Baja St. Martin

I don’t suppose there’s anything to be done about it, but I wish the names on the monthly Medicare Health Summary would also say who they are and what they did. I just called Medicare to find out that one of the items on my summary was for a doctor who read a mammogram and whom I never saw and another was for three tickets I purchased for a concert in Orlando, Fla., but were paid through a company in California!
Both were perfectly legitimate but I had no idea what they were for until I called. The woman who explained the charges to me was very nice and I apologized for bothering her but she didn’t seem to mind. Maybe lots of people call her for similar things.
Nowadays, when you have a medical procedure, there’s no telling how many people are involved whom you never, ever see! Technicians, image readers, doctors! My husband and I both recall with indignation a time when he was in the emergency room waiting for an orthopedic doctor when some doctor came in, told a few Cajun jokes and then left. We got a bill for a little over $100 for him.
I have an underground electronic dog fence around my yard and recently I found my dog right on the edge of the road, way beyond his acceptable parameters. The wire obviously was broken somewhere, so I found myself scrambling through a (fortunately) dry ditch where I discovered two breaks in the line. I think branches had fallen and severed the wire in one place and I suspect it was chewed by a nutria in another. Anyway, it’s fixed and my poor doggy will get a surprise when next she decides to exceed her limits. Better, though, than getting hit by a car.
The Belle River landing has been packed the last two times I’ve been there. I’m told the sac-a-lait are biting and maybe bass. I actually ate some boiled crawfish at a local event recently and they were terribly hard to peel. They tasted OK but I could have used a hammer on the shells. I’d thought crawfishing was mostly over but apparently some fishermen are still bringing in crawfish and getting $1 a pound. The landing is still filled with mostly sport fishermen trucks and trailers. You can tell the sport fishermen because they have nice trailers. Commercial fishermen trailers often have broken taillights, no fenders, broken landing boards and mismatched tires!
The voting precinct for Belle River (No. 2 I think, but am not sure) will be moved to the Belle River Community Center in time for the fall election. The parking lot extension won’t be complete yet, but at least the sound in the buildings will be acceptable. The current location is a little building behind the fire station. An OK little place but there is no parking space except on the levee which leaves you with a considerable walk along an often muddy drive. Actually, the walk in the new location will also be lengthy (until we get the parking lot extended) but at least there’s a nice paved sidewalk and a big parking lot.
I love to watch the fireworks over the river on the 4th and I’ve seen some really nice displays in other places. As a child in Michigan, however, the law forbade the sale of fireworks other than sparklers. As a result I sort of grew up with a pronounced fear of the flash and bang and was appalled when I came south and first witnessed kids running around holding lighted cigarettes to their bottle rocket fuses.
Before I forget, congratulations to Sally Angelle, Mr. Henri Bienvenu and Mark DeVillier for winning a bunch of LPA (Louisiana Press Association) awards recently. They all placed in the top places in various categories. I’m honored to be even a minor associate.

Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be e-mailed at lindacooke1939@gmail.com.