Tag: Louisiana
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Country Mouse to City Mouse
Today is Thursday, March 12, 2026, and it is snowing here in Rockville, Maryland, a suburb of the Washington, DC metropolitan area. MARCH…it’s snowing in MARCH. After the winter we have had, it’s really in poor form for it to be snowing today. Now, granted, the ground is far too warm for anything to stick,…
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Book Review: The Lost Language of Oysters by Alexander McCall Smith
Being Louisiana born and bred, especially in southeast Louisiana where oyster fishermen have made their living for decades on an oyster boat, when I saw the title of this new book pop up in NetGalley, I just had to request it. Seeing though, that it was book #6 in a series where I had not…
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Book Review: Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith, is a Scottish legal scholar turned prolific author of fiction. He was born in present day Zimbabwe and grew up there, starting his education at Christian Brothers College, before moving to Scotland to study law at the University of Edinburgh where he earned a LLB and a PhD. He returned to Africa…
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Is Chili a Soup?
My daughter has this question she poses to people: Is the hotdog a sandwich? The responses are varied and often strongly held opinions of the respondent. (FWIW, I believe the hotdog is a sandwich, as it’s something between two layers of bread.) So, is chili a soup? It’s eaten with a spoon from a bowl.…
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Book Review: The Croatian Island Library (Bookish Escapes #3) by Eva Glyn
As famously quoted in the movie Jerry Maguire, “You had me at …” In this case, “You had me at Croatian Island Library.” I haven’t been to Croatia but it is at the top of my travel bucket list! Add to that my love of being on the water and my love of libraries, and,…
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Scent
What makes you feel nostalgic? I wrote this essay a while back. It just happens to answer this prompt perfectly! Thanks to winter storm Jonas, a/k/a #Blizzard2016, I had an unexpected “winter break” from teaching, and I must say I have really enjoyed my #snowcation. Sandwiched nicely between my Christmas break and my Easter break,…
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Making Paradise Out of the Desert
I just returned from morning Mass. It is quite cold today, 33 degrees F as I write this, but with the wind chill factor it feels like 16 degrees F. Snow flurries greeted us when we began our short drive home from church. The sun is shining brightly into my writing space as I ponder…
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A Cajun, an Italian, and a Belgian walk into a bar…
What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals? The title of this essay is a take on the age old joke, “A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar…” But, these three cuisines really define three meals my family loves time and time again. I grew up in southeast Louisiana, on a…
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Not An Anniversary To Look Forward To
How are you feeling right now? Sad. Nostalgic. Brokenhearted. That’s how I feel right now. Today is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall near my hometown of Port Sulphur, Louisiana. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina lifted my parents’ home off of its foundation and deposited it, broken in half, across the back…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 