It’s a windy, warm night here in the Valley of the Sun. Another work week is over, my second glass of Pinot Grigio is goin’ down as smooth as the first, and I’m feeling like a lucky guy – after all, all I have to do this weekend is clean the pool filter and do the laundry. Tracey, unfortunately, has two days of tax preparation ahead of her.

But I don’t want to let such mundane earthly matters get in the way – not tonight. ‘Cause I’m thinking of Louisiana, looking forward to (God willing) Tracey and I making arrangements to spend a long weekend in New Orleans by the Mississippi River sometime in June. It will be our present to each other once we pay off our last credit card – something we hope to do in May. Imagine that? A weekend in The Big Easy funded only by a debit card with funds already paid. Boy, that’s going to feel weird!

Sure, we know it will be humid – the more oppressive the better, I say: this dry wind is parching my throat. Time to refresh my glass and listen once again to Jimmy Buffett’s lovely rendition of Jesse Winchester’s haunting, sentimental “L’Air de la Louisiane”:

Se promenant dans un bois de la vieille Louisianne
Les ombres s’allongent nos pas silents l’air de la Louisianne
Toi et moi ne parlant pas en sucant de la canne
Pour un instant je suis content en l’air de la Louisianne

Se promenant dans un bois de la vieille Louisianne
Les ombres s’allongent nos pas silents l’air de la Louisianne
Toi et moi ne parlant pas en sucant de la canne
Pour un instant je suis content en l’air de la Louisianne
Pour un instant je suis content en l’air de la Louisianne

Which in English translates to:

A walk in the woods of old Louisiana
The shadows are long
Our steps are silent in the Louisiana air
You and I say nothing as we suck sugar cane
For one minute I’m happy in the Louisiana air

Sure wish I could write lyrics like that. Have a great weekend, everyone!