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Today in Extremely Southwest Louisiana Things, we got a specific request from a town we’re bringing supplies into for “Florida Water.” What on earth does this mean, wondered the SELA-born volunteer who took the request. Did autocorrect mess something up?
Conveniently, SWLA-born-and-raised @AgitpropComic solved the mystery! (SELA and SWLA are very different worlds, tho we have way more in common than we do with a lot of the rest of y’all; this is a fun tiny example thereof.)
Florida Water is a super old-school “Eau de Toilette” cologne that has been made with the same recipe since the early 1800s and which, when you mix with cold water, makes for a nice face splash/bandana drench when it is, as we say down here, HOT-hot. (So, always.)
It also has (possibly mythical but don’t tell Pawpaw) powers of both mosquito repellent and it makes you extra cool, lessons passed down via childhood fishing trips and Little League games.
It is extremely popular in this highly specific swath of coastal and rural SWLA and also, according to Google, among various practitioners of earth-based religions. (Prob not disconnected; there’s a “traiteur” tradition very much alive here — sort of syncretic kitchen witchery.)
It’s popular enough — esp when there’s no electricity so the AC isn’t running — that it’s sold out in the drugstores in the immediate region, but we found it on Amazon (put it on our list here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/V75C79WEV4S9?ref_=wl_share) and there are various distribs who can also ship.
Just thought some of you out there might get a kick out of this fun journey of discovery we went on today, and might also want to throw in for a familiar comfort item for folks in extreme discomfort right now.
