Dear Smiley: My daughters, Ashley and Danielle, and I used to sing a lot. We sang in the kitchen, in the van, and of course at church.
Dees Veca, of Kenner, captures the excitement of a football Saturday:
Proving there's nothing too trivial to capture the attention of my readers, we've been having a long discussion of peas. One more item on that subject:
As I've learned during a couple of decades with my current spouse, marriage sometimes involves a bit of friendly (more or less) competition. Here's an example from a reader:
"My parents moved and didn’t tell me," says Linda Dalferes, of Baton Rouge.
Nick Delaune adds to our "burger joints of the past" series with a story that's not about burgers:
Dear Smiley: Articles about "mushy peas" made me think of my sister Jeanne, oldest of nine children.
Mother's Day brings memories of mothers vs. kids:
Our current seminar on gone but not forgotten hamburger joints reminded me of a favorite story involving burgers and horses (and no, not burgers made from horses).
As a former Istrouma High cheerleader, I enjoyed this story from Darrel "Le Roi" Leger, of Kaplan:
From our "No good deed goes unpunished" file comes this story from David Palmisano, of Marrero:
I thought we had wrapped up tales of LSU's Kirby Smith dorm, but this story is too good to pass up:
Dear Smiley: On Tuesday evening, after dropping off my grandson, Caleb, at City Park for soccer practice, I went to the Lake Pontchartrain sea wall to fish while waiting for him.
This is the time of year when we outdoor types are alert for the stinging caterpillar.
Another example of how "smart" robotic devices are taking over our lives:
Harry Clark, of Lafayette, tells of a mechanical difficulty that had a simple solution:
"One more grits anecdote," requests Edwin Fleischmann. Since he asked nicely, here's his story, bringing back a memorable line by Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny":
I guess it's because of the Masters, but I've received several golf stories lately. This one made me chuckle:
Dear Smiley: My son and I went to a Masters practice round several years ago. We were watching several pros putting. One of them was Payne Stewart, who wore slacks during practice rounds instead of the knickers (aka knickerbockers) he wore in tour…
It's interesting what you acquire at festive occasions. After our Spanish Town Mardi Gras parties, merrymakers (we never knew who) would leave behind jackets (shed as the day warmed), hats, umbrellas, nice plastic containers for holding drinks, an…
Looking back over the past few days' columns, I've become aware that we've devoted an alarming amount of space to a discussion of food.
Albert Ricketts, of Gonzales, says, "Growing up in a small Southern town in the early 1960s, traveling to the big city was not on the agenda.
Harvey Gonsoulin says, "Mention of interesting phone calls reminded me of a phone call my mother received many years ago, when the only phone line we could get was an eight-party line.
David S. Rubin, of Baton Rouge, offers "another submission for your recent stories of food adventures."
Dear Smiley: This rainy weather reminds me of a morning at Runnels Preschool, where I taught.
Paula King, of Gretna, says mention of telephone party lines, serving several homes on one line, reminded her of this small-town telephone experience while a youngster in St. Francisville:
Billy Arcement, of Prairieville, noting that we haven't had many woodpecker stories lately, seeks to remedy that omission:
During the last year, the pandemic limited my entertainment choices. I watched so much TV that at some point it seemed I had seen everything worth watching.
Richard Fossey, of Baton Rouge, tells of another view of a fearsome reptile:
Dudley Lehew, of Marrero, discusses regional language barriers:
Dear Smiley: After reading about french fried potato sandwiches, I got a nostalgia moment.
It's nice to have Jay Dardenne back in the column after a long absence, while he did something involving politics:
After a year of isolation, I find myself getting nostalgic about the days when large, festive gatherings were the norm.
Rick Marshall reminds us of the wild tales of the arrival of the year 2000 and the 'Y2K' panic, when the change was supposed to cause a shutdown of computers and just about everything else.
Coffee comments in the Monday column brought this note from Charlie Anderson:
After Paul Major asked a weather question on Friday about the difference between a drizzle and a sprinkle, I received some thoughtful and marginally helpful replies.
Dear Smiley: When my niece Breck graduated from high school, she asked her parents to celebrate the occasion with an at-home dinner party (this was before COVID).
A Baton Rouge lady I recently described as "something else" uses that title as an alias. She tells of two food encounters with the British:
This travel story from Rebecca Gouvier, of Baton Rouge, pretty much sums up our stories about dining outside Louisiana:
Stories about a doomed LSU dorm brought this remembrance from John Steib, of Jackson:
Maybe it's because of the deprivations caused by the COVID epidemic, but I've been receiving a number of stories involving food. Here are a few of the best:
Any parent who's ever traveled any distance with kids in the car can testify about how the little darlings view time.
Dear Smiley: After I retired and moved back to Westwego, one of my sisters reminded me that New Orleans (including the north shore) was a small town, where everybody knows everybody else’s business.
Since it appears LSU's Kirby Smith Hall, an 11-story dorm on the edge of the campus, is doomed, we'd like to hear from those who served time there.
Patrick Dehon Jr. offers a tale of a New Orleans adventure:
On Monday I said I was winding down our locked-car stories.
Dick Hastings, of Abita Springs, says, "As a personnel officer at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas, in the 1960s, I went to Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier Parish for a conference with my counterparts from other Strategic Air Command …
Neicie Deloney, of Gretna, says, "Reading Julie Kennard’s Saturday story about ordering a sandwich 'dressed' in Florida reminded me of a similar situation on a trip to the Frozen Nawth.
Dear Smiley: Retired now, I was a locksmith and photographer.
“Reading the locked door stories finally gave me a chance to share a story with you," says Mark Ricard.
Sidney Mestayer, of Baton Rouge, says, "Items in your column about running track reminded me of an experience when I was in the Army Reserve and due to attend two weeks of summer camp at Fort Polk.