Envy's green bayou in Louisiana

I have been reading a new book written by one of the PHDs over at the University of Georgia, Griffin campus (the Experiment Station, for those of you old timers). This book is an abridged version of a diary that the writer kept when she and her former boyfriend (?) were living on a houseboat on a bayou in Southeastern Louisiana. This took place in the 1970's when a lot of students were "tuning out" to borrow a phrase from Dr. Leary. This couple were raised in Louisiana and went to live off the land in a houseboat in Atchafalaya. They ran trot lines, raised crawfish and chickens and lived off bartering with their neighbors. It is an interesting book, albeit somewhat short (Which is apparently the comment of the writer's former housemate, when she sent him a draft).

The troubling part of this book is the poetic tone of the writing. The writer, who is a PHD at the Griffin campus of UGA is quite poetic in her writing style. It really appeals to me, but also bothers me in the sense that I really appreciate her writing and wish to emulate her tone, if not her style.

Now I understand that the book is abridged and probably a lot of the passages that were less than literary or poetic may have found their way to the editorial wastebasket. However, what is left is quite ably depicted in her prose. When she describes the terrain or the life they lead on the bayou it is quite literary. I am sorry that it is only about 200 pages long.

There was a National Geographic article on them which was illustrated by a photographer. I would like to find that issue and take a look at the series of pictures he took of the young couple out in the bayou and at home on the houseboat.

Well, anyway, my envy apparently knows no bounds here so I will let it go for awhile.