I met a woman named Louise last week, and she invited me to stay at her house for a few days. On Thursday, I took her up on the invitation, and I have been staying here the past few days with Louise, her grandson Chad, and her granddaughter Candice. Louise loves people, and I have really enjoyed our conversations, getting to know her better, and the opportunity to have another adopted grandmother in my life. In Louisiana, folks often refer to their grandmother as "memaw," so I guess that I will call her my adopted memaw. She is truly a precious lady, and enjoys doing all those grandmotherly things --especially making sure that I have enough to eat. Man, I have had more than enough to eat.
Louise went to Mississippi today, left me her car, and told me that I could drive it anywhere that I wanted to go. I asked her if I could drive to Avery Island in Southern Louisiana because it has always been a dream of mine to visit the Tobasco factory, and I think her exact words were, "Well sure! Sugar, you can drive anywhere you'd like to go." I like it when she calls me Sugar.
Louise, my adopted memaw
Tobasco employees take Sunday's off
Sunday, April 16, 2000: Jonesboro, Louisiana
I drove to Avery Island today, --home of the world famous Tobasco brand pepper sauce. Tobasco is the only form of spice that I have every carried in my backpack. I put it on everything. On my walk I have grown very fond of adding a can of tuna to anything I cook (Rice-a-Roni, Past-a-Roni, Stove Top Stuffing, Mac and Cheese --everything is Tuna Helper to me), and then I douse it with a heavy coat of Tobasco to finish the job. That will always be walking food to me, and I have sat in my tent and enjoyed it so many times in so many different places.
When I called the Tobasco factory yesterday and listened to a recording that said they had tours every day of the week from 9am to 4pm, I was filled with joy, excitement, and anticipation. I was finally going to see where the magic happened --the magic that brings that bottle of tangy-but-spicy goodness to me in my tent and to dinner tables around the world.
Well...I saw it, but unfortunately there is not a whole lot of magic happening at the Tobasco factory on Sunday. No machines whirling, no tinkling of Tobasco bottles, no Tobasco sauce flowing down through the pipes that run from the ceiling to fill the bottles, no Tobasco employees stacking boxes or loading the trucks that take the savory hot sauce from Avery Island to the world. It was just a big, dark, silent room full of motionless machines. I was crushed, but I understood and took comfort in the fact that everyone needs a day off.
So, I sat down in the small Tobasco theater and watched an eight minute educational movie about the origin and production of Tobasco sauce with the other disappointed folks who thought visiting the Tobasco factory on Sunday would be a great idea. The movie showed employees planting the pepper seeds in a greenhouse, transplanting the seedlings to a pepper field, and hand picking the peppers when they've reached a particular shade of red that means they are perfectly ripe. The educational movie also showed the peppers being mashed with Avery Island salt (the same day they are picked) and put into white oak barrels where the mash ferments and ages for three years. After three years, the mash is mixed with premium vinegar, stirred for a month, strained, and poured into bottles.
A barrel of pepper mash
At every stage of the process, there would be this creepy-looking guy dressed in a suit that would be smelling or looking at the pepper mixture, and the movie would say something about a member of the McIlhenny family carefully checking the sauce at every stage it's production. I wish I had a picture of him. He reminded me of that creepy-looking guy named Sluggworth, who was always showing up in the Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory movie and trying to get the kids to steal an Everlasting Gobstopper, so he could figure out the recipe. But anyway, that's all there is to making Tobasco sauce-- mashed peppers, salt, vinegar, three years and a month, and a creepy-looking guy dressed in a suit that says he is from the McIlhenny family stopping by to smell it now and then.
I had a good time today at the Tobasco factory, but I couldn't help to think that I could have stayed in Jonesboro, watched an educational movie about Tobasco sauce on the Discovery Channel or something, and saved myself the trip. So, I went back to dark, silent factory part of the tour and stared at the motionless bottling machines for awhile longer. It seemed to help a little.
Monday, April 17, 2000: Jonesboro, Louisiana
Sometimes when I meet people and tell them I am walking across America, they ask me, "Are you the guy with the cross?" and sometimes, "You're not the guy with the cross, are you?" Last week, I saw an article in the Ruston paper about this man who is travelling around the country with a large wooden cross. The article said that he was staying at a church in Jonesboro for a few weeks --a most convenient coincidence indeed, but most likely a God thing. Of course, I went over to meet him. His name is Brian, and we spent a few afternoons together last week. From the moment I met him, he called me "brother," because we are brothers in Christ. Now, we have also become good friends.
Brian actually pulls a camper behind his van (with Jesus Christ is Lord painted on the side) around the country, but he stops to walk around towns with the cross to tell folks about Jesus, encouraging them to fall in love with Jesus and to read their Bibles, and about their need for repentance. When I went over to visit him on Saturday, he invited me to join him on Monday for a walk around Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-a-dish by the locals, although I am not sure why.) Of course, I stayed in Jonesboro a few more days to join him on the trip to Natchitoches today, and what a wonderful experience it was.
Brian in Natchitoches
Walking by the Red River
I have grown accustomed to people staring at me while I am walking through a town, but walking with Brian one gets to experience such a wide variety of reactions including stares, scowls, smiles, honks, waves, and screams. We spent the afternoon walking around Natchitoches, talking and praying with folks. Still in the Bible belt, we met quite a few people who loved Jesus, but we also met quite a few people who wanted to talk and learn more about Jesus, folks who weren't interested in Jesus, and folks who said they were far too busy to talk about Jesus. It was difficult for me at times when certain folks seemed to have a very strong opinion about the fact that they wanting nothing to do with us.
I enjoyed my trip with Brian today from the start. He has a loud speaker on the side of his van, and on the way to Natchitoches as we drove by folks walking, standing, and even fishing, he would pick up his CB microphone and tell them that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus loves them, or sometimes just, "Halleluia, Praise the Lord!" Actually when we drove by the guys fishing, he told them, "Jesus said He would make you fishers of men." I just really enjoyed spending the day with Brian. I had a smile on my face most all of the day.
The most memorable part of the day came when Brian held a man's hand that wanted us to pray for him. As we prayed, the man kept saying, "Do you feel that? Do you feel that?" I did feel something, and it felt good. I can only describe it as the presence of God, and I watched that man walk away with a smile that he did not have before. Brian and I were certainly smiling too, and I think that God was even smiling.
I am sure that many people who see Brian carrying a cross around town think that he is crazy, but I can assure you that he is not. He just loves Jesus, and he wants everyone to have that love for Jesus. He uses the cross as a method to invoke conversations with people about Jesus, and it works wonderfully. It was a pleasure to spend the day with him, and I learned so much today. I saw how taking someone's hand and praying to God with them is such a good thing, and I learned that encouraging folks to read the Bible and telling them, "Jesus loves you, and He wants you to love Him." is such a good thing to do. You can see more of what Brian does on his website by clicking on his picture to the left.
I am walking on towarads Winnfield, Louisiana today. I've spent a good part of the afternoon editing pictures and arranging this page, and now it is time to put on my pack, get outside, and walk in the woods.
I met a woman named Louise last week, and she invited me to stay at her house for a few days. On Thursday, I took her up on the invitation, and I have been staying here the past few days with Louise, her grandson Chad, and her granddaughter Candice. Louise loves people, and I have really enjoyed our conversations, getting to know her better, and the opportunity to have another adopted grandmother in my life. In Louisiana, folks often refer to their grandmother as "memaw," so I guess that I will call her my adopted memaw. She is truly a precious lady, and enjoys doing all those grandmotherly things --especially making sure that I have enough to eat. Man, I have had more than enough to eat.
