Several years ago I turned my buddy Bobby J onto the writings of James Lee Burke. For those of you who don't know of his work, sorry...but, at least, you have something for which you can look forward. The url to JLB's web site is: http://www.jamesleeburke.com/. You can't go wrong getting to know his works. He's special. In the middle of telling you a whale of a tale, he passes along some very good social commentary, and sane observations on people.
And characters...oh the characters. He invents (I hope?) some of the greatest characters in literature. His bad folks are really, really bad. Almost funny bad sometimes. I find myself, amazingly, liking some of them. His good folks are great, but flawed, and hanging on, just as you and I. And, if you don't like the character Clete Purcel, well, you have no sense of humor and just hate God and suck crap through a dirty sock!
Anyway, Bobby J and I have been talking about visiting JLB country, which means Louisiana, for quite some time. Not getting any younger (Bobby J, not me) he proposed we get 'er done. So we're off to visit Cajun country, looking for some of the great scenic areas JLB has described so well over the years. Somewhere in this trip I'm pretty sure a jigger of bourbon will depth-charge down into a Jax beer. I just feel it. Too many descriptions of this in Burke's work not to give it a try. As a scotch man, myself, I must confess to some trepidation. After all, I just never have liked bourbon. But, as Tom T. Hall says, "I like beer." It goes with most of the food groups.
Bobby J. flew in to Houston this afternoon and picked up a Harley rental. I, of course will be taking Betsy (the Kaw). We pull out in the morning looking for road that ain't freeway.
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