July 3

Not seeing the forest for the trees.

I just recently updated my Facebook banner pic to something that’s in steady rotation. One of my absolute favorite photos I’ve taken, I love it, but it does have another meaning:

I love his happy grin, and the reflection on the water. But also…the fact that this almost didn’t happen.

We were on a road trip through Cajun country that was to end up in Lake Charles. Over the course of a long weekend we meandered all over the place, ate some amazing food in little hole-in-the-wall type places, and generally unplugged.

While on some country road in the middle of who knows where, I yelled for Charlie to pull over right now…rightnowRIGHT NOW!

I had spotted a tree- SEVERAL trees- full of roseate spoonbills- they look something like flamingos, with long legs and beautiful pink plumage. Having never seen one in person before I was hopping out of the car with the camera as soon as he’d (more or less) stopped.

The tree was pretty far back from the road, though, and I was trying to figure out how close I could get without spooking them. Edging closer while focusing on (har!) what I was seeing through the lens, I kept shooting.

Until Charlie grabbed me by the arm. Hard. When I glared, he just shrugged and pointed down. “It’s up to you if you want to keep going, but I’d advise against.”

One step further and I’d have set foot into the marsh, which I suddenly realized had a higher concentration of gators then I’d ever seen. In looking up at the birds I’d missed what was at my feet- both in terms of danger and beauty.

That pic was by far the best one I caught that day. In the end, I didn’t get anything spectacular, bird wise, though finding a wild flock was still magical but it remains a reminder to stop and actually look at what’s going on around you before moving forward.

Some other pics from the day:

  • Wider view of the marsh
  • Same baby from above, grinning.
  • This little canal seemed to be a a safe area for the younger gators to grow before heading into deeper waters.
  • The view along the quiet country road
  • Apparently we were literally on Creole Highway, where Carroll’s refuses non-local checks.
  • That little baby (just over curving tree shadow) is probably a year or so old. After hatching, gators grow about a foot a year.
Category: Travel | LEAVE A COMMENT
April 5

Three Feathers and WSMB

Going back to sorting out the photos found on the long lost hard drive, including the big slide collections, I had to look closely at this to make sure it was actually of New Orleans:

Two prominent things in the image rang zero bells for me: Three Feathers and WSMB and so I decided to dig.

WSMB turns out to be the original call sign of what’s evolved into WWL Radio, at that time broadcasting from the top of the Maison Blanche building (now the Ritz Carlton), which is where they derived the “MB” in their name. MyNewOrleans provides interesting background, but I’d never seen what was clearly a distinctive sign before.

Three Feathers has an interesting backstory as the name of a gin and whisky distiller that was embroiled in a lawsuit over their name. The New Orleans company had ceased operations during prohibition but picked up where they’d left off at the end of the period in 1933. In the meantime, their copyright of the name had lapsed, and a company in New Jersey with the odious name of Oldetyme Brands took it and ran, using a very similar logo.

Several years passed before the New Orleans company learned this was happening but although they sued, lost and appealed before losing again, they could not regain their brand. Three Feathers became popular through wartime but seems to have disappeared by 1951 although antique bottles are for sale on eBay.

Mississippi State University has an image in their digital collection that is almost the same perspective, taken during the day but otherwise quite similar, dated as being in the 1940s.

Category: Around Town | LEAVE A COMMENT