Hello from/to happyland

The news is a couple of months old, but it’s too good to pass up. And it does have a local angle. It turns out we’re right in the middle of happyland. And that’s the conclusion of the professional thinkers at Harvard University and the University of British Columbia.
They’re -- the happiest cities in the U.S. -- in all directions and they’re all in Louisiana. Take I-49 and head north, you’ll get to two of them -- Alexandria (fifth happiest in the U.S.) and Shreveport (third happiest). If you head south from here on I-49, you’ll hit the number one happiest -- Lafayette. Then you can go east on Highway 10 and you’ll get to another -- Baton Rouge, the fourth happiest. Go south from there and you’ll get to the second happiest city -- Houma.
And only one of the top 10 happiest cities is in the north part of the country --- Rochester, Minnesota, the sixth happiest city. So some commentarians think the weather -- or at least where the winters are mild -- is a reason for making people happy.
One of the top 10 is yet another Louisiana city, Lake Charles, eighth happiest in the U.S.. The others are seventh happiest Corpus Christi, Texas, ninth happiest Nashville, Tennessee, and and tenth happiest Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
People examining the study note that many of the unhappiest cities are where the higher paying jobs are located -- with New York City topping the list.
Some of the reports point to the possibility that businesses have to lure employees to their jobs with higher pay. But another factor may be that there are more people willing to stab other employees in the back as they climb the top of the pecking order.
People around here quickly come up with the answer to what makes this part of the country so happy. “It’s the food,” several told me.
One of the many great local cooks, while cooking at one of the many public events, had an interesting take. And that take came from the four top executive chefs in Louisiana featured in the September/October issue of “Louisiana Kitchen & Culture” magazine. They raved about Muse’s cooking in the magazine, after being treated to it during a stay at Chicot State Park in May.
Muse said the chefs were impressed not only by the food but by how much fun the locals were having as they prepared the food. They told him that the fun everyone was having influenced how tasty the food was. And they said the techniques Muse used as he cooked may well end up as part of the dishes at their restaurants.
Others have interpreted the causes for determining happy places rise to the level of incoherence. Like this: “Differences in happiness and subjective well-being across space weakly support the view that the desires for happiness and life satisfaction do not uniquely drive human ambitions.” Huh?
The good food seems to make more sense than that, but maybe there’s something else going on.
Maybe getting to the happy place is far simpler than the “deep thinkers” can conceive of. Maybe it’s all about devotion to family and religion. Those two important components of humanity are strong here. You don’t find that in many places. But it’s important, as you will find out if you are confronted with life’s more contentious moments. Where do you go to seek advice, comfort, or just the soothing influence of solace?
That reminds me. The boss wants me to come up with a couple of opinion pieces a month. Better pray, or call the in-laws again. I’ll need some help to come up with ideas.
Might also need to get some folks together in a back yard somewhere and ccok up some food for thought.