#$&@ I Forgot The Camera!

Okay, so I forgot my camera when Jeff and I went to Louisiana for the Tales Along the Bayou program last Friday night. Gosh dang it all!

Well, even though I have no photos to prove it, the night was a BLAST! I love the people in Louisiana. I really, really do. Everyone is so friendly & super nice. They truly appreciate the art of storytelling. There were over 1,000 families at this event. (Actually I think I heard 1,200, but that number is too high for me to wrap my mind around.) The setting was perfect for outdoor tale telling with a large grassy area behind the plantation house that was surrounded by various historical buildings, a well lit stage, great sound system, and perfect weather with no bugs. DELIGHTFUL!

Johnette Downing and Sylvia Davis performed during the first hour. WOW are they good! Johnette Downing is a children's author/recording artist with lots of awards. Check out her website http://www.johnettedowning.com/ Sylvia Davis performed at this years National Storytelling Festival on the Exchange Place stage and is just DIVINE! Oh my, she such a sweet person. Lord, I love the folks I meet in Louisiana. I would move there if it weren't for those blasted hurricanes.

Following their highly entertaining program, and after a 30 minute intermission (this was for the families with little ones to leave and others to arrive for the spooky tales), it was my turn to scare the $%&@ out of everyone with really scary stories. HAH! When I saw the crowds growing in number, their eager faces looking up at me, many coming up to me and telling me they were there to hear scary stories, I gotta tell ya, I about freaked there for a moment. BUT, I am at home with spooky stories, I love them! I have spent years, YEARS hungrily reading scary stories. So, I got up there and gave them my best by golly. I think they liked it.

Jeff, my super supportive husband who came with me began running a fever during the event. I did not know this, but when we got back to the suite (yes, they got me a suite for this job - sweet!) he obviously had a temperature. It was high! When Jeff gets a temperature, BOY does he. For the next several hours I put cold compresses on his head every 15 minutes or so. Thank God we had a refrigerator in the room so that we could ice the washcloths. It was several hours before the fever broke. He had a sinus infection poor guy. Today he went on antibiotics. He is a trouper and I so appreciate that he came with me. I drove all the way back by myself and let him sleep.

It is a fear of mine that one day I will have a gig while I am ill. Luckily, I very rarely get sick. Thank goodness.