A-Bear's Cafe

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 4, 2022, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

After a long day's drive to Houma, Louisiana, our GPS took us to the corner of Bayou Black Drive and Barrow Street, where we spotted the quaint old building that housed A-Bear's Cafe, where we were meeting my brother-in-law and sister-in-law from Washington state. They were in Houma to attend the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Terrebonne Parish as members of Team Relay Nation. We pulled into the crowded parking lot, and I finally found a place to park behind the old building. 

As we walked into the old house converted into a restaurant, we told the hostess that we were here to meet the group from Relay For Life, and they pointed toward the back room of the crowded restaurant. The room was packed, barely leaving room for the waitresses to serve. We were cramped as people made room for us at the long table. The restaurant was alive, with a down-home, country, family vibe.  

Live music filled the restaurant with the sounds of oldies. The vocalist began singing Neil Diamond's, Sweet Caroline. "Where it began, I can't begin to knowing. But then I know it's growing strong." It seemed like the conversations at our table stopped as everyone listened to the music. There's something about the way the song's bridge builds to a soaring chorus that seemed to grab everyone's attention. "Hands, touching hands, reaching out, touching me, touching you. Sweet Caroline," Then, as if by magic, the group spontaneously filled the musical fill with, "ba, ba, ba," and the vocalist continued. "Good times never seemed so good." And it did seem like good times. The next time the chorus came around, the entire restaurant chimed in with, "ba, ba, ba." 

A-Bear's Cafe has been owned and operated by the Hebert family since 1963. In the 2014 article in the digital magazine Country Roads, Alex V. Cook writes, "Jane Hebert and her husband bought the place that had been the family home of Judge Edward "Jimmy" Gaidry. "I think there were eight or nine kids raised in here," said Hebert. And with a modicum of changes, it remains. A bustling lunch crowd trod the same hardwood floors as have countless hungry Houmans at ABear's for a half a century.

"Fifty-one years, actually," Hebert said. "My husband did all the cooking until about five years back." Hebert is a common enough name in the area that I wondered about the outsider-friendly spelling. "That's what it sounds like," she flatly replied." When Alex asked her how she and her husband got in the business she responded, "My husband was born legally blind, and he was cooking on the quarter boats up in Cameron, around there, and in the early '60s they started enforcing the insurance, and he couldn't pass the regulations. His dad was working at the water plant just around back and saw this for rent, so we took it over. I mean, he could have chosen to settle on disability, but we've always worked."

Albert Hebert cooked in A-Bear's kitchen from the day the cafe opened its doors in 1963 until he was no longer able to in 2010. However, Albert Hebert loved the restaurant so much he continued to visit until 2014 to continue his tradition of sneaking away to talk and joke with the customers.

What is unique about A-Bear's Restaurant is the family-like environment and its relaxed atmosphere. As we were eating, a man in a white shirt walked through the restaurant. He was stopping at tables to visit with people. When he came to our table, I could see that his shirt read, "Mayor of ABears Cafe." As the mayor made his way to our end of the table, he stopped to visit with each person. He asked where I was from, and when I replied, "Mena, Arkansas," he told me of the time he visited Mena and Queen Wilhelmina State Park almost forty years ago. 

As the mayor recounted the story of his visit to the Queen Wilhelmina lodge to attend a truck show, he talked about his wife's fear as they drove up the mountain. The Houma, Louisiana area is very flat, you must drive one hundred miles north to reach an elevation of 100 feet, and she had never experienced a road like the Talimena Drive. As he talked, it was easy to see that he loved his hometown and the surrounding area. His historical knowledge of the area is impressive and he always has an anecdote for any situation. He is proud of his son, Travis, a boat captain who charters fishing expeditions. His clients have included Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, and country music singers Chris Young and Jimmy Allen. 

Along with probably everyone else at our table, I invited the mayor to attend the Relay For Life the following afternoon. When we were ready to leave, I told him that we were now friends since he had visited Mena and I was visiting Houma. He told me, "No, we are more than friends; we are brothers." The next afternoon the mayor, Nat, messaged me, "we will try to head that way in a little while." Nat is the kind of friendly guy to whom it is easy to talk. He is a true ambassador for South Louisiana. He and his wife stopped by the Team Relay Nation booth, and I had another chance to visit and learn more about the area. 

In Ephesians 5:1,2 (AMP), Paul writes: "Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance." It is possible for us to imitate Christ, to represent and communicate His desires and will while we are here on earth. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ." 2 Corinthians 5:20 (KJV)

Gentle Reader, as a Christian, you are an ambassador for Christ. You represent Christ in your sphere of influence. Your actions speak volumes more to people around you than what you say. We can think that we represent Christ if we often speak of Him to others. But our lives, decisions, what we do, and what we don't do in daily situations speak to others the most. Be an ambassador like Nat, the mayor of A-Bear's Cafe. Be an ambassador for Christ.

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Photos taken at A-Bear's Cafe are used courtesy of Steve Dutcher

Caddo Lake

We spent last weekend in Uncertain, Texas on the shores of Caddo Lake.  It was so eerily beautiful and relaxing.  We rented a lovely house on the lake shore called Hoot n Holler.

Caddo Lake is on the border of northeast Texas and northwest Louisiana.  It includes one of the best examples in the southern United States of a mature bald cypress forest, and is one of the largest cypress forests in the world.  The moss-draped cypress groves makes it look like a Louisiana swamp.

The lake is a maze of bayous and sloughs, and is the only natural lake in Texas. It is the largest natural lake in the south, approximately 33,000 acres of water.

Before 1800 the Caddo Lake area was a series of bayous, creeks, ponds and low lying areas that flooded often and held water for sustained periods of time during the rainy seasons. Around 1800 a chain of natural events changed the landscape of the cypress valley and became what we know as Caddo Lake.

A huge log jam on the Red River that was called The Great Raft created the modern Caddo Lake. The Big Cypress Bayou is the main tributary that feeds Caddo Lake. After it leaves Caddo the Big Cypress Bayou flows into the Red River where they merge in North Louisiana. The point where these two tributaries meet was blocked by this huge log jam known as the Great Raft and Caddo Lake was formed.

The US government commissioned Henry Shreve to remove the huge log jam. Shreve was a steam boat captain and builder. Many of the government engineers did not think that the removal of the Great Raft was feasible or even possible. Shreve took on the challenge and by 1835 had removed enough of the log jam that it opened up the way for steamboats to enter into the Cypress bayou and then into Caddo Lake and beyond.

Various ports and landings were soon established along the waterways along the Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake. Cotton became an important commodity and was shipped by boat to New Orleans and other destinations. In 1845 some businessmen got together and decided to establish a port as far up stream on the Big Cypress Bayou as could be possible for navigation, to be known as Jefferson Texas. Jefferson flourished and quickly became the second busiest port in Texas.

In 1873 the log jam that created Caddo Lake was finally and totally removed. With the removal of the log jam the water levels slowly fell to a level that made steamboat passage impossible. With the removal of the log jam and the arrival of the railroad, Jefferson and the Caddo Lake area were no longer a transportation hub.

Although Caddo Lake never went totally dry, it did get very low and was not navigable by larger boats. In 1914 a crude earthen dam was built on Caddo Lake that help raise the water back to levels near where they were at when the log jam served as the dam. It is now a large maze of interconnected waterways, with over a hundred miles of clearly marked boat roads and more primitive boat roads that are not so easy to navigate.

While we were staying at Caddo Lake we met Dale who lived next door. He is a paraplegic who has lived in a houseboat on Caddo Lake for the last 17 years. He took us out on the lake in his pontoon boat. It was an amazing experience and Dale is one of Caddo Lake's most knowledgeable guides. It was too cold to see alligators, but we we able to see a mink running along the shore.

My daughter and her family we able to spend a day with us while we were at the lake.  My grand daughters loved it.

The sunrise from over the lake from the boat shed was amazing.  It was as beautiful as any sunrise that I have ever seen.

I'm looking forward to the time we will be able to return to Caddo Lake.

Stranded

Recently I received a phone call shortly after I arrived at work.  A caller from Minnesota was asking if I could help a young woman who had been stranded in Mena.  She had traveled from Lafayette, Louisiana to Minnesota by bus to attend a wedding.  On her return trip the bus she was riding on stopped in Mena in the early morning hours.  The young woman along with several other women got off the bus to use the restroom.  She was last in line, and as soon as she finished and walked outside she saw that the bus was pulling away. She chased the bus waving her arms frantically but the bus drove off. 

She didn't know what to do.  She was stranded at a gas station in a strange town.  Her first call was to Greyhound Bus customer service. They were not helpful at all.  It was no concern of theirs that the bus had left her.  Since she was not on the bus that her ticket was written for, the ticket was no longer valid.  If she wanted to continue her journey by bus she would have to go to a Greyhound terminal and purchase a new ticket.  The nearest terminal was nearly 100 miles away and there was not another bus until the next day.  The customer service rep suggested that she take a taxi.  There is not a taxi available in the small rural town of Mena. 

When I arrived at the gas station I found the young woman very upset.  Being stranded here in Mena isn't what she had planned on. We talked about her options in between phone calls from friends and family trying to find a solution.  After some time we finally worked out a plan to get her home.  Her family started driving north from Lafayette and my parents drove her to Texarkana where her family met up with her.  She was no longer stranded.

I could empathize with the stranded young woman.  On a trip that we took back in 2008 we ended up stranded three times.  We were on our way to Belize.  We had boarded our plane at DFW when the announcement was made that we had to wait in line for our plane to be de-iced.  After three hours on the plane it was announced that due to snow all flights were grounded.  We were stranded in the airport along with thousands of other passengers.  Because all flights were canceled there were so many people spending the night that there was no way to get a motel room.   

We spent a very uncomfortable night in the airport, and it was the next afternoon before we were able to fly to Belize.  When we got to airport in Belize our small plane wasn't able to fly to San Pedro because of a thunderstorm.  We were once again stranded.  On our way home we were once again stranded, this time in Miami, due to flights cancelled due to weather.  

As uncomfortable as it was to spend the night at DFW airport, it was nothing compared to the experience of Mehran Karimi Nasseri.  He was expelled from Iran in the 70's for protesting against the Shah.  He was awarded refugee status by Belgium.  He claimed that his mother was British and in 1988 made a trip to London.  While he was in Paris he was mugged and his papers were stolen.  He went ahead and boarded his flight for London, but when he arrived British officials sent him back to Paris because he had no papers.

Because he had no papers, he was not allowed to leave the airport; He was stranded. He lived there for the next 18 years.  Belgium at first refused to issue new papers saying he had to come back to Belgium to get them, but he couldn't leave the airport without papers. After many years Belgium officials made arrangements for him to be able to return, but he refused.  Apparently the world outside of the airport terminal was too frightening.  

There is a difference in the way Mr. Nasseri and the young woman that I helped dealt with being stranded.  The highest priority of the young woman was to get home.  She didn't want to be stranded in Mena, Arkansas.  I'm sure that Mr. Nasseri felt the same way at first, but after years of living in the airport terminal he no longer felt stranded.  He felt like the terminal was his home.

Jesus told us in John 15:19, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it loves its own.  But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you".  

We as Christians have been stranded here on this earth, but we don't belong to it.  It is not our home.  Jesus tells us about our home in John 14:2,3 "In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also".

We are stranded; we are strangers.  This world is not our home.

I am a poor, wayfaring stranger

Traveling through this world alone

And there's no sickness, toil or danger

In that bright land to which I go

And I'm going there to see my mother

And I'm going there no more to roam

And I'm only going over Jordan

And I'm only going over home

Norton Art Gallery

Last weekend my wife and I visited the Norton Art Gallery Gardens in Shreveport, Louisiana with our daughter and her family.  The gardens are known for their azaleas and last weekend was peak time for them.

The gardens contain over 15,000 plants, including approximately 100 native and hybrid varieties of azalea. These blossom into gorgeous colors including white, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow, and even some bi-colored blooms in the early spring.  Along with the azaleas are flowering shrubs, including sweet spire, dwarf abelia, and loropetalum, and lovely trees including birch, corkscrew willows, Crimson Queen maples, Bloodgood maples, dogwoods and redbuds. Several small streams tumble over rocks and waterfalls as they make their way toward the large ornamental pond at the center of our gardens.

While we were in such a beautiful place we took photos of our grand daughters.  They loved being outside on such a beautiful day.

We had such a good time at the gardens.  The weather was perfect and the azaleas couldn't have been more beautiful.  It was a day I will never forget.

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Mulberry Manor

One of my favorite places to stay is Mulberry Manor.  This 1800's rambling farmhouse is an amazing place to stay.  It received its name from the area it is in.  The community of Mulberry was formed in 1860 near a local wagon road between Sparta and Castor Creek Louisiana.  In 1880 a local doctor, E. N. Warren filed an application for a post office.  The post office operated  until 1900 when it was closed down and transferred to Alberta and Castor.  

Mulberry Manor is now the residence of my daughter and her family. This historical marker is just a short ways down the road.  From the information they have been able to gather, It seems that Mulberry Manor was built by the owner of a sawmill operation sometime between 1860 and 1880.

My daughter with her husband and three daughters now enjoy the country living that Mulberry Manor offers.  They are constantly working to improve the house and the farm.  They grow a large garden and have started an orchard with lots of fruit trees.

Mulberry Manor is a busy place where everyone has to pitch in and help.  The girls love being outside and helping with the animals.

Mulberry Manor has chickens, bees, a miniature cow and even a donkey.  The animals are a big part of what makes Mulberry Manor so special.

The Mulberry Manor property also has beautiful flowering trees, wildflowers and ponds that are great for bird-watching.  

I get to spend this coming weekend at Mulberry Manor.  Spring is one of the best times to visit.  I can hardly wait!

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