Vagabond

If you are wondering why the blog posts have been scarce (okay, nonexistent) over the past month, it is because I have assumed the life of a vagabond. Not really, but almost. By the time I reach home next week, I will have lived out of a suitcase for five weeks. Within those five weeks I will have traveled in Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and finally Nebraska. That makes eights states, five hotels, four homes, two graduations, one wedding, and ten hours of college credit squeezed into the cracks.

Traveling has been fun, but I'm now counting the days until it is over and I can tuck myself into a little Norfolk nook and stay for weeks without moving. I must confess it will also be nice to be able to open the fridge or look at a menu and not see crawfish or anything fried. (Honest confession-I'm not a fan of traditional southern or Cajun food. I know Brian, you are disappointed.) For that matter, it will be nice not to look at a menu again for days, maybe weeks. Eating out every meal for two weeks is not as appealing as it sounds. But though the south has not won me with its food, it has captured me with its music-Louisiana Cajun and Zydeco music to be exact. Music and dancing is such a part of community life in Louisiana I am tempted to believe I was born in the wrong state. Everybody here dances, frequently. Yesterday I was on four dance floors. I've learned everything from a waltz to a two-step to a three person jig, and then I accidentally brought down the house with a spontaneous Cajun solo act at a live radio broadcast. I guess I found my first real dancing audience among the senior citizen population of Eunice, Louisiana. If grad school fails I have a back up plan of moving to Louisiana and going into the show biz. Saying I love the music here is putting it lightly. But I'm still looking forward to coming home. I've purchased my Zydeco CD souvenir and will bring it back to Nebraska so I can dance to my heart's content among those that I love and miss.

The blog posts will resume with more regularity shortly.