Bonne Année, Y'all
(12 14 04) One year ago I was finalizing the decision to move to Lafayette LA full-time and in the midst of interviewing realtors, collecting packing boxes, saying goodbye to friends and doing favorite Bay Area things 'once last time'. All things considered, it has been a very good move, albeit with a lot of things to reflect upon.
I spent a good part of the year buying and remodeling a house in central Lafayette with lots of space for parties, jams, guests and parking... all for less than what would probably be a down payment on a house in the Bay Area. There are friends that live a block a way, that "drop over", and do social things spontaneously. No one talks about traffic or lets it affect their plans.  Plus there has been a constant stream of visiting friends from the Bay Area and beyond. I think sometimes I see friends more frequently here than I did back in San Francisco!
I have multiple opportunities to play guitar in Cajun-Creole jams or go dancing to Cajun or zydeco music every week. For variety, there are active Irish, bluegrass and blues scenes in Acadiana as well. And top rate New Orleans jazz is just 2 hours away. Not to mention festivals most weekends celebrating some local food or tradition. There's French spoken on the radio and written on the street signs, and an active arts scene. I've discovered there's such a thing as 'gumbo' weather, and my local Cajun & Creole friends have told me that my attempts at making gumbo tastes authentic (and have even asked to take some home for leftovers!).
From a music perspective, there is so much to do during the week, it gets a little overwhelming, and in fact, the folks I know who have relocated here, soon lose that frenzied look and desire to do 'everything' and start making more relaxed choices about how to spend their time. Not to sound blasé, but if you've missed seeing Geno Delafose or Keith Frank or Steve Riley at a dance or festival today or this week, there's a good chance they'll be playing again somewhere tomorrow or next week. On the other hand, the chance to get more deeply involved in the culture and the music and get to know the folks whose families having been passing this music down for generations, and who can tell first hand stories about the musicians we now consider legendary, is humbling and immensely gratifying. I've been playing guitar for about a year and a half now, and this new way of relating to and understanding music (and people)  is very satisfying.
Another big difference living here is the politics. After over twenty years living in a city where Diane Feinstein was considered conservative, & in my first election, I could, if I wanted to, vote for Sister Boom Boom as city supervisor, the local and national politics of the area is hard to reckon with. On certain issues, you can't find even one candidate on the ballot that holds similar views, although there is a large extended community of like-minded individuals, so you don't feel totally isolated here. Still some of the local slants on politics are quite unique: one of my favorite recent election related newspaper stories was how one particular district expected low voter turnout for a run-off election because of potential bad weather, a mean-spirited campaign, lack of interest, a big local football game, and the fact that it was last day of duck hunting season.