Louisiana
May all your verbs ring true in 2024: Long Story Short by Jan Risher
I love a clean slate — and a new year feels so full of potential.
I also enjoy little rituals that serve to make life more enjoyable.
For the past six years at the start of the new year, I’ve offered what I call a once-a-year verb service for friends and acquaintances, which is how I came to spend about six hours one evening last week listening to Mozart and assigning verbs as fast as my fingers could do the job.
Basically, via social media, if friends ask for a verb, I provide one. This year, I upped my game and started building my word list a month before the doling out of verbs began. My verb assignage method has evolved through the years. These days, assigning a particular verb to a person is part random and part prayer. I look for verbs that could be interpreted in multiple ways or suggest different meanings or connotations.
Sometimes all of us just need a cue to serve as a placeholder that reminds us that it’s possible to have a different perspective.
For some, the verb is a short-lived piece of fun. For others, they use the word to center themselves. It’s funny that a word like “untangle” or “lallygag” can do that, but some friends say it helps.
When it comes to assigning verbs, business is picking up. In the first 24 hours of my social media post announcing The Great Verbage of 2024, I assigned 307 verbs — and counting. And yes, if you’d like a verb, feel free to email me at jan.risher@theadvocate.com, and I’ll do my best to send one your way.
My new year’s commemorations don’t end there. For several years, I’ve also hosted a women’s vision board potluck brunch on the first Saturday of the new year. Chances are, by the time you read this, I’ll have hosted the one for 2024.
It’s a simple event. The women bring their dishes to share, their open hearts, their old magazines and scissors — and we sit around snipping images, words and letters from the glossy pages. I provide Champagne to toast the old year and the one to unfold. I also provide other practical things, including plates, poster board, glue sticks and a place to spread out.
Busy hands make for the absolute best conversation, in my experience. I love sitting with a group of women with the most important focus being cutting images and pasting them to a poster board. It’s a lovely party that doesn’t have to happen at the very beginning of the year. I believe that so many people are looking for opportunities to have similar experiences.
If you are thinking, “I could do that,” consider your word for 2024 to be “nudge,” and go for it.
(If you need a few more details: I don’t ask or care what people bring to share. If we have 14 king cakes, we’ll eat king cake, but that has never happened. People end up bringing a variety of food, and the spread is enjoyable. I start my vision board brunch at 11 a.m. We spend the first hour eating and lallygagging. At noon, we toast the preceding year, standing in a circle and saying a short sentence about the year that has just passed. Then, we get to work on the vision boards. Around 1:30 p.m., we toast the year ahead and repeat the circle experience.)
I go into the details of the event to bring home the point that events in your home can be lovely and meaningful without being stressful to host.
The products we create are helpful to some and fun for others. Regardless, I hope and pray that 2024 is a year of beauty and grace for you and yours. May all your verbs ring true.
Louisiana ranks among the top 10 most affordable states to retire, according to a new study from Retirement Living, a national journal of retirement research.
Researchers analyzed each state’s housing costs, living expenses and tax friendliness to compile the ranking. Louisiana, they say, is the eighth most affordable state for retirees.
In Louisiana, the median monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $932, the median home sale price is $255,000, monthly grocery spend per capita is $272, the average price per gallon of regular gas is $4, the average Medicare Advantage monthly premium is $13.35 and the average effective property tax rate is 0.55%.
West Virginia is the most affordable state to retire, followed by Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana, Indiana and Kansas. Researchers describe the South as “the sweet spot for an affordable retirement.”
The most expensive state to retire, meanwhile, is California, followed by Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Utah, New York and Minnesota.
Read Retirement Living’s full report here.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – With hurricane season approaching, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is bringing the community together to prepare before a storm forms.
“We can’t stop disasters from happening. We can’t stop hurricanes from happening. But what we can do is equip our communities with the resources that they need to prepare for these storms ahead of time,” said Jayda Morris, CPRA outreach manager.
The agency hosted an event featuring interactive storm simulations and a full model of the Mississippi River.
“If you do it now, like on a sunny day like today, you’re ready to go for the rest of the season,” Jay Grymes said.
El Niño may reduce storms, but Louisiana still at risk
State Climatologist Jay Grymes said an El Niño pattern may reduce the number of storms in the Atlantic but warned against a false sense of security.
“In those 25 years, Louisiana, some part of the state has been impacted by 29 storms. That’s one a year, regardless of El Niño. So that should tell you something,” Grymes said.
He said the bigger concern is storms that can form in the Gulf with little warning.
“If we’re going to get a storm, it very possibly could be one that bubbles up in the Gulf and doesn’t give us five or seven days to track it coming our way. It gives us 40 hours to get ready for a landfall. So it’s imperative that you go ahead and do it now,” Grymes said.
Preparation goes beyond stocking water
Preparing now includes walking through yards, checking trees, and knowing whether everyone in the family can survive two weeks without power.
PhD students with the LSU College of the Coast and Environment gave the community a virtual reality experience that puts users inside a storm.
“If they wear the goggles or play with the Apple Vision Pro, they can understand how high will the flood be, and they can know how dangerous is the hurricane scenario,” said Yixuan Wang.
The VR simulation uses real historical data to show users what compound flooding looks like in New Orleans and surrounding areas. The goal is to make the science real for people who can’t picture what a flood map means.
“It’s just to let you understand the environment. We will add the audios, the different sound of the wind and the storm. And you can see how tense of the rainfall around you,” Wang said.
Organizers said the event is about making sure that when a storm threatens the area, families already know their plan.
Information from the event is available on CPRA’s website. Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Louisiana homeowners can get financial help to upgrade their roofs and ensure they can better stand up to strong storms.
According to the Louisiana Department of Insurance, registration for next Louisiana Fortify Homes Program lottery opens at 8 a.m. on Monday, June 1. The registration period will stay open through 5 p.m. on Friday, June 19.
Under the latest round of the program, 3,000 grants of up to $10,000 will go out. After applying, homeowners will get placed into a lottery and will be randomly selected.
There are many specific benefits of having a roof upgraded through the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program. Officials said the roofs have stronger shingles that can protect against hail up to two inches wide, sealed roof decks to help prevent water damage, and stronger edges to keep wind from getting underneath.
Homeowners with a fortified roof can also get a certificate to receive a discount on insurance premiums.
“At the end of the day, this program is about more than just roofs,” said Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple. “It is about protecting families, it is about strengthening communities, and it is about putting Louisiana in a stronger position—both physically and economically—to face the challenges ahead.”
Only people living in Ascension Parish, Livingston Parish, Assumption Parish, Tangipahoa Parish, Acadia Parish, Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Iberia Parish, Jefferson Parish, Jefferson Davis Parish, Lafayette Parish, Lafourche Parish, Orleans Parish, Plaquemines Parish, St. Bernard Parish, St. Charles Parish, St. James Parish, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. Martin Parish, St. Mary Parish, St. Tammany Parish, Terrebonne Parish, and Vermilion Parish are eligible to apply for the latest round of the program.
People living in a newly built home, mobile home, or condominium are not qualified.
For a detailed list of eligibility requirements, click here.
If a person registered for the program previously, he or she must do so again. The person will also need to provide the following information:
- A homestead exemption on the primary residence.
- A policy of insurance that provides wind coverage for the primary residence.
- A flood insurance policy on the primary residence if it is in a special flood hazard area.
For more information about applying, click here.
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Watch the latest WAFB news and weather now.
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