ANNA MONICA

Surviving the rain “The next time you pray for rain, remember to say how much” my friend Eleanor said when she called to wish me a happy birthday. Yes, I had prayed “Lord, whatever rain you can spare.” How was I to know He had such an abundance of it socked away and was going to be so generous. As far as any flooding goes, we all had some. Of necessity, I was all over the place during the rainy days both in and out of our parish and I can tell you water was everywhere. What is nature to do? Man has put up so much concrete, it came so fast and there is much less space for the water to go. We have to do the best we can. Besides, I hear video stores’ business is booming. It’s not funny; just reality. Then, some people have stories to tell about all the little alligators sharing their space. My story is a little different because I had snakes; and I do hope the word is “had.” Really, as I stepped into the water near my garage to close the door, I saw a dark, long thing wriggling along. Someone asked if I screamed but actually I didn’t. Determined to close the garage door, I simply made sure it kept going and didn’t start coming back toward me. I must admit I didn’t relish the idea of sharing the water with anything slimy. My first thought, though, was “Why did you come now, right after Cameron left?” My carpenter had just left and he could have taken the snake someplace else. Next, as I attempted to feed my goldfish, this long, skinny snake came above the water and did a little dance before going down again n in my very own pond. I felt my stomach turn. Had it found a home? I’ve got to talk to my neighbor, Albert Oncale; he’ll know. I put all this behind me when I went to meet my friend, Jo Ann Falterman, at the Zadain home in LaPlace where some of the Relay for Life people were meeting. That family never gets through in their work for the American Cancer Society. Daughter Laura is attending a committee meeting next week. She and her husband, Ian, have been married since December but he is already hauling boxes and working tirelessly with Laura. They live in Slidell and next year will be as involved as ever. It was there I met young Jeremy Triche of Cravasse, who seemed to know about snakes. He thought the first snake sounded like a King snake and the other n ugh n a water moccasin. I am so grateful it didn’t eat my fish and would be even more grateful if it just continues along its way. The Brignacs, Norman, Cheryl and Brandie were there and I found out Jason Brignac also shares my June 10 birthday as does Carol Bourgeois of LaPlace, a former teacher and school principal who had called me to relay a message. Looks like we are all over the place, just like the alligators and snakes. The family crowd at Cookie and Sammy’s house in LaPlace to celebrate my birthday, Carl’s and sister-in-law, Nancy’s who has one on the 16th, was very crowded, noisy and eager to sing happy birthday to us so they could get to watching the Tulane game. My darling 6-month-old grand-nephew, Samuel Accardo III, was there and that was enough to make me forget about rain, snakes, cancer, the game n and getting older. ANNA MONICA, a resident of Garyville, writes this column every Wednesday for L’Observateur.