Sunday on the Bricks... tis a lil warm down here

The Sunday Heat index hit 106 degrees..........

Sundays to me is when either on a few days a year, tromp down two blocks to St. James Episcopal Church or have Bloody Mary's or Mimosas on the Front Porch and watch the good parishioners walk home... say Hi Suga....

Now the close of the shrimp season was here recently, so I needed to make some shrimp stock for the winter.... If you peel the shrimp, boil the heads, reduce it considerably, you can make truly concentrated stock... its a long process, but hey... it was Sunday...... and the heat index was out of the therometer ... and the AC was blowing cold air.... Why not.. and then .... u have peeled shrimp for a Shrimp Stew or Etoufee'


I had the MirePoix, I had the Shrimp Stock, and I had the Shrimp.... and all the extra stock was now in the freezer...

Fridays Around the Office

On Fridays most of the time, we are a Lil bit more relaxed than our usual roles..... mostly blue jeans, boots, and the women is their bejeweled flip flops.... and business trousers.....

It's a time that most of us cherish,......... friends, politicians, business clients, associates, all stop in to drink coffee, chit-chat, a Lil gossip of who said what at a Police Jury Meeting (Police Jury is the governing body of the Parish, remember we don't have Counties.....its a hold over from the French Rule of Louisiana)


So, yick yack chit chat... the Political Season is starting to warm up, The October 12th Primary is just around the corner less than 60 days away..... for us in the Office its a time to keep the mouth shut and just Listen.. no yick yack or chit chat.... Listen.. No Speak... Listen .. you certainly don't want to be pulled into any political gossip .. but you can always say... "Bubba I will be glad to Listen... "

Anyway..... I thought it would be nice to have another Boot Friday with a few photos from the office wall....

Evening Summer Rain

I was reading one of my blog reads that I have been interested in lately....  He's a good writer, an observer of Many Events, Comings and Goings, Of Life....... up in the North Lands...

As I sat on the front porch, in the late late afternoon, approaching the evening, Supper was taken, time for an evening ritual of Cigar and Quiet time.... it harken me back to sitting on the back of Cousin Bob and Afta's back porch, lookin to the West, the setting Sun, the sky full of the Rust and Red tints of an early Evening..... Bob and Afta was born in the 1890s, they were my cousins, both in 1972 in thier 80s ......

Afta would have cleaned the kitchen, Bob would motion me to leave the kitchen, come to the back porch, for his cigar and a talk on his memories of growing up and  watching the sky, the Sun, as it set on the western horizon, on the banks of Thompson's Creek...

Cousin Bob would pull from under the glider,  a box of Keep Moving Cigars, tip the end of one, hand it to me, light it and both of us would look onto the SunSet.... and he would talk of his life, his garden, family passed, and the day to come.... I at 19, Cousin Bob's was passing his stories, his life to me... and with each puff of the cigar ..... slow and long.... that smell hung low in the evening air.....

Memories of the day that just passed, Hopes for the Rain of tomorrow... two men, in boxer shorts and man's undershirts, barefooted, passing a time that was closing in...

After I had written this entry last night the rain came, I sat on the front porch and puffed that Cigar.. remembered the times of My Past........

Here is a photo of the rain, last night on the Bricks of Albert Street.

The Weekend Round Up

Whoa....... Yes it as a weekend......

Saturday I got a call from the Good Doctor.... she had a friend that needed some manly gay counseling, actually, some one to lend an ear to and Listen...  who needed an Out, Gay Man, and understood himself... well I am not sure if I fit the last bill, but I am Out, Gay.. and a Good Daddy..

Lets call him Dale..... ... he drove up from the Lower Country... about an hour and a half south of here on the interstate.... in the heart of Cajun country.... but in reality he is just living there.. he is from the wilds of Grant Parish.. .. up in the Pine Trees and Poor Folks....

He is a medical professional, 61 years old, quite handsome, since most medical professionals I know these days take time to go to the gym with a personal trainer, tan, and follow a regimented life, so does Dale...... Again, his 33 inch waist, 6'1" tall frame stood out.....

Dale was in need of an ear, to listen to his Life, to understand, to make sense of what he was experiencing,  and then have it conveyed back to him... in some meaningful language.

Dale came out four years ago, at 57, he divorced his wife of 37 plus years,  6 children before he was 26, two sets of twins, now 20 grandchildren, so on..


He related a story so similar, that I have heard and could have wrote the script many. many. times over.  In his mid 30s he found a Fuck Buddy, also married, it became a long term affair, that lasted up until his mid 50s... then Dale realized that he couldn't live the lie, continue with the farce, anymore...

So, he followed a path I have seen over and over, go find another miserable gay soul and bond with him, who waited too late in life to fling the door open.... So he found Adam, early 50s at the gym, who was just in the throws of divorcing his wife, but still living with her.

Wow.... what a Fucked Up situation ..... two 50 somethings, just opening the door, children involved, moving in together, they are commiserating with each other.... Not the Correct Decision....

I listened very intently, thought of my time...but Thought of the Misery  that he was reeling from at this time... the hurt from the ex-spouse, the hurt of the adult children, and His Hurt of His Heart....

Now four years later, the partner is sleeping in the other bedroom, there is no common bond but the misery both are experiencing ..... Misery Loves Company... so says the old Adage ... Dale and Adam certainly had Misery together...

My advise to him........... and I said.....Your misjudgment, (I didn't call it a Mistake), was that You did Not take time to Learn about Yourself.... You need to be Alone to Experience Gay Life on Your Own Terms....
Gee.... Please take Time for Your SELF..... .. you are in another bad relationship, having jumped and Not taken the Time... to Learn....

Give Your Self at lest a suitable time period.... Don't start a new relationship........

And No ... I won't sleep with You.... and No .. .. don't think we will date.... go Live Alone.. Find Your Self.......and.................

Find Your Heart.



Sunday Sunday...

On Sunday I thought about walking down to St. James.... but I decided to have a late morning glass of a nice Italian Rose' with an old neighbor who is also a member of St. James...

Liz walked down to the house... Her and her partner live two blocks from the Bricks on Albert...  about twice a month we have a Lil glass of chilled beverage... casting our eye out to the Bricks and catching up on the local politics and neighborhood comings and goings......

In the Evening ..... I had Supper with B and J..... I cooked  a crawfish stew.... lots of Mirepox' and Tails.....  cucumber and tomato salad  (from Inglewood Farms)... with crusty bread and a dab of wine... ..

Saturday Afternoon....... Its Time

On these early Dog Days of Summer... the last of those days are here.... Labor Day and ............

Southern Decadence is Right Around the Corner

Now..... its Ain't like it use to be down there in the Big Easy... But(and there is always a But) ... it is still fun for the younger set and the Daddies that follow them...

But(and there is always a But) .. this One will not be traveling the 4 hour trip.. .. the Quarter just doesn't hold that sparkle for me these days....

And onto the actual post of the Day......

Highballs.... are served in these remaining days... not Double Old Fashion Glasses. HighBall Glasses...

Let's get it Correct here..... a Southern  HighBall is served with lots of Ice, and Not stirred until given over to the recipient.....  and its served in a HighBall Glass

I knew it was Five O'clock somewhere .... So at 3pm.... I invoked .. Stop for the Day.. no more Saturday Chores....

Pour it Up...... ..... a Lil Johnny and Soda..... make that fizz touch the nose........

and burn an end.... unwrap that Churchill................

Friday Friday... Here comes the Weekend....Hmmm

Well as August begins......

We are getting close to the Elections......

Governor
Lt Governor
State Senators
State Representatives
Sheriffs
Clerk of Court
Tax Assessor
and a Bucket full of Minor Officials

The Big Date  is October 12 a Saturday, (cause in Louisiana we want all working folks to go Vote and Saturday Voting is a Fun Fun Day)...... that's when here in this Rural Parish (we don't have counties, We Got Parishes)... We all gather on the Porches... cook them pork chops, sausage, and make those Cocktails waiting for the Polls to Close at stroke of 8 in the Evening...

Right before that happens.. about 40 days before the pull of the lever, the ads will start, rumors will take on a Life of their own, the mail outs will flood the mailboxes... will be featuring pigs in a trough... (hopefully not, that was last election's theme)........


Then...........

The money will be spent, the Crowds will holler with Joy or Moan with disgust....

and All the Cards of the Politicos will be held close to their chest......

Part Two Physical Therapy.. Next Door to the Ortho Surgery Center

So, I go in to begin a  month of Physical Therapy...

On the Form.... in is a list of conditions, aliments, etc.......

Even More Hostile than the Form at the OSC..... is their Form.. at the Physical Therapy Center (PTC)

Here is a long list of Cancer, what type, High Blood Pressure ..... then on the top line.... far to the right corner of the page..... is ...........

"Sexually Transmitted Diseases"

Its more Hostile ... Its Painfully Aware that some RedNeck Moron put together this questionnaire.

Gee............. Gee..... Geuz............

Now, as I was brought back to the workout/therapy area I had the occasion to run into one of the partners of the firm.... who happens to live in my neighborhood .... on the Red Bricks. .....

He came over to see me..... and in a low toned, authoritarian voice..... that voice that I had a in Corrections... I said..... KJ.... that fuckin' questionnaire is offensive on one of the lines and words you have ... and you should remind Dr Big Dick next door of the conversation I just had with him.. on the HIV Matter.... it is ok but ask it in the proper form, detectable undetectable untransitmitable etc etc ....

Not "Sexually Transmitted Diseases" ...its the way y'all ask these questions... but a line to say need to discuss a matter with the attending doctor... etc...