THANKFUL FOR ...CRAAAAAAAAWFISH

Greetings fellow Cajuns and Cajun wannabes. Why is the man in the first picture smiling. It could be that he is watching the LSU baseball team playing on a T.V. in front of him. It could be he thinking about his new recording project that sounds fantastic. It could be the various successful showcases of his band that has been taking place. But none of these events compares with the sweet joy as he is partaking of that sweet meat...Mr. Crawfish at the Annual Legendre Crawfish Boil.

In the third collage that you see...there is a collection of pictures from the boil... and pictures from my favorite Elvis Presley movie...KING CREOLE. This movie opens up with a song...that Elvis sings with KITTY WHITE. This is one of the first...rare...duets that Elvis sings with a female. In Viva Las Vegas he sings with Ann Margaret.

This song is sung in a type of CALL AND RESPONSE song (music of the church)...as Kitty pushes a cart down Bourbon Street in the morning. She is selling her wares of CRAWFISH in the French Quarters. Elvis is getting up...getting dressed and they begin to sing.

Craaaaaaaaaaaaaawfish.....Craaaaaaaaaawwwwwfiiish...See I got em...see the size...stripped and cleaned...before your eyes...sweeeeet meeaat look...fresh and ready to cook. Craaaaaaaaaaaaawfish....Craaaaaaaaaaawfish.

Well I went to the bayou just last night...there was no moon but the stars were bright...put a big long hook...on a big long pole...and I pulled Mr. Crawfish out of his whole...Craaaaaaaawwfish....Craaaaaaaawfish.

Now take Mr. Crawfish in your hand...He's gonna look good in your frying pan...
If you fry him crisp or you boil him right...he'll be sweeter than sugar when you take a bite...Crawwwwwwwwfish....Craaawwwwfish.

The best part of this Crawfish boil is not...sitting around talking with friends... and smelling the sweet aroma of the boiling of spices, potatoes, corn, garlic cloves, corn and of course crawfish. The best part of the boil is not getting a large platter full of the cajun feast...sitting down and begin to pulling off the tails, sucking the heads of the crawfish, eating the sweet meat. The best part is not taking a break and then starting all over again...with the juices dripping down your face and arms as you take a break to wipe your mouth and drink a cool drink. What could be the best part of this event?



The best part of the event for old Ramblin' Rod...is getting together with my son...and taking our annual picture of a son and his dad...sucking the head of the crawfish. It is especially meaningful...since he graduated from high school... has been living at Wherry Housing while interning for Community Servants...and working at UPS at night. I don't get to see him as much as I use to...and just to hear his voice or see him for a moment is a treat.

Sometimes...we don't miss the ones we love until they are not around as much. Sure...this is part of life...and as our kids spread their wings to soar into adulthood...it hurts...BUT...we have to cherish the moments together. I think I have a little taste of how God must feel when we don't call or check in on a regular basis. Sometimes as we grow in the Lord....we tend to drift a little in our independence. We tend NOT to read the Word as much as we did when we first came to know Him. Our prayers are not as consistent. We tend to become more self-reliant rather than come to Him. In Revelation....we are encouraged to RETURN TO OUR FIRST love...and do the things that we did when we first met Him. It is getting back to the basics of life....reading the Word, praying to Him, having intimate conversations with Him. When we do things like this... it makes the simple pleasures of life so much better. When my relationship with God is good...little things like a Crawfish Boil, a night out to a concert, a look of love from your wife, a simple song, a picture with your son...becomes so much sweeter.

Lord...your Word says, "In EVERYTHING give thanks...for this is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus." (I Thessalonians 5:18) In EVERYTHING...means everything...including the crawfish boil. If I could learn the lesson of being thankful in the little things...and in the everythings...life would be good.

Love and Cajun...Spicy...Kisses
Rodney "King Creole Boyd"

P.S. The King of Kings...is the King of kings...including king creole.