2017 December 27th, First Day of an Actual Journey — Natchitoches!

I am excited.  Since Dec. 17th of last year, I have left Terrebonne Parish only to go to New Orleans twice, Des Allemands and Lafayette.

Today, my beautiful wife and I are heading to a B&B on the river in Natchitoches for a few days.  I will be logging the progression of my symptoms.  It is a four-hour trip and I expect some degradation on the way.  Still, I think my wife and I are armed well against this disease and we can survive it.

As a testament to how I am feeling right now:  I’ve fixed my coffee this morning in a ceramic cup.  I haven’t drank in something other than plastic in several weeks.

Strangely enough, the most significant change I have made to my daily routine is the addition of sleeping on a heated blanket set on low.  It warms and relaxes my muscles all night.  The damage that I caused myself the day before is diminished.  The blanket is coming on the trip with me.

I cannot wait to wake tomorrow and have a cup of coffee on the porch overlooking the river.  The temperature is supposed to be in the lower 30s. I will blow smoke as I sip.

My camera will be my wife’s and my companion and I hope to kill the batteries by taking many photos.  Strangely enough, in all my travels, I don’t recall ever being in Natchitoches.  As a youth, we traveled once all over the state.  I remember standing on the highest elevation in the state.  I remember Hodge’s garden, and many other sites we saw on that trip, but not the city of Natchitoches.

This will be a new experience for me in a multitude of ways. My excitement builds as I struggle to not wake my wife so we can leave early.  (She has to drive all the way.  I can sleep….)

Thanks for reading, God Bless!

Jay C. “Jazzy_J” Theriot