I love how everybody in Bogalusa seems to recycle all of their good stuff. If you no longer have a reason to keep, oh say a magical sound-producing potty chair because your granddaughter has outgrown it, you can just put it out on the curb before your trash pickup day. (I’ve found it’s best to do it on a weekend so that anybody who might need the item you are offering up will have a chance to pass by the house.)

Of course I cleaned it really good before I set it out. And, also of course, I couldn’t help but watch to see how long it would take for somebody to swipe up that great prize. All I can say is that I got otherwise distracted. But I do know it was gone within half an hour.

My husband, Danny, just came in and told me he’d seen that our neighbors had set out a washing machine and an air conditioner. When he got back from the store just 15 minutes later, they were both gone. It must have taken a big truck and at least a couple of strong young people or very determined older folks to carry them away.

Bogalusa is great for curb shopping! Is the entirety of Washington Parish is like that?

I think it’s a natural extension of the good in the people of the community that is now my home. The people who I know in this parish are hard working, big-hearted folks who would do just about anything to help their neighbors. That includes putting items they no longer need or want at the curb so their neighbors can go shopping.

I truly love these people of all kinds, and I feel, comfortably, that I fit right in with the glorious mix. I was going to say that I don’t think I’m particularly glorious myself. But I do! I think it’s important for everybody to think only the best of themselves, and I truly believe that helps us all to be the best we can be in this life.
I think love should start with one’s self.

Love yourself! If you don’t, how will anybody else love you? Fill yourself up with love. Then radiate it outward to all things, even to inanimate objects and empty spaces. You never know what could really be lurking within.

Marcelle Hanemann is a reporter for The Daily News. You can email her at marcelle.hanemann@bogalusadailynews.com or call her at 985-732-2565, ext. 301.