A Few of My Favorite Things

THUNDERSTORMS

Minus the heavy wind, of course.  There's nothing better than sitting at home in pajamas, wrapped in a blanket, reading a book with the sound of rain and the occasional distant thunder as background noise.  I sleep so very soundly when it rains.  Now, if only I could undo the damage my husband did when he taught my daughter to be scared of the thunder...Yes, Johnny, I blame you.  Long before she was ever scared of thunder, you convinced her (and me) that she would not get scared of thunder if she slept in bed with me during storms.  Naturally, that leads to a fear of thunder and a real good excuse to kick mommy all night!  Okay, I'll admit, I do enjoy the cuddles, especially now that my baby is about to be in the 1st grade!  I realize that these nights of holding her tight are soon to be over, and I will miss those moments when she hears a clap of thunder and comes running as fast as she can to cling to her rock.  All too soon, she'll be asking for the keys to the car so she can go hang out with her friends, and I'll be begging her to stay home because a thunderstorm is coming!  So, for now, I'll enjoy my thunderstorms.  I'll have plenty of chances to fear them later.

HEAT AND HUMIDITY

"The hotter, the better," I always say!  And everyone looks at me like I'm crazy.  See, here in Loozyanna (as they say around here), snow is a rare thing.  People look forward to the winters when the temps are usually between 40 and 60, only occasionally reaching the 30s, with a good chance (for about two weeks a year) of it falling into the 20s.  Summer lasts from May until October, after which we get about two weeks of true fall, and then it's the wet cold "winter".  Louisiana's 50 feels about like 30 in Northern Kentucky, and 20 in Northern Oklahoma.  Because of the humidity.  So even though it doesn't snow enough to stick but about once every ten years or so, winter in Louisiana is absolutely miserable.  Walking from your car to the house feels like you're trudging five miles through four-foot snow drifts.  Bone-chilling cold.  Then it takes a half hour to warm up once you're inside.  How can people enjoy the winters?  But they do.  So I say THEY are the crazy ones!  Maybe I love the summer so much, not because I enjoy sweating and struggling to catch my breath in the humidity that feels like one of those torture devices that squeeze the life out of you, but more because it is NOT winter.  I've lived in the snow and ice.  Hated it.  Drive on ice?  Insane!  Bears have the right idea.  Hole up for the winter and sleep until it's over!!  But no, kids have to go to school, and adults have to work, ALL WINTER LONG!  You can't go outside and play for more than five minutes before fingers and toes turn blue and start to fall off.  Kids have sniffly noses and sneeze giant drops of nasty liquids all over you.  Ugh!  No, thanks, I'll take my summers!  Send em outside to run around and use that energy up!  I'll take my heat and humidity over your snow and ice any day!  At least I know I live in Louisiana, and only have to deal with snow once a decade.  And here, when it DOES snow, THE ENTIRE STATE SHUTS DOWN!  Just like bears.  We all hibernate in our houses until it's over.  MY kind of place!

CHICKENS

You know I can't talk about my favorite things without listing chickens.  They make such awesome tenders!  Nuff said.

To Be Continued At A Later Date….