Memorial Day 2007

I made my first trip to Louisiana since moving back to Texas over the Memorial Day weekend. Kitty Cat survived... she appreciates me so much more after an evening alone. I didn't get to see my Mom for Mother's Day, so this was a combined trip. And, since I can't use vacation days until I've been at new job for six months, this gave me a day to still get ready for the week and relax a bit.

It was a good visit. Shreveport is growing... crime is up, but the shopping that is coming in is reminiscent of the towns here in TX. And, even though Mom complains a tad about driving "all the way across town" (she doesn't live in Shreveport, but close), I found that with the parkways it's not a bad jaunt at all. They even had a Wild Birds Unlimited store. This has to be one of my absolute favorite stores. I'm even more driven to get the bird feeders set up in the backyard. I'm also going to design a garden in my backyard with the intention of attracting the birds. At first I couldn't envision what I wanted back there, but now I'm starting, too.

The drive up and back though was the interesting thing. I've done this drive for over 10 years and never had a hint of a problem. Going... I was behind a tanker that blew a tire. Fortunately, I was far enough back that there weren't any problems. Good thing since most of his tire stayed in the middle of the road. Then coming back...a truck had been having problems. As he pulled back onto the highway from the shoulder, he lost control. He fishtailed 180 degrees and angled back toward an on-ramp that, naturally, had cars headed for the interstate. I could only watch and know this guy was going to plow into someone. God was watching over everyone. The truck went up on the shoulder (very sloped), flopped onto one side, and then righted back up and stayed up. He missed another truck by inches. Fortunately, most traffic was well behind me and everyone could see the guy losing control (East TX is rather flat) and could slow down. I made sure others got out to help (they did) and continued on. It's scary to watch something like that and know you can't do anything.