Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Real is Beautiful



I started off this trip thinking that most people would find our "What is Beauty?" question superficial, but the reality is that people have a lot to say about this topic.

We stopped off at Pat's Restaurant in Henderson, Louisiana. It was just outside of Lafayette. We had to ask a woman at a car wash for directions. We were greeted by Harvey, the owner, Pat's son. Harvey treated us to a sampling of fried catfish and showed us the alligators out back. The shrimp and okra gumbo was so rich and full of flavor. Insanely good! Homemade secret recipes passed down from the family's French-speaking grandmother. Too bad we didn't arrive on the weekend for all the music and dancing! Good food, good people, we left happy. America is full of real people who care about each other and their community.

This trip has been different from other driving trips because we started off with a big question. Answers seem to emerge all around. People have been kind, generous and have the best stories to tell. In the car on the way out, Martha said, "That was so good. I want to cry with happiness." It's been almost a spiritual experience.

Martha will be blogging real soon.

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