Category Archives: family

Les Feux Follet

Posted on June 9, 2023 by Laura Alford, PhD

Les feux follet or will o’ the wisp. They were featured in Disney’s Merida and I saw some last weekend in the Pisgah National Forest. Mark and I went on a guided tour with lots of other people around, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Burnsville, Crypitd, family, North Carolina, parks & recreation, Pisgah National Forest, Writing | Tagged Bigfoot, blue fairy, Chupacabra, Disney, Les feux follet, lottery, lucky, Merida, misty mountain, Pisgah National Forest, Powerball, predator, will o'the wisp | 1 Comment

My Big, F*t Redneck Life

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Laura Alford, PhD

Life imitates art they say. The following is a story my mom sent me: Now, I’m not advocating folk remedies such as Windex or Ban deodorant*, but you know mama’s always right if you find yourself with some fire ant … Continue reading →

Posted in accounting, family, Louisiana, Recipes, skin care products, Writing | Tagged Ban deodorant, fire ants, folk remedies, Louisiana, Mama's always right, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Redneck Life, Sabine Parish, Windex | Leave a comment

Truckstop Tequila

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Laura Alford, PhD

Howdy from Texarkana, Texas! We’re mostly moved in, but not moved out, and haven’t hung anything up on the walls. The internet works all day, every day, unless the electricity is out. (That’s happened only once due to strain on … Continue reading →

Posted in DIY Project, family, Home Improvement, Saving Money, Texarkana, Texas, Writing | Tagged Clase Azul Reposado, DIY, El Camino Real, I-49, King's Highway, lamps, lampshades, moving, tequila, Texas, truckstop | Leave a comment

Tell Me Somethin’ Good

Posted on June 11, 2022 by Laura Alford, PhD

Welp, it’s not this collagen-protein smoothie I’m drinking to stave off loss of muscle mass due to aging. I have a great blender, but apparently GIGO (garbage in-garbage out) isn’t limited to the world of programming and data analysis. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholocism, Dogs, family, pets, Writing | Tagged all dogs go to heaven, Blizzard, collagen protein powder, dogs, expectations, garbage in garbage out, GIGO, gratitude, inflation, rainbow bridge, Ray Wylie Hubbard, smoothie | 1 Comment

Me, Myself, & Monterey

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Laura Alford, PhD

Hermits are crotchety for a reason. Their interactions are limited to watering silent orchids, thwarting random ant invasions, and forcibly, but humanely, removing unwanted spiders from the lavatory. Are hermits lonely? Absolutely. Do they want company? Absolutely NOT! Imagine if … Continue reading →

Posted in California, family, Louisiana, Monterey, weather, Writing | Tagged ants, evacuees, family, fortunate, hedgehog, hurricane Ida, Louisiana, LSU, Monterey, orchids, spiders | Leave a comment

Strait Road Trippin’

Posted on August 19, 2021 by Laura Alford, PhD

Once upon a time, before Pandora, before iTunes, before satellite radio, we listened to local radio stations. In the early aughts (2000’s), on the rare occasion that we went to Texas, Mark and I would play a game similar to … Continue reading →

Posted in family, music | Tagged afghanistan, Apron Strings, betting, border, cassette tapes, closet accounting major, Conversation with the Devil, country music, David Letterman, El Camino, games with one rule, george strait, Heroin Addict Sister, Houston, I am California, Jerry Jeff Walker, John Craigie, Listen to the Radio, Live at Cibola Creek, Louisiana, Nanci Griffith, Pandora, Price is Right, Ray Wylie Hubbard, redneck, Redneck Mother, Rough Johns, sabine river, Spotify, Taliban, terror, Texas | Leave a comment

The Oregon Trail

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Laura Alford, PhD

I bribed the kids with promises of gumbo and movie marathons in place of a trip to a certain National Park with terrifying cliffs and curves. They extracted the additional promise of game night, which is how I ended up … Continue reading →

Posted in California, camping, Children, cooking, family, Generation Gap, gumbo, karma, Louisiana, parks & recreation, Writing | Tagged bribery, Cattle Call, dysentery, Eddy Arnold, El Paso, game night, gumbo, Huey P. Long, jeffrey epstein, King of the Road, Marty Robbins, National Parks, oregon trail, Sequoia, you have died of dysentery | Leave a comment

It’s Never JUST the Dishwasher

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Laura Alford, PhD

A friend brought a pressure washer over to my house to eradicate the moss and mold from the brick patio in my rented backyard. No good deed goes unpunished is my de facto motto, and we soon discovered that not … Continue reading →

Posted in Continuouse Improvement, DIY Project, family, Louisiana, Saving Money, Writing | Tagged 90s, aluminum, aluminum fittings, appliance, brass faucets, caterpillar, cautionary tale, dirt road, dishwasher, dumpster, hardware store, hosehead, Letitia Street, mckenzie brothers, millennnium, morals, no good deed goes unpunished, Pinterest, pipe cleaners, pressure washer, saturday night live, Saving Money, snl, waterhose | 1 Comment

Soledad

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Laura Alford, PhD

Soledad, the Solitude of the BVM on Holy Saturday in Spanish tradition. Lyle spent the last six weeks with me in Monterey. It’s Freezing! was the top comment of his visit, and we engaged daily in the ages-old battle of the … Continue reading →

Posted in California, Catholocism, Children, End of the World, family, Monterey, Writing | Tagged disaster, earthquake, family, freezing, friends, fur-lined slippers, hurricane, isolation, Love, redneck, redneck uniform, Soledad, the plague, the Solitude, thermostat, thermostat wars, tsunami | Leave a comment

Toes in the Water

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Laura Alford, PhD

Yesterday I walked my bare feet into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. It took me 336 days of living in California to do it. I’m not sure why it took me so long. Because beaches … Continue reading →

Posted in California, Children, family, Louisiana, Monterey, weather, Writing | Leave a comment