Baton Rouge continues to be full of surprises. They do things differently down here, for sure. These innovative planting vessels got a smile out of me, though.
Author Archives: loriryker
New Digs
Noel, we’re not in Montana anymore!
We arrived to Baton Rouge two days ago as the last light was leaving the sky. It was only about an hour before that when speaking to a local that I realized one of the many differences between Louisiana and Montana. Instead of simply arriving and requesting that the power be transferred to my name, I needed to call ahead and have the power and water turned on in the apartment. Ha!!
Because of this oversight I have been “camping out” in a hotel room, while unpacking during the day. I only realized tonight that I could have camped out in the apartment because, because while it is dark early outside, it is not dark outside on my street! Another sign that I am not in Montana. The street lights, porch lights, and general town light is so bright, my apartment is bright even in the night! I may need to invest in an eye mask to sleep.
Today I took my first walk with Noel around the neighborhood. I am living in
Spanish Town, the oldest neighborhood in Baton Rouge. As far as I can tell, Spanish Town is the only part of BR with a bohemian feel. And I don’t mean “Boho” – but the real deal. The neighborhood hosts the largest Mardis Gras parade in BR. Which means they must be gearing up for the coming festivities. Beads from last year still hang from trees and wires, and can even be found on the ground.
There is a unique feature to the neighborhood, too. Flamingos are everywhere. Lawn art and plywood cut outs. Stained glass windows and murals. All types and sizes. I am sure I am missing a significant cultural reference….I need to go meet my neighbors. There was even a flamingo waiting for me in my apartment when I arrived.
The tiny neighborhood of Spanish Town borders the downtown. So while the majority of BR is one big expanding suburban mega-complex, I can step off my porch and pass the capital, museum, and arrive at the Mississippi River in about 5 minutes.
Noel is making friends with everyone she comes in contact with. While running errands today we stopped at a red-light and idled next to a public transit bus. She was eye-to-eye with the bus driver, who looked at her and smiled. Windows rolled down between the vehicles and there were greetings and exclamations from everyone on that bus!
To the West and back again
Christmas Day! A view of the Golden Gate Bridge before leaving San Francisco! Onward to the California Coast. Wishing for all the blessings of the day, the joy of sharing, the love of another.
Beauty and the land
Years ago I drove through this landscape and was in awe of it’s drama, starkness, and power. Yet at the same time realizing it was fragile especially when confronted with our desire to use and transform the earth with the least bit consideration for the life of the place before our needs.
I was struck by the beauty this place possessed when so little of the things we made possess beauty. The exchange of nature’s beauty, it’s truth, for the things we made seemed an inconceivable loss when looking at the strip malls and generic subdivisions we gained from it’s destruction. Where was the beauty to be found in the things we make? Perhaps we had forgotten how to make things of beauty. Perhaps we did not know how anymore.
These thoughts led to the initial research of my PhD….beauty was not really talked about in the academic World at that point. Beauty was seen as trite, mostly because beauty cannot be defined. Beauty slips by our need to confine knowledge in facts or lists instead of sensed Truth.
Earlier this week I was here again. Still impressed by the power, the immenseness of the experience. Beauty still lives here. In color, earth, sky, air, scent and song. We simply need to be to know it.
On the way out
Winter has arrived in Montana. Tomorrow I leave for 6 months in the South, 5 of those to be spent in Louisiana. My car is packed, fully loaded inside and the rocket box. More than enough stuff? Most likely, I am more than nervous to think about the time away from the Northern Rockies. I am looking forward to the food, music and warm personalities of Lousiana. I am looking forward to floating in the wetlands, to learning a new place.
But before taking off, I had one last hike along the Madison River. 7 miles in and out. Glorious light, beautiful water, great conversation, running dog…And beautiful photographs to remember the day taken by Jake Fleming. Enjoy!
True Nature
In a yoga class last week the instructor asked us to describe what we feel like when we have completed a class. The students used words like peaceful, energized, aware, joyful, inspired….the instructor replied that these described qualities are our most natural condition. The senses of ourselves before we are barraged with the over activities of the day, the overspent, overrun happenings that lead us to believe that, at our core, we are someone else.
I love to get up early in the morning. Here in Jackson that usually means just as the first light comes over the mountains to the East. This morning, with air at 9 below zero, a bright pink line burned an edge across the top of the mountains, and I feel at peace, energized, aware, joyful and inspired. On mornings like this there is a “pre” to everything. A before beginning, being both silent and full of music. Perhaps I like to get up early, before anyone else, before it seems that the rest of the world is moving about, because this is the time I meet the world at a common place, each at our true nature.
Best and Worst Run States in America
A few days ago 24/7 wall st. released a summary of their conclusion for ranking states. It seems that we don’t often care what the criteria is for the ranking. We mostly get excited that there is a ranking. And then we have something to talk about, to compare ourselves with. Who is this 24/7 anyways?
I forwarded their release, that had been forwarded to me, to a friend of mine who lives in Jackson Hole. Jonathan Schechter has been living in Jackson for over 20 years. He is a man of many talents: analyst, economist, statistician, environmentalist, journalist. He founded 1% for the Tetons (check in out: onepercentforthetetons.org) He also writes a weekly column for the JACKSON HOLE NEWS AND GUIDE…He spends a lot of time thinking about our world, our place, how we inhabit the earth. I simply asked him if he had seen the rankings. His simple reply was no, but then he followed with this:
“The thing to focus on is that this rating system basically equates healthy state finances with being well run. WY produces a lot of hydrocarbons and, fortunately for us, our mechanism for funding state government is based on taxing hydrocarbons. Hence we’re in good shape financially. However, that’s not the same as being well-run.
In contrast, CA is a mess, in part because the politics are a disaster, but also in part because it relies on taxing goods but not services. In the last 50 years, the economic mix has done a massive shift from goods to services, but the state’s financing system hasn’t kept pace. So now they’re trying to run a much bigger government based on something like 25% of the state’s economic activity, whereas 50 years ago the figure was north of 50%.
The point is that, in this study, WY is being rewarded for not having left the 1960s, while CA is being punished for existing in the 21st century with a 20th century financing mechanism.”
Thanks, Jonathan, for providing clarity to the rankings.
Learning to play
The days have all run together into one constant movement, with pauses only for sleep. On a couch, on a hotel bed, or bunk. The days are closing shorter as we come closer to the solstice, and the light Rockies feels constantly like twilight. The days of two-light, when we experience sunlight and moonlight simultaneously. Rising and setting. Setting and rising.
In-between movements I am learning to play guitar. Learning how to do new things as an adult is not easy, not easy because we are comfortable relying on the things we already know to get us through life. Comfortable with ourselves, and not questioning what we don’t know. Learning requires lots of energy and commitment, passion, faith and confidence. Combining these qualities simultaneously toward a single effort to learn something new seems to be more difficult as we settle in to the constancy of our life. And maybe the fear of failure overwhelms, as we stack up disappointments.
The static life is dull, however. Fear is worth confronting because life is greatest when we are energetic, committed, passionate, confident and full of faith.
Fall in Jackson Hole
Early November in Jackson Hole. The golden light is lower in the sky, the leaves are gone from the Aspen. The cold is here and winter is coming. The grizzlies seem more restless, searching for food before the snow arrives. I was told that a road was closed in the Wilson area to minimize bear and human conflict after a women spent the evening at her window watching a grizzly on her back deck. The tourists are all but gone from the summer. Yet even a site such as this family of moose stops traffic on the road. It is in these moments of beauty that we experience one of the best reasons to live here, with the vitality and richness of the rest of the world as our neighbor.
Boudreaux’s and Thibodeau’s
On the way to Cocodrie, beautiful day. Sun filled sky. Dry, cool air. Still relearning how to drive a stick shift. Stopped for some local seafood and an opportunity to learn more about Cajun food! Which dish is the most spicy? Hmmmmm…..The question of the day is how they manage to deep fry “cream corn” when it is a viscous condition? Any thoughts out there?
between here and there 