The Grand Daddy Crawdaddy of Pea Ridge By Aunt Donna

Johnny Crawdaddy was a very old and very wise Louisiana craw daddy. Johnny lived in the best mud tube in the entire Parish. Johnny had worked very hard to make his mud tube very nice.

Johnny’s home was in the backyard of Mister Don and Miss Diane’s house. Mister Don and Miss Diane lived in the country on Pea Ridge. Johnny’s house is near a nice bog, next to a log and is in the shade of a tall magnolia tree. Large tree roots provide great hiding places and protects him from being easily discovered. Mean dogs and mean children keep far away from Johnny’s bog.

Johnny liked to relax on the spacious front porch of his mud tube home. Lightening bugs would give Johnny fire-fly dust to light his porch at night. Johnny’s house gave Johnny his every need and comfort.

Johnny liked to rest his big red claws on a low hanging twig. He passed his days babysitting his many grandchildren as they played in the large yard. There were many places for the little crawdads to play; a large above ground swimming pool had many secret trails and safe places to hide underneath of it. There also was an old wooden playhouse with a slide and a large pile of bricks and rocks to explore.

Weekends were the best! Miss Diane and Mister Don would let their grandkids, Charlie and Janie, play with Johnny’s grandkids. They all were best of friends.

Little Janie would gently rub Johnny’s shell and his long feelers while her big brother Charlie built crawdad forts out of twigs and leaves. Charlie and Janie would always bring cupcakes to share with their backyard buddies.

At crawdad parties all the crawdad kids would gather around and beg Johnny to tell them once again how Charlie and Janie had become his friends and how Pea Ridge became his home.

“Many years ago, when Mister Don and Miss Diane were as young as Charlie and Janie are now, I tripped and fell. I rolled down into a narrow ditch beside a country road. I became stuck on my back, wedged between two large rocks. I twisted, I wiggled and I squirmed but I could not free myself. The hot sun was beginning to dry out my shell. A hungry crow was slowly circling over head waiting for me to fall asleep.”

“As I grew weaker from trying to rollover the crow began to come closer and closer. I was becoming very tired and sleepy from all my squirming. As I struggled on my back my feelers became limp. My eyes began to close. Things were not going well for me.”

“I was about to give up. I closed my eyes and said my final prayer when suddenly a shadow came over me! Immediately my shell began to cool down and I began to feel better. I slowly opened my tired eyes and found that Little Miss Diane had rescued me from the deep ditch and the hungry crow. Miss Diane and Mister Don brought me to this very spot.”

“While Miss Diane shared her drinking water with me Mister Don used an old teaspoon and dug the opening of what would later become my own mud tube house. Miss Diane wet my shell with cool water, gently stroked my feelers and softly sang to me. I felt much better.”

“Miss Diane placed me in the hole that Mister Don had begun. Mister Don’s hole became the doorway of what would become my house. I backed in, low into the hole as we all do, and quickly fell asleep.”

“When I woke up Mister Don and Miss Diane were gone. They had placed a large elephant ear leaf over me like a soft blanket before they left. They left me some of their cupcake which gave me strength. It was very tasty.”

“When Mister Don and Miss Diane had children of their own, and when their kids were old enough, Mister Don and Miss Diane brought them here and introduced their kids to me and my family. Many years later Mister Don and Miss Diane brought their beautiful grand kids, Charlie and Janie, to meet me. I’m sure that when it’s the right time Janie and Charlie will bring their children here. Our circle of friends and family keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

“That is how I came to be the Grand Daddy Crawdaddy of Pea Ridge. Never forget to help your friends and never forget that life doesn’t get any better than life on Pea Ridge Road.”

Grand Daddy Crawdaddy

The nicest mud tube in the Parish

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In the back by the bog near an old rugged log

in the shade of a tree

There was a crawdaddy that was a grand daddy

that lived on Pea Ridge behind Diane and Don