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Bayou Farewell: the rich life and tragic death of Louisiana’s Cajun coast
by Mike Tidwell

This title caught my eye on a shelf in the public library. This is an area of the country that I know so little about, so I checked out a copy.
Up here in the midwest, Cajun often means only a style of (delicious and tasty!) cooking. In his book, Tidwell vividly describes Cajun culture, food, and unique language from his one-on-one encounters with fishermen and crabbers in the Louisiana bayous. Tidwell hitchhiked along with several crabbers, shrimpers, and others as they go about their daily and nightly routines, offering to work for them in exchange for conversations that would make up his research.
Tidwell’s new friends were welcoming and candid, and the stories they shared create a vivid picture of the coast and its people. He delves into the seafood industry itself and the generations of (mostly) men who work in it.
Through these conversations another picture emerges: that of a disappearing coastline. Tidwell wonders why there are telephone poles in the middle of the water and dead oak trees, a land tree, sticking out of submerged, isolated groves. His hosts explain that the rapid changes in the coastline caused by human impact are allowing the salt water of the Gulf to overtake the bayous and marshes of the region at the same time as the sediment-formed land sinks below water level.
The author’s descriptions of his new friends and his surroundings are vivid, sensory, and detailed. I felt like I was riding along the bayous with him as I read. He examines the potential environmental catastrophe from both scientific and political angles. There is a definite bias in his writing toward saving and rebuilding the bayous — a bias he supports convincingly through his data and stories.
Bayou Farewell was originally published in 2003. The new edition contains an update written after the hurricanes of 2005, Rita and Katrina. It is a valuable book and a worthwhile read on topics of both the peoples and the land. I highly recommend it to all who are interested in society’s impact on unique cultures and on our fragile environment.

>Gotta love the Internet and the Blogosphere. with a single post, an idea can spread. Monday it was a tribute to Sesame Street. Today, Momster declared a “Love Thursday” post. It sounds almost 60s hippie style until you start looking over the posts, and see that they’re mostly families. Here’s mine for today. I picked this one not for its photo quality, but for the action. El Grande loves baseball, but he can’t see well enough to play a regular game. He loves his adaptive league, and even practices in the backyard. Here you see La Petite, a decent player in her own right, catching the balls as he hits them. Yes, she offered to play with him! When they go over the fence for a “home run”, the neighbor kids (see wood playset in background) like to run for them and throw them back. The rabbit pen is in the foreground. Simple fun and sibling bonding all in one blurry photo — and yes, lots of love.

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When I read Kamran Nazeer’s Send in the Idiots: stories from the other side of autism, I read from the point of view of a mother wondering about the future for my high-functioning autistic teen. At first, I made mental notes about how the young adults in the book related to others. Their living arrangements, their interactions, and their friendships all filed themselves dutifully in my head. Andre, living with his sister: a young man who communicated with puppets and became infuriated when someone dared to interrupt. Randall: quiet, a good listener, involved in a monogamous relationship with a non-autistic person. Craig, who lived alone but welcomed guests. Elizabeth, a young woman who lived mainly with her parents but spent some of her late teens and early twenties residing in an inpatient facility for mentally ill, dealing with epilepsy and bipolar disorder in addition to autism.
Then Nazeer said that half of all autistic adults live with their parents, and my mind turned around. Half? Does he mean all autistic adults, no matter where they are on the spectrum? And since he quoted no specific source, is this statistic accurate? Frankly, it worried me more than a little.
Nazeer, who lives alone, talks about his frequent contacts with his parents, and their “…enhanced duty of care…” balanced with the “…joy that I have my independence.” (p.171)
Built into parenting is the expectation that our children will grow up, become independent, and live productive, happy lives. Suddenly that picture is blurry for me, like those optical challenges where by using a slightly unfocused stare you can see a different image emerge. The image for my 14 year old son will be somewhat different from that of a non-disabled, non-autistic person. Somehow, someway, a new image will emerge from the blurry pattern.

Nazeer talks about many other elements of autism such as the need for local coherence and challenges in language development. He also describes a meeting with his former teacher and his former counselor/therapist. I did not discuss these, but they are worthwhile parts of the book. I recommend this book to people dealing with autism, especially parents and professionals who work with families. It is an easy read and will stimulate discussion and thought.