In Grand Rapids this week, I happened to mention St. Francisville’s gator pit. People seemed intrigued by the concept. I give to you all this recent news story of a poor soul who lost control of his truck on Mardi Gras day, and went flying into the gator pit. Police rescued him before the gators or the cold water got to him. But yeah, that’s our gator pit. Click on the story to see photos.

We do not have a tour of the gator pit planned for the Walker Percy Weekend (June 6-8) here in St. Francisville, but what’s to stop you from going down the hill under the Catholic church and seeing it for yourself? If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, please do so now — and please please please make your hotel/B&B reservations, because there’s been a strong uptick in oil and gas exploration in the area recently, and I’m noticing more and more vehicles with company logos on the doors in the parking lots of our hotels.

One young Percy fan who is coming to the festival with friends e-mails to ask if anybody is interested in sharing rooms. Anybody? I might also ask if anybody planning to roadtrip from other parts of the country wants to share rides. If any of you want to start a blogsite where folks who plan to come to the festival can work out rides and accommodations together, please feel free, and I’ll promote it here.

Let me be the first to quash rumors than Crimson Tide fans will be ritually thrown into the gator pit after the Friday night “That’s Despair?” crawfish boil. Not true! We love y’all, except for certain Saturday nights in the autumn.