Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Seeing Louisiana through a paper doll's eyes

Flat Stanley is headed home. I dropped him off at the post office a couple hours ago, and he should be on the road or in the air by the time I go to bed tonight. I can't wait for him to get back to Texas and show Keaton all of his photos and souvenirs.

We had a great time! Not just Stanley and I, but my daughters and my great-grandson, all of whom shared in one or more of Stanley's adventures. It's amazing how a project like this one can get one out of a routine and off to explore someplace interesting. It's also amazing that not one single person we asked declined to be photographed with Stanley. His story and his friendly smile brought out the best in all of us.

Stanley is traveling home with several dozen photos, but I'll share a few samples now. (I'll keep these images small so I can post more of them. Please be sure to click on them to enlarge them.)

Here are a couple from home:

Butch and Levi wanted to go outside.
Stanley tried to help but couldn't reach the doorknob.

What better place for a flat boy to sleep
than on a flatbed scanner?

Stanley's first adventure occurred when my daughter Kim went with friends to New Orleans and took Stanley along.

Stanley inside the National World War II Museum.

About to enjoy his first world-famous New Orleans muffuletta.

One day Stanley went to work at the courthouse with my daughter Kelli.

Stanley, about to take a ride through the scanner/metal detector.

Later in the week, Kim and I accompanied Stanley to the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center in Baton Rouge.

Inside the Nature Center, this snake
seemed very interested in Stanley.

Outside, on one of the swamp trails,
Stanley couldn't resist climbing the tangled vines.

The alligators we saw at the Nature Center were baby ones, so before we went home that day we took Stanley to the Cajun Village in Sorrento, Louisiana.

There's a good-sized, live alligator on the other side of that fence...

...but it was safer for Stanley to pose with this fake one.

The next day Kelli, Owen, Stanley and I went back to Baton Rouge, this time to the downtown area.

Here's Stanley in front of the Louisiana State Capitol Building...

...and here he is with a protest sign on the front steps of the capitol.
(He was the only one protesting there that day.)

We left the capitol and walked a few short blocks south.

The castle-like structure in the background is the Old State Capitol.
It's a museum now.

I hated to say goodbye to Stanley. I hope he had as much fun as we did.

9 comments:

  1. How fun! I want to be Flat Stanley.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love these pictures and the obvious fun you had taking them. A friend of mine travels with a tiny stuffed monkey and send pics of the monkey on the plain, beach, bar, etc. Such a simple thing and always such fun to see. Also? Go for Flat Stanley standing up for the rights of the Flat! Occupy, Stanley, OCCUPY! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Writing My Novel, come over and we'll go all those places.

    Duly Inspired, LOL, Stanley did a good job standing up for his rights on those little paper legs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just about died laughing from the flat bed scanner! Your humor is contagious!

    I had visions of him going to work with Kim but what if he got too close to the torch???

    ReplyDelete
  5. Holly, believe it or not, Stanley would have been fine. Soon after he arrived we whipped out the color copier and the poster paper and made him a couple of "stunt doubles" to stand in for him on potentially hazardous photo shoots. It would have been one of their little "ashes" standing next to Kim's torch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love LOVE it! You girls are just too smart! I would've never thought of a stunt double!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the flatbed scanner bed! I don't know if I'd have thought of that. I bet your Flat Stanley adventure is the best one!

    Janet

    ReplyDelete
  8. Too funny! Very fun photos. I hope Flat Stanley made it home safe and sound!
    xo Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  9. Holly, you would have thought of it if that responsibility had been on your shoulders. The idea of trying to explain to Keaton that Stanley had died in my care was terrifying.

    Janet, I knew well in advance that Stanley was coming, so I'd considered pairing him with every flat item I could think of. In actuality, the flatbed scanner was the only one that worked out. The other ideas just fell...well, flat.

    Catherine, thanks. I can't wait to hear news of Stanley's safe arrival home.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments might be the very best thing about blogging. I love it when you care enough to share your thoughts here, so go ahead and say what's on your mind.