Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Down in the bayou...

Hope everyone had a peaceful or decent holiday weekend. Nothing accomplished here except maybe a few additional pounds. I made a deal with Mr. Chelle and bet him if I could lose a certain amount of weight he'd have to quit smoking. Well...of course he's trying to feed my face at every opportunity he has. *sigh* We had several cookouts with his friends/co-workers and took little man on a swamp tour.


The tour was alot of fun and little man got to hold a baby alligator and feed them marshmallows. It rained on us for a bit and even though the boat was covered...my back and butt was fair game. So yes...I walked around a bit looking as if I'd peed my pants. Oh well, the things we do for love. I also got 6 inches chopped off my hair when we were back home last week. It was nice not to have my mop laying on my neck as we toured through the humid bayou. Our tour guide had been raised in the back bayou and was a hoot.


What I loved the most though wasn't the staged bayou cabin or corny cajun jokes...or little man's huge grin as he watched the alligators jump up to devour the chicken legs the guide hand fed to them. It was the scenery. The majestic moss draped cypress trees.


My piddly little digital camera can't do them justice though. But my writer's brain wandered along the slow ride through the swamp. I thought of history and what it would've been like to slide among the moss and mosquitos over two hundred years ago, listening to a man's deep cajun accent as he told me his family history.



What a wonderful ride...


Back to the real world and my manuscript. My well was refilled this weekend and I'm so ready to dig deep into my main character's motivation for being a bad boy.

13 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

Ooh, sounds really neat, Chelle! You should use that scenery in one of your stories.

Six inches off your hair! I need pics! :)

Chelle Sandell said...

Ya know...my historical paranormal has a hero from Louisiana. Maybe that can be one his memories or he can take the heroine on a trip to his home. I'll put a memo in my rough synopsis so I won't forget. Especially while the scenery and smells are still fresh in my mind.

I'm supposed to get my hair highlighted this week...I'll post pics as soon as it's done:)

Lynnette Labelle said...

Who knew gators ate marshmallows? Neat! So cool that he got to hold a baby gator, too.

I love your pics. Looking forward to seeing some of your new do.

Lynnette Labelle
http://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Sounds like such good inspiration for a story. I'd love to visit that area in real life!

Jody Hedlund said...

I could picture myself right there with you! Isn't it cool how everything we do and everywhere we go is fodder for our stories?

Chelle Sandell said...

Lynnette ~ Thanks! The guide said gators see in black and white...the stark white oh the marshmallow floating on the water made it an instant treat for them. The ones in their bayou are trained now to hear and feel the vibration of the boat tours. We saw quite a few.

Cindy ~ I've always wanted to visit this area and jumped with excitement when hubby's company said we'd be here for a couple of months. We've been trying to see as much as possible while we're here. This weekend we're touring plantations and cemeteries.

Jody ~ You're so right. I've heard many an author talk about using their life experiences as writing materials at some point.

Terri Tiffany said...

sounds like you have some great experiences to use!

Chelle Sandell said...

I've been trying to write down everything I can think of to record our time here. I'd love to use it one day in a book.

Chicki Brown said...

Your description of the swamp tour reminded me of one of my favorite romance books, LUCKY'S LADY by Tami Hoag. It took place in the Louisiana swamps.

If you're looking for something sexy to read check out the excerpt here: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Luckys-Lady/Tami-Hoag/e/9780553587180#EXC

Debora Dennis said...

Those cypress trees are gorgeous! Glad you had fun - and kudos for holding the baby alligator, not sure I'd have the nerve to do that :)

Kate Karyus Quinn said...

Cool pictures and what a cool tour, but I think I would have been scared - alligators totally creep me out!

Stephanie said...

Ok, that picture to the right there doesn't look like you had 6 inches to loose!

How beautiful down in the bayou! I once read the "Ruby" series by VC Andrews. I LOVED them. Such a beautiful world we live in!

Chelle Sandell said...

Chicki...I'll have to look up that book. Sounds interesting. I really have grown to love this area. We're leaving here next week and this weekend will be our last chance to do tourist stuff.

DD ~ The tour was on a private bayou of an old cajun family...I could just imagine the trees in an old movie about the South.

Kate ~ LOL! My 6 yr old held him...I wouldn't even come out from behind the camera. No way, Jose. I was skeered:)

Steph ~ LOL...that picture is about two years old. I hate taking pictures of myself. My hair had grown out quite a bit. It's almost back to the length it is in my blog picture;) So you guys won't know the difference...you never saw my long hair!