Blue Weeds
The Alchemy of a Cajun Childhood
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There was a dark scary undercurrent that I could taste as readily as the seasoning in my mother’s sauce piquantes and gumbos. Something lurked beneath the surface, like alligators that cruised beneath the calm bayou water and moccasins hidden under beautiful Louisiana Irises. There were realities unseen and unknown in this fertile watery land, this rich ancient culture, this loving family, and within me. I attended many funerals, looked at dead bodies of relatives, and heard sob-filled stories about life and the afterlife. I heard stories of healers called traiteurs who were able to cure people with prayers. They didn’t advertise but they seemed to show up when you needed them. I even had one do his magic on some warts that appeared on my ten-year-old hands. They fell off that night. I wondered about the unseen and sought explanations for the unexplained. I listened to my parents who listened to the priests and nuns. The Church surely had answers to the invisible. But some questions were shut down with certain authority, my parents’ or the Pope’s. I calmed doubts and internal tension with conformity. But prodded by curiosity, my ears listened for clues in the many stories. My eyes witnessed events as they unfolded. This land, and its inhabitants, like life itself, was nourishing and mysterious, fertile and frightening.
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About the Book
Some say a child is fortunate to grow up in a community with eccentric characters and plenty of opportunities to explore nature. François Meaux hit the jackpot. Born in southern Louisiana in a small town surrounded by rice fields, groves of moss-draped oaks, and the Gulf of Mexico, Frank soon learned to embrace the earthy, mysterious aspects of the Acadian region. In a colorful memoir, Frank details what it was like to grow up Cajun as a cotton-topped, intensely curious boy on a journey to manhood within a unique culture. His stories highlight his young life as he witnessed delights and difficulties, encountered the joyous and terrifying unknown, wondered about the unseen, and sought explanations for the unexplained. As his path led him through one experience after the other, Frank reflects on how the Cajun land and its inhabitants, like life itself, became nourishing yet mysterious, fertile yet frightening. Included are lagniappes that provide perspective as Frank looks back on his childhood and shares lessons learned as well as questions that remain unanswered. Blue Weeds is a coming-of-age memoir that creatively weaves a boy’s experiences in southern Louisiana with the natural wonders, cultural uniqueness, love, and violence that surrounded the region.
About the Author
Francois (Frank) Meaux is a native of south Louisiana. His formal education includes graduate degrees from Boston University and Georgia State and a doctorate in psychology from Emory University. He is the father of three children and resides with his wife, Gloria, in Atlanta, Georgia.