posted on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006 @ 23:18
"aqua teen hunger force," "fresh prince"
this afternoon mom, nana, and i went to shreveport to raid nana's house. she said she had a food processor and blender she never uses, so mom and i were going to take them off her hands! i also ended up taking some of aunt linda's clothes (she died last year) and an awesome map of shreveport that's been hanging up forever. it was printed the year i was born. as a kid i highlighted a couple routes; from glancing at it i think it's to my old church and papaw's old work. i also highlighted chelsea street. ;)
since i was driving, i pulled over at the state line to take pictures i've always wanted. driving by at 75 mph hinders my ability to get a decent shot.
i can't use photoshop to adjust the levels, so it's kinda dark.
louisiana: we're gonna kick your ass! this picture just looks mean to me.
mom said this is a maple cause of the red leaves.
i also stopped at the louisiana tourist house a few miles inside the border. i've got this old picture from the 50s, i think from nana and papaw, and i think it's of the statue at the tourist bureau. i'll have to check it when i get home.
the wind blew at the perfect time. :D
didn't you know louisiana is the only state with a police force?
caddo parish REPRESENT.
owen said he'd never seen locust skin before, which sarah and i thought was really strange. their shells are everywhere this time of year; i'd always collect them. when we got to nana's i found a lot of them just on the front of her house.
this is in nana and papaw's back yard. it's really freaking cute.
when i went back there, i could hear running water. turns out their water hose had been on for a couple days, and about 1/3 of their back yard was flooded. like, there was standing water that would go over my feet. the next door neighbor is this girl i used to play with when i was little. her grandmother, mrs. blanc, owned the house. nana had her taken away and put into a home because no one was taking care of her when she got into her late 80s and unable to fend for herself. now her granddaughter alexis is living there with her two boys, ages 5 and 3. alexis is a few years younger than me, probably like 19 or so. her electricity was just turned back on, but the water's still off because she hasn't paid the bill.
her boyfriend recently moved in with her, and nana "bet a nickel to a doughnut hole" he was black because she hadn't brought him over to introduce him. she met him today and came back mad, saying he was "black as soot," and when i heard her start talking about "that nigger boy" to mom i just got into the car. i'm used to that kind of talk from gaga and grumps (my paternal grandparents), and that whole side of the family for that matter. the mauldin side is more subdued, so it makes me uncomfortable to hear nana and papaw start in with it. papaw's mom, my great-grandmother mamaw mauldin, she called all black people niggers, but not in a hateful way. that's just what they all called them. nana and papaw usually just call them "colored boy" or "colored girl."
anyway, nana had told little bit (that's what we always called alexis cause she's so tiny) they could get water from the hose if they needed it. nana and papaw came to longview friday morning, and i'm glad we went back today. even gladder i went into the back yard. nana went over to little bit's to talk to them about the running water hose, and the five-year-old, david, answered the door. nana said he was filthy, and the three-year-old was just wearing a pull-up. nana started talking to david when the guy showed up. he was in the back room with the door shut while the boys were in the living room alone. nana said she wasn't mad; she just wanted to make sure it got turned off in the future. david said he tried and he tried, but he couldn't get it to turn off. apparently they had sent him over there by himself. yeah, that's a good idea, send a five-year-old to the neighbor's house alone when the neighbors aren't even there. the guy said he'd "deal with him," which made nana upset. she's worried david's going to get beat for leaving the water running when ultimately it's not his fault.
i told nana she needs to call child protective services on little bit. she doesn't have a car, so she's got to walk the boys to the bus stop at mansfield and jewella. that's 1.37 miles according to mapquest. that's not that horrible of a walk, but a five- and three-year-old don't need to be doing that every morning at 5:00 o'clock when it's still dark out. nana said she saw them walking when it was pouring down rain one morning. little bit walks them to the bus stop, they take that to school, she walks back and then walks to work. then she's got to walk back to the bus stop to pick them up in the afternoon and walk them home. it's just ridiculous. there's an elementary school, summer grove, about two driving minutes away from the house. i know the bus would get them. nana said they go to a special school, and papaw seems to think it's for special needs children. argh. maybe i'll just call CPS myself. nana says they come out, but they never talk to her. they need to know to talk to nana and papaw.
well that's enough of that. it's just making me mad, and i'm so disappointed in little bit. her mom sylvia is a fucking wreck, but i know all people can't rise above such an influence. sylvia was living with little bit and the boys for a while, helping them out (at least she had a car!), but she just moved out. she moved to florida with her other daughter shauna. god, what trash.
this tree is on the side of nana and papaw's house. when i was in elementary school, i named it charlotte and wrote a shape poem about her. that little paver path to the right that leads to their back yard, that's where i sprained my ankle for the second time within nine days. i was walking while straddling my bike and tripped on an uneven block. this was when mom, doug and i (sarah wasn't in the picture yet) lived across the street from nana and papaw, and mom could hear me screaming from inside the house across the street. i had to wear a neon green cast and be on crutches for a long time. nana and papaw are talking about majorly trimming this down since it drops limbs on their roof. this makes me sad. ;(
mom: "whenever i see that split like this, it makes me think of a twat. there was this one at hudson pep [sarah's elementary school] that split like this, and it even had leaves growing out of the split. i never said anything about it because i figured others would find it inappropriate."
me: "yeah mom, you're a prevert [sic]."
for some reason this seems weird and nasty. i guess it's mom's sick influence. ;)
to the left of charlotte. it's really weird this is just sticking out alone. it's like 18" tall.
people seem to find it hard to believe that i've only grown like an inch since i was 11. i now have the pictures to prove it, though. on the door of my room at nana's, i carved in my height.
here are the dates closer up:
that's right. june 18, 2000, when i was 16, and just below that february 18, 1995, when i was 11. it's truly a tragedy that i was fully-grown in 5th grade.
we got catfish king for lunch, and i fucking pigged out. i tried catfish at jim's in austin, and it was shitty. i need to find committed catfish restaurant, or learn to make it myself. i can't live without it!
somehow i've managed to be here for three days without seriously fighting with anyone. i'm sad i have to leave tomorrow, especially since i have to go back to work. i just really hate working so much. owen needs to hurry up and get rich. ;)