Louisiana Delta Odds and Ends

Today I'm featuring the "odds and ends" pictures from a trip I took last week through the Louisiana Delta on US Highway 65 North. If you would like to read about my journey and see some of the sights I captured along the way, you can click on the following links:

A Journey through the Louisiana Delta
I Made it to Providence!

I took the following pictures in the Lake Providence, Louisiana Cemetery. They feature a few of the headstones and markers that caught my attention as I drove through the cemetery. Like this marker for Patrick McGuire, who was born in Fermanagh County, Ireland in 1838, and died in Lake Providence in 1917, at the age of 79. I can't help but wonder what brought Patrick all the way from Ireland to a little town in the middle of the Louisiana Delta.

And the markers for babies and children always touch my heart, especially this one for a nameless baby girl who was born and died on the same day, October 18, 1891. I wonder if she lived long enough for her mother and father to hold her in their arms. I'm sure they held her in their hearts the rest of their days.

Notice the engraving on the bottom of the stone. I tried to decipher it, but couldn't make it out (it may be in Latin or French). Can you read it? (You can click on the picture to enlarge it, if you'd like.)

I love this family plot, with its concrete bench. I wonder how many Goodwins have sat there through the years as they visited the final resting place of their loved ones, Marie and Walter Goodwin.

The large monument in the next picture is for Tilghman M. Tucker, a former Governor of Mississippi (1842-1844).

After retiring from public life, Gov. Tucker moved to his Louisiana plantation home, and died in 1859. Buried beside him are his first wife, Sarah, and second wife, Martha, and I believe this next marker may be for his daughter or granddaughter. The epitaph caught my attention — it was taken from Proverbs 31:28, and reads: "May her children's children rise up and call her blessed."

After I left the cemetery in Lake Providence, I continued on Highway 65 North toward my destination of Lake Village, Arkansas. I'm afraid I didn't get very far, though. This old barn was calling my name, and I couldn't just ignore it, could I?

I didn't want to trespass, but I couldn't resist stepping inside the door to get a couple of pictures.

This is the "farmhouse" across the highway from the barn, which I assume is where the owner of the barn lives. I love the tree-lined driveway.

In case you're wondering, I did actually make it to my destination, which was a home decor warehouse called Paul Michael Company, in Lake Village, Arkansas.

Although the store was filled with beautiful Christmas decorations, by the time I got there, I was tired from my morning's picture-taking adventures and everything seemed to pale beside the glorious scenes I had captured with my camera on the way to Lake Village.

I did manage to get a few parting shots as I was leaving ...

As I look at those pictures now, I wish I could go back and spend more time at Paul Michael's, but then I'd have to pass through the beautiful Louisiana Delta again, and I know I'd see more pictures just begging to be taken ... and to be honest, I'd rather take pictures than shop any day.

I have one more post related to my trip, which I'll feature soon. I hope you'll join me for it.