Columns

I have always loved signs. Even as a kid, I was enamored with the old Burma Shave signs. The only time I ever saw one of those was on a family vacation to Wisconsin. The sign was old then, but Mom and Dad encouraged us to keep watching them as we passed by.

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Did you ever think of yourself as a writer of historian? Probably not but most of the “History Buffs” are people who enjoy reading things pertaining to the past. Most of the history books were written by people who didn’t actually live history but read and heard history.

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Atheist physicist and cosmologist, Dr. Lawrence Krauss, once commented, “I’ll believe in God if God forms a message by manipulating the clouds.”

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America is at a candidate in DeSoto Parish. So I registered as a Democrat and am still registered as a Democrat. However, we have open primaries today that allow you to cross party lines when you vote.

Now to the “Crossroad” that America is in today. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a highly respected New York Democrat forty years ago, would not recognize the Party today. He was a policy advisor for Democratic President John F. Kennedy and later a policy advisor for Republican President Richard M. Nixon. He went on to be a four term Democratic Senator from New York. This is one of his sayings that is as relevant today and is planted in my mind, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not to his own facts.”

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What?! Oh, you know, trying to get over writer’s block by starting with an interesting title … maybe tricking you into starting to read my column this week!? Maybe a “Leftover Chuckle”? Humorist Calvin Trilling said, “The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.”

Sunday, December 7, 1941 began as a normal serene morning on the Island of Oahu, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Most of America’s warships were anchored in the harbor and the thousands of sailors were eating breakfast, sleeping, or were preparing for church. It was a very quiet morning on the island.

At 7:55 a.m. a buzz from the sky broke the calm as divebombers bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan dropped out of the clouds and seconds later bombs began to fall with accuracy on the American battleships. Americans scrambled to battle stations to look into the sky only to see swarms of Japanese fighter planes with blazing machine guns firing at very low heights. On several occasions former La. State Senator Jackson B. Davis told this writer that the planes were so low you could see the pilots smiling as they fired at the U.S. Sailors.

Referring to the coastal regions of South Carolina and standing for a distinct culture and people kinda like our own Cajun culture in south Louisiana. So Low Country cooking would be more like our northwestern country cooking up here in DeSoto Parish but with fresh seafood like in Plaquemines Parish.

So when I saw Julia Rutland’s recipe in the “My Recipes” section for ‘Low Country Cheesy Shrimp and Grits’ I just had to try it. Susan and I just love us some Shrimp and Grits and looked forward to trying this version:

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DeSoto Parish in the mid 1800’s was a port parish both from the west boundary by the Sabine River to the east by Bayou Pierre. Both were important to the parish and Mansfield benefited from each – probably more from Bayou Pierre. The steamboats as they approached the landing began blowing their whistles a couple of miles before their landing. The boat’s lonesome whistles blew out through the hills and hollows announcing their arrival.

People in the surrounding areas would come to the port to see the boats and the people arriving and the merchandize being unloaded. The merchants would be there waiting for all types of goods: furniture, coffins, saddles; small items such as copper pots, iron skillets; cooking supplies like sugar, flour, and spices. The boats brought letters from loved ones back on the east coast also newspapers from New York and London. The date on these wasn‘t that important because all news was new news to the frontier.