BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS

I know that the small city of Gueydan, Louisiana claims to be the duck capitol of the world, but New Iberia also has its share of this water fowl… along with long-legged waders like herons, egrets, cranes, spoonbills, and flamingoes. Yesterday’s Daily Iberian carried a story about a very old species of duck that flew in during the time I was on The Mountain in TN this Spring and Summer.

Two ducks of the black-bellied whistling species nested in a pond near the Lynn Landry home in New Iberia (they make a mellow whistling noise), handsome creatures with bodies of chestnut and black, red bill and pink legs, and patches of white on their wings. The duck couple produced a family of nine ducklings while summering in New Iberia, and the offspring traveled from pond to pond in the area until they learned to fly.

Unlike many ducks, these birds are nocturnal and migrate at night, rest and feed during the day. They’re easily domesticated, and the Landry family became very attached to them. The newspaper article featured a magnificent color photograph of the black bellied whistlers flying against the backdrop of a dark sky with a full moon. The Landrys said the whistler is a bird that looks like a cross between a duck and a goose and evolved many years ago, according to expert guidebooks on birds.

It’s a good thing the whistlers didn’t land near another Frenchman’s place of a former time: the artist Claude Monet’s house in Giverny, France. The impressionist painter was very fond of eating fowl and kept an elaborate notebook of recipes for his palette of taste, including his favorite birthday dish: Becasse a la casserole, otherwise known as Casseroled Woodcock, cooked with shallots and white wine, not to omit Duck with Turnips (made with a duckling!) and duck in red wine sauce. I hasten to add that the average duck lover around New Iberia prefers to view his duck in the roasting pan, rather than viewing it in its nesting habitat.

For me, it’s refreshing to turn the mind away from politics and disasters and to read about the wild and natural world, to know that some facets of our landscape, even of the oldest species, are not lost to us, especially those lofty creatures from the world of the water fowl. ‘Strange how the ducks lifted off the day before Hurricane Ike hit, sensing, perhaps, that an ill wind was about to blow --they had the good sense to evacuate a habitat where the Big Wind often strikes.

The Landrys say the black-bellied whistlers are bound for Mexico to winter – I can only surmise the ducks gave them a whistle about where they were going, and I reckon that sunny Mexico isn’t a bad choice for a winter vacation. However, Mrs. Landry predicted that the ducklings would return in the Spring as they generally return to the place where they’re born. Maybe they tasted bayou water!!
One of my “series”poems about other birds from AFTERNOONS IN OAXACA, published by Border Press:

THE ROAD TO PINEVILLE
II.

At dawn the dark birds
gather to bless the light,
squads of palmettos appear,
newly flooded by rain in the swamp.
I stop at the edge of the brown water
and bless the dagger-like fans,
wild plants that have followed me,
unabashed into the unknown…
like prayers spiking the underbrush.

IV.
Winter returned in the night
and tried to subvert the Spring,
a white bird takes his stand on one leg
in a sea of buttercups, whose faces, upturned,
catch the intrepid gusts,
disappear in yellow green stillness.

V.
There is no unencumbered God,
like a Bedouin he moves
across flat green fields,
searches out yellow cups,
columns of crimson clover,
unsettles a grackle near drifting egrets…
casting the shadow of vigilant parent.

THE HAITI PROJECT

From St. Mary’s Convent at Sewanee, TN, Sister Miriam sends me news about the trip that she, Sister Julian, and Sister Elizabeth will make to Haiti in a few weeks. In the communication, Sister Miriam tells me more about the orphanage there in Port Au Prince --the facility is called an orphanage but is really more of a last hope for poor families, according to Sister Dorothy who takes care of 22 sick children, some of whom are dying babies.

Sister Dorothy is a former real estate paralegal from Jacksonville, FL who moved to Haiti in 2004 to help poor children and families. In October, 2005, she established the Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue Mission in Port Au Prince where she works under the auspices of Christian Light Foundation, Inc. The Children’s Home there functions like a family at home, and Sister Dorothy acts as surrogate grandmother to sick and malnourished children. The Sisters of St. Mary who were formerly in the order of the Sisters of Charity have been on medical missions to this orphanage each year for the past seven years and have “picked up” interested missionaries along the way, including St. Mary’s energetic Sister Elizabeth who will be making this journey for the first time in November.

Regarding the orphanage, Sister Dorothy writes: “We are very crowded with 21 babies (Kervens makes 22 children) and were very lucky to find three portacribs for sale this morning. A lady gave us money to buy a new washer so we went shopping after leaving Tasha (Sister Dorothy’s helper who returned stateside) at the airport. The store didn’t have a washer but it did have cribs. We desperately needed them, and I haven’t found them in any other store or on the streets. Sweet Chris immediately gave me permission to buy the cribs instead of the washer. What a blessing! We have now tested all of the new children (Miltha, Patrick, Kimberly, Josie, and Lavinsky) for HIV and TB. Lavinsky had already tested positive for HIV, but he is still young enough to revert to negative. We hope the weak positive on his home test is a good sign. Miltha’s skin test is positive for TB. Her mother will come here tomorrow morning to go with us when we take Poutchino and Miltha to the TB clinic where Poutchino is being treated. Miltha will need more tests to confirm whether she actually has TB. Isn’t God wonderful to bring these children to us!”

Sister Miriam makes a plea for funding to get more supplies for the Haiti trip (in addition to two water purifiers she bought with funds we helped raise this past summer) – perhaps a washing machine and a bit more food. The pictures of the children on Sister Dorothy’s site show adorable, smiling children, along with stories about several of them and closing thoughts from Sister Dorothy. She quotes the Scripture reading from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” She further says: “We give thanks to you for a houseful of healthy and HEALING children, for always having food to eat and water to drink, for having a house filled with joy and peace, and much, much more. We thank the Lord for you who are our partners in prayer and ministry.”

If you’re interested in reading more about the orphanage and the children, log onto http://dorothypearcehaiti.blogspot.com or contact Sister Miriam at St. Mary’s Convent, sisofchr@hotmail.com. And thank you again for contributing to the water purification systems which will soon be flown down to Haiti to supply clean water for these children whose beautiful, smiling faces show they are being loved and healed despite being ravaged by HIV, TB, gastro-intestinal viruses and infectious parasitic diseases caused by drinking contaminated water.

And Bon Voyage and blessings to the good Sisters of St. Mary who will soon embark on this mission of mercy to Haiti.

WELLNESS AND ALTERNATIVE HEALING

After experiencing eight months of clear mountain air in TN and re-entering an atmosphere clouded with sugar cane ash that made my allergies kick in, I suppose it was appropriate for me to go downtown and view wellness exhibits at the Sliman Theatre on Saturday. When I walked in, Betty Leblanc, a member of Solomon House outreach mission, guided me to her exhibit on the garden and labyrinth at Solomon House. Betty, along with her husband Wilson and Vickie Sullivan, built this labyrinth during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina so that those fleeing the hurricane could have a place to find solace and renewal. The builders created a long, winding path of river rocks and packed concrete/earth in the backyard garden of Solomon House to make this simple labyrinth. They wanted to help people empty themselves of fears, anxieties, and to quiet their minds during a time of disaster. I was inspired to preach the dedication for the labyrinth and garden and to read a poem about the work of Solomon House during the hurricane at this ceremony. The labyrinth has continued to attract visitors from throughout the community of New Iberia, assisted by presentations on its use by Betty. Her brochure about the labyrinth mentions healing for hospital workers, hospice patients, psychotherapists, spiritual directors, troubled teens, and those who belong to 12-step programs. Betty calls the labyrinth a “pathway to the heart.”

A Reiki representative was busy melting away tension in one corner of the room at the Sliman and advertised that Reiki, through laying-on of hands and touch, could heal a person of pain, reduce depression, and relax the whole person including body, emotions, and spirit. A larger claim was that of eliminating toxins and releasing blockages. Rev. Kari Rhose also advertised sacred stone therapy in combination with the Reiki sessions, objects used in the ancient science of Ayurveda. In this healing technique, warm stones and crystals are put under and upon the body to anchor the body and reduce tensions. Rev. Kari also heals animals and does energy work in the home.

A reflexologist was busy in another corner administering detox footbaths and explaining ion detoxification system work. This is a non-invasive way for people to detoxify the body by putting their feet into water and relaxing for 20-30 minutes. The owner of Zensations Bodycare, Melanie Trox, claims that the ion detoxification system creates the same environment as soaking in a mineral bath or walking along the beach, the body absorbing millions of negatively charged ions which alkalize blood and tissue. Melanie is also a Reiki teacher and gave me a card listing the Reiki Principles: “Just for today/I am peaceful,/I am relaxed,/I am grateful,/I work on my spiritual practice,/I am kind to others and every living being.”

One table held products of Lokahi: a combination of aloe vera gel, blueberry juice, grape juice, pear juice, cranberry juice, noni juice, acai, and goji berry, to name a few of the ingredients in a liquid that provides nutritional supplementation.

I was drawn to a table on aromatherapy where I stopped to chat with Joie Connelly, a health and well-being coach to whom I sold a copy of my Young Adult book about traiteurs (healers in the Cajun Tradition). The finale’ was a Yoga session that lasted one hour and which I watched, then did my centering prayer while the rest of the group sat in meditation. I haven’t written about all of the exhibits, but it was an awesome presentation of holistic approaches to health and healing, and I went home feeling somewhat better about re-entering a region of polluted air. At least alternative approaches to wellness are being offered in the community.

As much as I love bayou country, I can’t help wishing that a ban against burning sugar cane stalks in the open fields would be enforced so that those of us with respiratory problems could breathe more freely again!