As I type, Jan. 20, 2026 the sun is shining outside, its rays beaming in my back room door with its double sliding doors and the room is wonderfully warm. In hot weather, the rays of sun coming in sort of defeat my air conditioner, but in this recent cool weather, the extra warmth is welcome.
I have mini-split heat and cool devices in my small house and they are adequate except when the north wind blows and the temperature drops. Then I pull out a couple of space heaters which make my electric bill soar into the heavens, but in the moment, I don’t even care. I just want to be warm. Or cool!
Anyway, I sat atop the levee for over an hour yesterday and it was wonderful. I don’t have time for that today and sadly probably not tomorrow and then it is supposed to get cold again.
Meanwhile, the Belle River bridge is adjusting to the low river water level. It is an easy, gentle access on one end, a bit of a climb/drop on the other but I notice the big lighted warning signs are gone so I guess the city/parish/state has decided there should not be any problem anymore. I suspect that might be a premature judgement but I guess we’ll see.
My sister in Michigan and daughter in Tennessee tell me their weather is pretty bad. Very, very cold, with much snow in some places. I saw on TV the huge pile-up of trucks and cars on an interstate in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My sister said buses had taken people to shelter until their vehicles could be untangled.
I have a l996 version of a Bose Acoustic System that was given to me back then when there must have been some extra money laying around. For years I belonged to a BMG music club and every month I bought a CD which I played on the Bose. Then years passed and for one thing or another CDs were supplanted by other media devices which I didn’t have so all the dozens of CDs I had just sat in their pockets in cases. Recently, again for some reason, I’ve started playing those CDs again or trying to. Some of them don’t play anymore. I sent the entire radio back to the manufacturer once and for $100 it was cleaned and refurbished but I was cautioned that the device would be too old for any more updates.
So some CD’s are good, some are not. Fortunately, the music of Samuel Barber which was used in the movie Platoon still plays and still brings tears to my eyes. And Sarah Brightman’s Time to Say Goodbye! Oh my!
The warm weather continues. Mornings are chilly but the sun warms things up by noon.
Two new people came to the Tuesday Yoga class so we spent much time before actually doing exercises just chatting and discovering who everybody was related to. That’s actually a big part of Yoga, I think, the socialization. It does not seem sad, but much of our conversation was about the cancer treatment various people had. We compared doctors, treatments, etc. I guess it seems morbid to talk about it, but somehow kind of nice to know you’re not the only one. Our bouts with cancer varied in location and mostly doctors. Some good, some bad. Of course, that’s just our opinion.
Food for Seniors is Jan. 29, usual places, usual times. And I still am not allowed to accept new recipients. Sorry folks. I know some of you have been waiting.
Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be emailed at lindacooke1939@ gmail.com.
