Louisiana Trip, Again

I just returned (12/20) from a quick trip to Louisiana. My dad was in the hospital when I arrived. He has a variety of health concerns. He was able to come home the day after I arrived. He was thrilled, but the health problems linger.

It was a rather melancholic trip. The picture above is of the pond behind my father's house. The tree lying in the water was blown over by a hurricane earlier this year. It represents a bit of what is happening with my dad. He has kept an immaculate "place". His joy has been mowing and sawing and raking and burning. But, he is not able to do those things now. I was able to do some. It is very enjoyable for me to run a chain saw - as long as I don't lose a limb. But, I am only there briefly. So, things like this tree in the pond go undone, at least for now. We shall see what the Lord has for the future.

It was good to see family. And, I did have some delicious food. Soon after arriving I had an oyster po-boy at Robbie G's - my favorite Louisiana restaurant. (See pictures below, jealous?) The place is not fancy, but that is not why you go there. The day we were there it was full of Louisiana State Police. The flight home was interesting. I was due to fly out on Friday but everything was canceled going into Bloomington. I did make it to Atlanta the next day but things were looking iffy about flying on home. I thought I had it made when I boarded the plane. However, the girl seated next to me said she was on the same flight the day before and had flown to within 20 minutes of Bloomington before the plane turned around and returned to Atlanta. PTL we made it home! It was wonderful to be greeted by my family and to have a celebration dinner together.