Have you ever eaten crawfish? They are seasonal crustaceans here in South Louisiana. We measure the goodness of spring by the crawfish season. I think we’re expecting a good season this year because of all the rain. And it looks, by the catch above, that the hard freeze in January didn’t get deep down into the mud of the crawfish ponds.
On Saturday we attended our first crawfish boil. Our friend Patti has a home in Arnaudville with two ponds that produce crawfish. She told us the catch for this boil was from her neighbor’s pond. Notice all the (healthy) vegetables cooked along with the crawfish, potatoes, corn, Brussel sprout, and garlic. We spent the afternoon drinking beer, eating mud bugs and king cake, and watching all the dogs (and young boys) play in the pond.
For my poetry book for children, Bayou Song, I wrote a poem about the geometry (eating) of crawfish. The book also includes poem and drawing prompts for kids. You can do them, too.
The Geometry of Crawfish
Grab a long line antenna
Avoid looking into round peppercorn peepers
Hold the cylinder cavity containing fat
Watch out for triangular tweezer pincers
Detach the arced accordion tail
Remove curvy meaty muscle
Dip in a puddle-circle of spicy ketchup
Eat
Margaret Simon, Bayou Song: Creative Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape
Write it: Make a list of geometry words, words about shapes. Choose an animal to describe using shapes. What shape is a snake? a bird’s beak? What about a cat’s nose?
If you would like to see some of my students’ slices, go to Fanschool: GT Allstars.
Reflections on the Teche 