Week 53

And in today's agricultural news. . . . We took a day trip to parts a little south of us to catch some of the sugarcane harvest.  We hit it just right, and you'll now have to endure lots of pictures of the process.  There are 400,00 acres of sugarcane in Louisiana, which produce 13 million tons of sugarcane.  There are 11 raw sugar factories in the state, and the whole industry contributes over $3 billion to the economy of Louisiana.

The fields are lush and beautiful, and the cane is much taller than it looks in the first couple of pictures--that's why the third one has Kerby standing in front of a patch of cane for a height reference (he's 6'2"and the cane towers over him).

We saw the actual harvesting machines just a couple of times:

Harvesters in the field

But we saw the cane being loaded into trucks for transport to the raw sugar factories in lots of places.  The cane gets cut into shorter stalks when it's picked, then the cane is heaped in big piles.  Some other equipment picks it up and dumps it into trucks.

Pile of sugarcane "chunks" and the loader

Loading the trucks

The trucks generally have solid sides but mesh gates at the back, and there are LOTS of them on the road.

The back of a loaded truck (as seen through our windshield)

On the way home, we stopped at Lea's Pie Shop in Lecompte.  The shop is surrounded by sugarcane fields. I had the best pecan pie I've ever had (and I've had [and even made] some very good pecan pie) and Kerby had peach.  He said it was very good, but my sister's is better.

Back up here in cotton country, most of the fields have lost their foliage, and the harvest should start very soon.

About ready for harvest

On Tuesday we visited with the Petch family in Marksville--he's a counselor in the branch presidency--and he played his harmonica for us.

This week we couldn't see our prisoner in Pollock because there was a Native American religious ceremony going on and all other activity in the chapel was cancelled for the hour.  

Saturday was very nice, starting with a Stake Relief Society conference in the morning.  It was well attended, and the decorations were amazing.  The theme was worldwide sisterhood, and six sisters gave presentations about their country (including Cajun Country).  

That evening two girls from our branch were baptized.  One is 15, and has been living with her mother on the west coast.  She came to live with her dad this summer and investigated the church.  So she and her eight-year-old sister were baptized together.  

Very special day

This morning we both gave talks in Sacrament Meeting.  Also, today was our last Personal Finance class in Marksville.  The course is amazing and our participants were just wonderful.  We all agreed that everyone in the church over 16 should take the course.