January 2018 – Gator Girl Art

Happy New Year to all y’all!

This is the first year that we stayed in New Orleans for Christmas. We tried to do some fun activities that happen only during the holiday. Mostly we ate out.

This is what I think I know… The bon fires go on for 3 miles. They need a permit and have a maximum height of 15 feet. They all start at 7 pm on Christmas Eve, wind permitting. This is a tradition going back a 100 years or more. The reasons vary, and my favorite version is that the bon fires light the way for Santa Claus.

Saint James Parish is about 30 minutes west of New Orleans. It took well over an hour to get to the river on Christmas Eve. We went to Paulina to see the beginning of the bon fires, then we drove through Lutcher and Gramercy.

It’s dark, so you can only see the structures in front of you.

The arrow is pointing down river. All of the lights on the levee are bon fires.

This is a close up.

Now you can listen to it. Most structures are full of fire crackers, and people shoot off BIG fireworks. I took these photos with my phone…

but there are better photos at nola.com.

And here is a youtube link to the fancy turtle bon fire.

Now you are on your own. Google away.

Love and all of my best wishes.

Gator Girl

Hi all y’all!

It’s very cold here. Cold for us. Because most of the houses are raised 3 or so feet when it freezes our pipes freeze and sometimes break. We keep a trickle of water running in our faucets and hoses. Sometimes the pipes still break.

This is my first large painting in the series New Orleans Musicians. I think I will paint six. The musicians will be close up and I am planning on putting their instrument somewhere in the painting. There might be a corresponding cool cat painting. We’ll see.

James Booker was one cool guy. You can watch a movie called Bayou Maharaja on Netflix. I think the movie has all the footage ever filmed of James Booker. I am not very musical, but even I can tell his piano playing is amazing.