Bill Ellzey: A road trip to visit family, past and present
I address you today a year older but no wiser. Having been born Jan. 21,1943, Friday was my 79th birthday, and just getting that far was all the reward I deserved.
The dessert was a king cake, no candles because of fire hazard, although, considering the mid-20s overnight temperatures at the Robeline family home, a fire in the wood-burning furnace was appropriate.
Busy looking back: We spent the last couple of weeks running from our positive but asymptomatic tests for COVID. We spent a night in our unrepaired home on Bellaire Drive in Houma, then five days in a Gulfport, Miss., pet-friendly hotel, then another night on Bellaire Drive, avoiding workmen contractor Joey Russ alleged were finally making progress repairing our interior.
After that, we spent five more nights in the family farmhouse near Robeline, navigating the muddy access road in the intermittent rain, including a visit with my sister-in-law on Toledo Bend Lake near Zwolle. She had treated us to a fried fish feast from Country Boy, our favorite Many restaurant, and allowed me the use of her internet to submit a column.
Bill Ellzey: I tested positive for COVID again, but thankfully I'm still not sick
During that two-week stretch, we found time to visit the cemeteries where our parents are buried to renew the flowers decorating their graves.
Nolan and Phyllis Barrios, my late father and mother-in-law, are buried in Mississippi, and our visit to Gulfport made the visit to their resting place convenient. My parents, Orvis and Dorris Ellzey, are among my relatives buried in the Central Baptist Church near Robeline. Both graveyards are hours from Houma, so we try to take advantage of any trip that brings us closer.
Isolation? One big complication of staying at the Robeline family farm is the lack of internet. I can't submit this column from the farm, and worse, I cannot receive your emails until we have returned to electronic civilization at home in Terrebonne. Please forgive me if the situation results in any shortage of publicity for your event.
With medical appointments around Houma in the afternoon, we rushed back early Monday, cutting short my writing time and hoping to finish and connect with the internet in time to meet my deadline.
The dirt road from the farm was dry for a change and we were soon on I-49 South, enjoying its 75 mph speed limit. That is not to say I drove at the limit; keeping pace with most other south-bound traffic, it was more like 80, and we were still passed by vehicles sporting Texas license plates. I find Texas drivers bold like that, willing to fudge 10 mils and more on the posted limits.
We saw no crashes, however, or obvious blue-light speeder stops. Traffic was relatively light and we were home in plenty of time for our appointments. The deadline is another thing. I think Editor Keith Magill will be tolerant. I very rarely miss my noontime deadlines.
The dry weather held until we got to our doctors, but the rest of the afternoon was wet. Now to read my email to find out what I missed.
Responding? Contact Bill Ellzey at (985) 381-6256, ellzey@viscom.net or billellzey312@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Bill Ellzey: A road trip to visit family, past and present
