Winter in Louisiana

by Robert D. Bennett

Winter arrives in Louisiana,
when it gets damn good and ready.

We can’t count on cold weather for Halloween

Or Thanksgiving
Or Christmas
or anytime specific.
The only thing we can count on is
The heat.
Always,
The heat.

We occasionally get respites.
Brief interludes of crisp goodness
Trickling down from way up north.
Rarely, winter rushes in,
A blue norther dropping the temperatures
Quicker than the days pass for an old man.
The shorts in the morning changing to a parka in the afternoon.
But only for a short while
Then

The heat.
Always,
The heat.

At times suffocating,
heat and humidity together combining to
form a gumbo of air,
breathing requiring effort,
walking, a sweat drenched endeavor.
From the pine woods up north
To the swamps of the south
Louisiana is unique.
The people vary as much as the terrain.
There is only one constant in Louisiana

The heat
Always,
The heat.

Robert D. Bennett is proud to be from Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he spent his childhood. His diverse work history has taken him across the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean as well as England. “If I write about a place, it’s because I’ve visited there and either the place or the people left an impression,” he says. Bennett now resides in Texas and is currently promoting his book, “The Bottle Tree,” set in the Kisatchie forest region of Central Louisiana. His other books include “No Chance,” a supernatural thriller, and “Junebug and the Body,” a Southern mystery with humorous undertones. Winter in Louisiana is part of a series pertaining to Louisiana, its history and its people. Find out more on his website, and follow him on Twitter @RobertTheWriter.