Cipre et Prairie

Two things that I learned about Louisiana- you can't count on it to rain and you can't count on it not raining. 

Living in Texas for a five year period made me miss the rain. It might have rained a total three times in that span. I appreciate the rain even more after that experience. The vegetation isn't the same. It's a lot of cactus species and scrub oaks.. and rocks. But this place, oh this place! Live oaks, pecan trees, figs, mulberries, red bay, magnolias, pines, and cypress. The cypress trees. It goes to show you the geographic diversity this state has. The wetlands-the basin with totally saturated soils, grow iris', rushes, sedges, and the great and mighty bald cypress, Taxodium distichum. It's a symbol of my home. Survivor. They belong here and so do I. Draped with that spanish moss a sign of community. The ability to work with one another to survive and thrive. But the pines- our pines. Grows in the sands, poorest of soils. Grow to those towering heights. Genuine tenacity. And beauty, the beauty of Louisiana in my mind is captured through the fields of the diminishing Cajun prairie. The greens in spring, the yellows in summer, the fall purples and browns in winter. Such beauty is presented all year round. But the history is heart breaking. Once over 2.5 million acres existed within the state of Louisiana but now only a total of 100 acres can be seen and appreciated. I have been to two major restoration projects, both in Eunice. I am grateful to know the prairie on an intimate level. Something that future generations may not have. Scary. Sad. Sad but true. The landscape defines it's people. It is not who owns the land but what land owns which people. And this land owns our culture, my culture. The acadians-  tenacious, beautiful, strong individuals. Appreciative, talented, and festive together.