Alexandria, Louisiana, USA

Collecting haircuts is fun. What makes it fun are the barbers that teach you about the places where they live. There were seven in 2022: Alexandria, Louisiana (left); Las Vegas, Nevada, and Cami, Illinois (top); Grayson, Kentucky (middle); Virginia Beach, Virginia (the city's oldest barbershop), and Smyrna, Delaware (bottom); and Lancaster, South Carolina (right). [2022]

Alexandria, Louisiana, USA

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday have passed; November is on its way out; and tomorrow begins a month of planning for Christmas. Kids everywhere will be writing letters to Santa, and some communities will have a special delivery service to the North Pole. [2022]

Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

What is art? Anything that is part of the designed world, and that includes just about everything. Signs, flags, windows, and fonts are all designed and often redesigned. The anonymous designers of these cultural curiosities are all human, but nature can be a champion designer as well, so attune yourself to the full panoply of landscape aesthetics. [2022]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Says Wyland: "We know now that water connects all the countries of the world… Our goal with these projects… has been to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public. The health of our ocean and waterways are in jeopardy, not to mention the thousands of marine animals and plants that face extinction if we do nothing." [2011]

Marksville, Louisiana, USA

Inside the outhouse was a bench with a hole that gave way to the pit toilet below, hidden from the eyes but not the nose. This one served residents of the Hypolite Bordelon House, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places. What is needed, though, is an outhouse that commands a historical marker of its own. Do any exist? [2022]

Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

The green gator may be a hold-over from Mardi Gras in Lake Charles. That's right: Mardi Gras is not unique to New Orleans. In Louisiana alone, there are over two dozen cities that observe "Fat Tuesday" with parades and carnivals. There may be another dozen along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi, and still others farther afield. [2022]

Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

Covid Behaviors: Wear your mask. Most of us are no longer wearing masks except in the most crowded of places. But, we will always remember the years of ubiquitous reminders to Mask Up. On this city bus the driver wore his mask and his passengers had to, as well. [2022]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Marcel Proust reminds geographers: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” These new eyes are invigilating the edge of New Orleans' downtown. But, they are really old eyes, expressive eyes, soulful eyes, iconic eyes. They belong to native son Louis Armstrong. [2022] 

Alexandria, Louisiana, USA

The Neon Era began in the 1920s and lasted into the 1960s. Only a few of the era's classic neon signs have survived, largely because they accentuate both a sense of place and a slice of time. Thanks Bentley Hotel for prioritizing historical accentuation. [2022]

Spearsville, Louisiana, USA

What happened on Easter? Events that were totally unexpected. In one of the great plot twists of history, three days after his crucifixion, Jesus, fully wrapped and entombed on the previous Friday, rose from the dead and appeared to the living. This is resurrection Sunday: "The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive. Happy Easter." [2018]

Houma, Louisiana, USA

Coca-Cola murals were especially prominent in the rural South and Appalachia. If a town had a drug store (with a soda fountain, of course), it probably had a Coke advertisement outside. For many decades now, many have been rediscovered and some have been brought back to life. P.S.: Thanks, Coke, for pulling out of Russia! [2009]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

She wants to look as bright as the morning on Jackson Square. Does she know that the square's namesake may have held her ancestors as slaves? Andrew Jackson had nearly a hundred slaves at his Tennessee plantation, some of whom he took to the White House with him. [2022]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Yesterday, everybody in New Orleans was acting like a horse's ass. Today, they are confessing their sins and promising good behavior for the next forty days. Who's riding that stead? Andrew Jackson, positioned in the middle of Jackson Square. The original inhabitants of North America consider him a horse's ass. Do you know why? [2022]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Medieval harlequin history is preserved in Mardi Gras celebrations, which culminate today, the day before Ash Wednesday. An old French spelling, hellequin, associates these madcap performers with the underworld and the night-riding demons who live there. Today is the last day to put those demons behind you, for tomorrow begins the season of Lent. [2022]

Mansura, Louisiana, USA

February is all about the number two, and 2/22 is a palindrome too! The veterans got this one right. The world globe here is tilted on its axis just the way it should be (unlike some others). It's part of the parish's veterans memorial. Remember: In Louisiana, parish equals county. Be sure to see yesterday's post. [2022]

New Roads, Louisiana, USA

February is all about the number two, and 2/22 is a palindrome too! You are running out of time to put those cards into the hands of loved ones. If you haven't already mailed them, better deliver them in person. Happy Valentine's Day! Be sure to see yesterday's post. [2022]

Marksville, Louisiana, USA

The "Cajun cottage" is one of the most distinguishing features of Acadiana's vernacular landscape. Note the porches (unusual for there to be two!) and roof lines. In the 1970s, Marksville had the foresight to rescue a really old one for the sake of generations to come. Below is what the structure looked like when it was first moved to town. [2022]

Pineville, Louisiana, USA

Want to warm up on a cold winter day? Spend a few minutes in front of the new mural on Pineville's Main Street. It's the showiest thing in town. Ironically, it was sponsored by Louisiana Fireplace, so you might expect something grittier. But maybe it's not such a contradiction: Both a fireplace and this mural bring you something bright and warm. [2022]

Oscar, Louisiana, USA

River or lake? False River was a meander of the Mississippi River until the 1700s; then, flooding cut it off, and it became an oxbow lake. Now, it is a cottage-crowded, duck-hunting, trout-fishing paradise. Note the French long-lots visible on the false-color image below. Those long-lots testify to False River's Acadian heritage. [2022]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Don't we all need to gaze into our future right now? What does the rest of the year hold? Doesn't 2021 just have to be better? You can be sure that Royal Street does not look like this at the moment. Alas, we may never go back to the "good old days," which we always imagine were better than they really were anyway. [2018]