On Ramasse des Pecans

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An Automne Table

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Les Plaquemines

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Qiū Sī of a Louisiana Autumn

 秋思 d'un Automne Cadien

The contents of a box- dried maypops 

La lumiere du soleil tourne comme la verge d'or

Indian heliotrope, tournesol du marais 

The wormseed chronicles on Jules LaGrange

The smell of dried vineraire in the prairie

A coyote under the plaquemine tree

Piquante bleue dans le platin

Poke berries, elder berries, socos, pepper berries, chassepareille

Persimmon seeds opened like books to fortell the winter

Lizard's tail root in water

L'eau de chassepareille

Les oranges du bois

Wax myrtle fruits

Gateau sirop

Tea cakes and sweet dough

Pecans and hickory nuts

The first spider lillies, curage rose, pea vines, orange trumpet vine, yellow loofa flowers  

Patates douces de Pecaniere 

Fils de la vierge dans l'air

Far off smoke of cane field fires

Cicada wings, a luna moth under the sweet gum tree

Copal resin and pine sap

Herbe cabri from the Jesuit pasture

Musk melon vines

Ground Cherry 

Possom grapes, soco

The smell of cut hay on the coteau

Les plaquemines de la Prairie des Femmes

​At the old convent on the hill I gather chassepareille from the woods and soak it in cold water. I drink this infusion with spherical ice while the girls and I snack on plaquemines. I tell them that the least attractive fruits taste the best and let the pretty, perfect ones pucker our mouths. We cut the seeds on the seam and open them like books to foretell the winter weather. I explain to the girls that learning Louisiana French is as much about the fruits of the land as it is about the language.

Mon cœur quand il me parle

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Les signes de l'automne

La vinéraire blanchit 

C'est l'avant automne

l'Assomption arrive 

Annoncant le temps preis 

De ramasser ma sasafron

La lumière change

Gateau sirop, plaquemines oranges

La roulaison dans Prairie Laurent

Oxblood et vermillion

Damballah Le Grand Esprit

La Toussaint of memory

Umbrelles of elder in the sureau trees

A carencro feather, Bon Dieu te bénit

Je bois l'eau de chassepareille

The sides of the coteau are cut for hay

He likes a thin gumbo, no filé

Le 5 septembre

Les Plaquemines Farouches

L'automne après venir- The Automnal Equinox

Je crois notre saison va changer cette semaine. Ca dit que l'automne va venir à exactement 3:02 P.M. CST sur vendredi le 22 de septembre. Ca c'est demain! J'vas dire, ça prend quelqu'un plus smate que moi pour calculer à quelle heure l'automne va vouloir commencer! J'ai pas assez des crayons pour figurer tout ça mais quand-même! C'est rendu la saison! Le cotton est commencé à craquer! Je crois nos arbres sont avant du temps parce que ils ont commencé à jeter leurs feuilles et les cigales après commencer à chanter la nuit. Les cicadas, les zizi, cigale de nuit, cigale de bois...l'automne après approcher quand les cigales après chanter à soleil coucher là-là, eux, s'après avoir un bon temps, ça c'est pour sur, monde! 

Mais quand ça chante- that lonesome whistle blows! Ca donne les blues quand t'es asseids dans la cours en arrière, et tu écoutes ces betailles-là après siffler comme ça là, un après l'autre, un après l'autre, ça donne les blues à entendre ça quand l'automne arrive. 

 🍂🍁🌾 Translation: 

I believe our season will change this week. It says the fall will come at exactly 3:02 P.M. CST on Friday the 22nd of September. It's tomorrow! I'll say, it takes someone smarter than me to figure out what time fall will want to start! I do not have enough pencils to figure all that but still! The season has come! The cotton is starting to crack! I believe our trees are before time because they started throwing their leaves and cicadas are starting to sing at night. The cicadas, the zizi, night cicada, woodcreeper ... the autumn is approaching when the cicadas are singing at sunset there, they are having a good time, that I can tell y'all!

But when they sing- that lonesome whistle blows! It gives the blues when you're sitting in the back yard, and you listen to those bugs whistling like that, one after the other, one after the other, it gives the blues to hear that, when the fall arrives. 🍁

Autumn In Ville Platte

Chataignier At Pine, Looking North at the VP sechers du riz

fall webworms nests in the pecan trees along Pine street

How to Fall in Cajun French

From the Tasse Cafe Radio Program:

Here, Charlie and Mark heatedly discuss their Mot du Jour, "to Fall"

C: Les affaires est berdassante à ce matin. Allons 'oir, «FALL» 
(things are shaky this morning...let's see..."FALL")

M: l'automne (autumn)

C: ok, ça c'est...

M: am I right?

C: ça c'est un definition...dessus ça là...aussite um, l'automne, c'est la saison...mais l'automne veux dire toujours quelquechose d'autre, though...(that's one definition on it, also autumn means something else, though)

M: what is that?

-quelquechose, tu vas capoter, t'as tombé.
(something, you will fall down, you fell)

-tomber, yes!
(to fall, yes!)

-tomber et have a nasty fall: casser les vaisselle! 
(to break the dishes)

-never heard that term-

-T'as jamais cassé ta vaisselle!?
(you never broke your dishes!)

-Ok, take a bad fall, ça c'est... prendre un mauvais contrecoup, ça là, et ça c'est un bon parti de le contrecoup vient et ça fait mal!
(it's to take a bad backblow, that there and that is a big part of the backblow... and that hurts!)

-et allons 'oir qui d'autres chose...uh.. «fall again»...ça c'est retomber, et uh, allons 'oir Mark, si je peux trouver d'autres defenitions dessus ça-là... «Fall down» capoter?
(and let's see what other things...uh..."fall again" that is refall... and uh, let's see Mark, if I can find some other definitions on it..."fall down")

-capoter (to fall down, flip)

-yeah... allons faire le capoter...et...allons 'oir...«fall off» se retirer. planter chêne, ça c'est 
(yeah, let's make a fall down... and... let's see "fall off" to fall down, and to plant an oak tree... that's it...)

-«fall flat» uh, excuse me, fall head first... 

 -planter chêne... (to plant an oak tree...)

-I never heard that one, either...

-ouais, j'ai planté chêne...How bout «fall in love»?
(Yeah, I fell flat on my face!)

-tomber en amour?
(to fall in love?)
 
-right! t'est juliement bon à ça là Mark...allons 'oir...«fallen into a ditch»
(right! you are pretty good at that Mark, let's see..."fallen into a ditch!)

-tomber dans la fausee? 
(to fall in the ditch?)

-mais je t'ai dit toi...
(well, I told you, you!)

-is that it?

-T'as dois être rehearse ça avant de moi j'viens....uhhh...j'crois ça Mark
(You must rehearse that becore I get here....uhhh, I think, Mark)

-well alright, uh j'crois...
(I think...)

-Think a few people might tomber dans la fausee for Mardi Gras?
-Humph! Humph....heheheheheheheheh.....Night has fallen!

-La nuit a tombée?
(The night fell?)

-La brune...!
(dusk!)

-brune?
(dusk?)

-...est arrivée...
(is here...)

-The brunette!?
(the brunette!?)

-la brune et arrivée!
(dusk has fallen!)

-Wait a minute! La brune isn't that a brunette?

-Ha! j'connais pas, Mark
( I don't know!)

-Well, tell me!

-Mais, moi, j'connais pas...alle est brunette, brune...allons 'oir...
(well, I don't know, she is brunette...brown...(dusk)...let's see...)

-C'mon Charlie!

-Je vas- Tu vas me faire fouiller à ce matin! 
(You gonna make me dig this morning!)

-You said la brune a tombée...isn't that brunette? Tell me!

-La brune est arivée...

-Oh, the brunette has arrived...

-heheheheheh.....

-...well, am I right or wrong!? Tell me! C'mon!

-I don't know!

-C'mon! Correct me! 

-J'ai besoin de l'aide...allons 'oir brunette...
(I need some help... let's see... brunette...)

-A blonde is blonde and brune I always heard that it was a brunette...now you're saying that's sundown? La brune is sundown?

-Yeah... Yeah...

-Night has fallen!

-Night is la nuit, huh?

-Yeah, et la brune est arrivée! heheheh!

La brune arrive in LaPlace