The Earring Lady's Gators

Today I wore my Louisiana alligator earrings. I bought them in New Orleans last March at a shop called The Earring Lady. I wandered into the shop with my daughter Phoebe and her friend Hannah as we toured the French Quarter. This was Hannah's first road trip: Louisiana to Virginia. Her family flies a lot. We tend to drive.

Phoebe and I had driven to Lafayette to see my older daughter, Kathe, and her husband Jim in their Louisiana home. We ate St. Patrick's Day dinner at The Blue Dog Cafe, a great local restaurant resplendant with the artwork of George Rodrigue.

We kayaked in Lake Martin on an early spring day when the gators were sunning themselves, so still that they appeared to be logs until we paddled close enough to see them clearly. Then we paddled slowly away, hoping that their reptilian blood had not yet warmed enough for them to paddle faster than we could... Our hopes were granted.

When Phoebe, Hannah, and I explored New Orleans, I purchased my alligator earrings as a talisman of safe and happy travels. Today, we drove Kathe back to her home in Blacksburg, VA from the cabin we shared for this last 2011 Spring Break weekend at Claytor Lake.

As I put these earrings on this morning, I noticed the symbols on their backs. A long and winding road!

That's the journey of the Earring Lady, I guess.