildlife Refuge near St. Francisville in south central Louisiana. It’s a wonderfully primitive refuge. It has one road with a turn-around at the end of it somewhere in the middle of the refuge. You drive in, you drive out; you do not drive through. The road to the entrance of the refuge runs along a bayou and is interesting in its own right for wildlife observation. But the dominant feature is “the big tree,” a Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) estimated to be 1500 years old. It is 96 feet tall, has a diameter of 17…

March: Black Bayou Lake NWR

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Sorry, friends. I’m on vacation this week, having a wonderful time birding on Dauphin island. My #YearInReview has not been top priority, but this morning I’m taking a minute to let it warm up a bit outside before I head out again. Back in March 2024, my chapter of Louisiana Master Naturalists was making final plans for the statewide Master Naturalist gathering in April, which we were to host in northeast Louisiana. I was going to be leading a couple of kayak tours of the lake, so I was out scouting. I have kayaked that lake often but on this…

2 Fave Things

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Dragonflies and cypress trees! I did not know either until I moved to Louisiana some 20+ years ago. I’m sure we had dragonflies in Iowa, but I paid them no attention. Cypress trees? Nope. Of course not. Learning to appreciate the beauty of a swamp was one big adjustment for this yankee, and cypress trees sure helped. This exquisitely beautiful spot is at Black Bayou Lake NWR on the north side of Monroe, La. Slide your kayak (or canoe) between the cypress trees, get to this open area in the middle, lean back (carefully), and drink in the peace and…