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I'm posting this pic from Vivian, Louisiana, but it is an authenthic picture of Eric's magic Oklahoma moonflowers  - the worlds's best variety.  http://www.ericwilder.com  http://ghostofachance.blogspot.com  http://ericwilder.blogspot.com  http://energyissues.modblog.com

I searched the internet before posting this article, hoping to find more information about the subject.  Finding none, I am writing this based on my memory (often faulty).  Here is the story of Monterrey Lake as I know it:

Among the piney woods and rolling hills of Northwest Louisiana is a little lake called Monterrey.  It isn't far from Vivian and within a few miles of the Texas border.

Before the United States acquired Texas and Louisiana, the swampy, heavily forested portion of Northeast Texas and Northwest Louisiana was known as "No Man's Land."  This is because no one knew who owned it.  A robber's town grew up around Monterrey Lake and it was called Monterrey.

Bayou's connected the little lake to huge Caddo Lake.  There was riverboat travel from New Orleans to Jefferson, Texas.  Jefferson, at this time, was the largest seaport in Texas, even larger than Houston.

Pirates, supposedly, would lie in wait for riverboats traversing the often narrow passageways, attack and pillage them.  Famous people that supposedly visited the town include Jim Bowie - on his way to the Alamo - and the pirate Lafitte.

The location of Monterrey is lost in the mists of Caddo Lake.  Supposedly, there is a graveyard someplace among the creepers, ferns and brush.  There is also, reportedly, a fortune in buried gold, still waiting for discovery.

That's the legend of Monterrey as I've heard it.  Please let me know if you can fill in some more of the blank pages, perhaps lost forever in the murky depths of time.  Below is a peaceful glade near Jeems Bayou.  http://ericwilder.blogspot.com  http://www.ericwilder.com  http://energyissues.modblog.com

Mermaids are mythical creatures, existing only in the minds of drunken sailors.  Or are they?  http://www.ericwilder.com  http://ericwilder.blogspot.com  http://ghostofachance.blogspot.com  http://energyissues.modblog.com

Caddo Lake mermaid riding an alligator.  A parking lot in Uncertain, Texas.

This Labor Day comes a week after Hurricane Katrina. It’s the last holiday of summer and the beginning of fall. This year, it means so much more. It signifies the first rays of hope for a region devastated by the largest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. Maybe next year, this holiday should be renamed Hope Day, for it will surely be remembered as the day the Nation turned the corner and healing began in earnest. Until then, my thoughts and prayers are with everyone effected by the tragedy.