It is a great privilege to learn the intimate concerns of children. The last week’s discussion with the Causey kids has centered around the way our body betrays us in the heat of summer in New Orleans. These kids have enough to worry about; being locked out of the house and no one being home when personal issue flare up, like puffy eyes; passing the LEAP on the second go-’round and, lately, the issue is not smellin’ ‘musty’, as they put it.

As adults, we are keen to the battle of combating the summer heat and staying comfortable and presentable in 89 degree heat. However, I have noticed the kids have been having some issues about feeling clean, this, along with their washer being broke at home, the discussion has been pushed my way.

One of the older boys, Mike, came by this week to explain that he was suddenly ’sponsored’ to go to an amusement park excursion in Dallas, TX with his church. In order to go, he was desperate to have clean clothes for his trip and begged me the let him use the washer and dryer, I graciously obliged. Always cognizant of the dignity issues surrounding such requests, “wash away!”, I said. No pleading necessary. I am more than willing to fold his clothes too, in order that they put on their best face and push their minimum level of presentability to a higher level.

In addition to this incident, I was making my grocery list this week. I put deoderant on the list and Josh piped up to me that he had some deoderant that he didn’t like and apparently someone made a comment that he smelled ‘musty’.

Today, I took him to Rouse’s to show him how to test smell all the deoderants in the aisle so he could get one that suited his personal needs. He got some Axe he liked. On a subtle level, I have noticed in doing their laundry that there exists a shortage of socks, which in summer can lead to naked feet in shoes, leading to more ‘musty’ issues. I brought it up and they said they need more socks really bad. We talked about the comfort of wearing socks in summer and I set them up with some socks I had set aside from my last package of socks. We sort of did a head-to-toe cleanliness inventory of needs too.

Today, this larger discussion coincided with a long bike ride Nick and I took today on the levee. I gave him a choice. Audubon Park . . .or . . . THE LEVEE. He insisted on THE LEVEE. My goal was to show him he was able to make it to the Huey P. Long Bridge which I told him is 14.5 Klicks (kilometers) which is 9 miles. I warned him that it was going to be really, really. Really HOT. He was scared of the dragonflies but got tough with it. When we finally made it to the Huey P. Bridge, we realized he was extra hot because he was wearing TWO T-shirts! So we undid one layer and he was much more confident that we really would be able to make the ride back after that! 

Nick loves to cook, and has a natural talent for it. However, he tends to eat more than he needs to because he’s often cooking/eating to entertain himself. Having been noticeably pudgy myself at 10 yrs-old, I am encouraging him to exercise at this early age. He complained about how hard it was but we made it there and back. We talked about the importance of hard workouts for good health. He got a lot of confidence for completing the circuit . . .at 12:30 in the afternoon in July in New Orleans, I told him this was really tough work and he should be proud of himself.

When we got back, both boys were concerned about how they ’smelled’ before going to the night church services at Victory for 5:45 pm. Nick didn’t have the key to his house today and no one was home to let him in. He really wanted to bathe and change clothes before church.

So I set them up with some socks and a clean t-shirts of mine. The one Nick settled on had a scooped neck. He just wanted a white t-shirt with a ‘crew neck’ and he said it was “outrageous” that he was wearing a scooped neck. And, it was. I should have some more crew necks around. But we have all decided in our open talks that cleanliness comes before fashion.

So Nick took a shower at my house, likely, his first shower ever, from what I could tell, because apparently, they only have a bathtub and he was fine with the clean shirt in the end. I had to tell him how to set up the water temperature in the shower and he enjoyed it.

After getting both boys dressed with some fresh T-shirts and socks and they both applied extra loads of their new deoderant so they could feel very good about themselves about going to their evening church service. It was a profoundly simple and successful day. It’s so easy to make a couple inner-city kids happy and confident about themselves and it was a very good lesson in being a personally approachable type of person.

I recall the awkward moments growing up at that age and the shyness about talking about such personal issues as wearing a bra in eighth grade. My mom was little scared to discuss this with me, since I was the oldest of five kids, so I totally forgive her. But I know it made it hard for me, so I was happy to take that personal experience and it helped me know just how to make these young boys feel confident about discussing their hygiene needs so they could really put their best foot forward.

Little do these kids realize, this topic is covered at length by adults who talk about endlessly about the battle of the sweat in summer as well! I have found that it’s simply a slightly broader discussion with kids compared to the same one between adults about how we battle of the sweat drips between our respective ta-tas, etc in summer.

5

We went to a farmer’s market for the first time last Tuesday. Ok it was not the first time ever but it was the first time since we have both been adults able to make our own decision about getting in the car and driving to the Farmer’s Market and then purchasing something. So I guess it is the first time that we have been to a Farmer’s Market when it really counts.
Anyway, we went to the Crescent City Farmer’s Market in uptown. It was smaller than I was expecting for some reason but it turns out they were celebrating their independence. Marketumbrella.org is moving out from under the umbrella of Loyola University New Orleans and is spinning-off to independent status. marketumbrella.org, is the organization that brings the Crescent City Farmers Market to our community. Shopping at a farmer’s market is a bit different from your regular grocery store. The main thing that stuck out to me as we walked through the booths that had been set up in the corner of a Tulane medical building parking lot was the feeling that lives hang in the balance here.
When I enter a booth the man or woman (or both) who grew, cut, prepared etc. the items I am looking at are in turn looking at me and wondering if I will buy. The farmers market does not provide the anonymity of the large florescent lit aisle found in chain grocery stores. Sure, livelihoods are made in a Winn-Dixie too but you do not feel it as prominently as when you are standing in front of a folding table covered with baskets full of tomatoes, eggplant and green peppers a hand printed sign taped to the front reading “.75 Cents.”
I am embarrassed to say it was a hard experience for me, instead of feeling connected to the community I felt pressure to make a decision between the tomatoes at this tent of the one just a little farther down. With Scott’s help I concurred that feeling a we purchased an eggplant and two green peppers which with a few other ingredients made a very tasty concoction over pasta. I did not plan to feel overwhelmed by the farmer’s market experience but after we got back in the car to drive back home, I felt a little better, I felt like by buying the items I would buy at a grocery store anyway I was doing more to help the community. We plan to go back this week and I think it will be easier this time around and then the next time it will be even easier until we are old pros.

2

Anyone who has taken on the duty of house-sitting for a neighbor over summer vacation in New Orleans has received the instructions to feed the inside animals and the outside animals. It’s part of our ‘culture’ here that makes us rather Third World. It can make living here extra difficult since there are more animals in our environment than most cities.

Sullivan is a yard kitten who needed some help. He told me he needed to go to the vet. So I took him. He appeared one day with 3 other kittens, seemingly out of nowhere. I was able to start touching Sullivan because he and his brindled sister had these bad weepy eyes and were rather blind. I grabbed them and started wiping their eyes every couple of days so they could see their food. Soon, Sullivan realized that I wasn’t going to hurt him and he was very vocal and kept coming to me. He’s very sweet and affectionate. Perhaps it appears to readers that I am constantly doing good deeds but I am not at all coyly philanthropic. I like sleeping and am rather introverted overall. However, it seems I am constantly confronted with problems in New Orleans and I am mostly tired of them. However, if I can do anything to relieve some suffering, I am simply unable to ignore it.

So I took Sullivan and his brindled sister to the vet because he was crying to me daily and she was getting lethargic and my friends Emily and Brian have set a good example for me about going the extra inch for animals, so I had to do the right thing for these kittens.

Sullivan made it through the vet’s examination with a clean bill of health but his sister, sadly, did not. Since I spent a bunch of money I do not have on these animals, Sullivan was named and soon after I began putting Sullivan’s photos up on Flickr.

One day, my friend Randall, whom I met through Karen at Squandered Heritage said he’d like to adopt Sullivan. I was shocked at this good news. I thought I had finally gotten in over my head on good deeds. But Randall came to the rescue!

Randall is a kitty hero! I named Sullivan after Louis Sullivan, one of my most favorite Chicago architects.

Sullivan’s story has a happy ending, he’s doing great over at Randall’s and he’s going to come back and stay with us while his family goes on vacation.

This story has a happy ending but the stray animal population is exploding in New Orleans again and we must do something about it. I contacted theSouthern Animal Foundation to take Sullivan there but they were booked. You can trap the wild cats in our yard and rent the traps for a refundable $50 fee and they offer very cheap spay and neutering services on certain days of the week.

I want to thank Dr. Amy and her staff at Magazine Street Animal Clinic for taking Sullivan and keeping him overnight on short notice so that he could get healthy again.

2

My son Matt and I went over to the Old US mint today and took in the “Treasures of Napoleon” exhibit that’s on the second floor until early August. It’s well worth the $6 admission and it’s a good way to culture yourself for an hour or so before you face the hipsters on Frenchmen or go back into the Quarter to dodge the Segways and the stumblers. We then adjourned to Lucy’s for a couple of margaritas (sitting on the sidewalk because the just-off-work-it’s-a-three-day-weekend-woo-hoo crowd was in full swing at the bar) and some food before heading back towards home.

I’d post a link to pics of what’s in the exhibit, but there apparently isn’t such a site. I mean, there are some promotional things, but you kinda have to actually go into the museum to get a sense of what it’s all about. One of Napoleon’s hats. Many of his personal possessions. One of his camp beds. Even one of his Jesus-Eisenhower-Christ-I’m-bored pencil doodles. Anyway, check it out if you’ve got the time — but they stop letting folks in at 4pm. The place doesn’t close until 5, but closing the huge old building takes a while and they don’t want folks showing up at 4:52 to get started. It means they want you OUT at 5pm.

…but I doubt this is the weekend to simply amble into Da Quawtah for a leisurely stroll. It’s Essence Fest — and I gotta say the best thing about it has to be the fashion that will be strutting itself big-time along Canal and elsewhere in the city’s center throughout the weekend. And that’s just the cars. The clothing will also be variated, coordinated, colorated and definitely appreciated by those who are motivated to go. Just this afternoon, I watched a woman crossing Tchoupitoulas in the CBD wearing gold earrings with a diameter as big as a headlight on a Jeep Liberty. Seriousass earrings — and the gold straps on her flipflops were a perfect match. It’s quite a change from the “whatever falls out of the dryer” look of JazzFest.

This being the Fourth of July weekend, a lot of places that are normally open will be closed. It’s the time of year (as mentioned in an earlier post) when many of the locals simply hang out the “gone fishin’” sign and, oftentimes, go fishing. Given current gasoline prices, however, more will be fishing The Rigolets than heading to Destin or wherever. But there are benefits to the gas crunch — as I discovered on my brief foray to the Westbank early this morning. If it’s rush hour, I usually prefer the leisurely pace of the Gretna ferry rather than sit in long tollbooth lines on the Crescent City Connection. But this morning at 7:30, I whizzed right over the bridge after only a brief stop. I’m not sure if the short lines resulted from it being an approaching holiday or because fewer people are driving. Maybe both — but I’ve noticed traffic is definitely a bit less hectic these days.

Last summer, TBK and I nailed down a room at the Hilton Riverside for a couple of nights because we were in desperate need of a swimming pool. Sure, the water was bathtub warm — but the room rates were dirt cheap it was fun being a tourist in our hometown. I look for more folks to be doing that this summer.

…and that Napoleon exhibit is a pretty neat place to start.

6

I haven’t been able to read anymore books about Post Katrina New Orleans. Period. As much as I want to. One symptom of Post Traumatic Stress disorder is continually reliving the traumatic experience and I have done enough of that just working with Karen on Squandered Heritage and my continual work on the Neighborhood Conservation District Committeee brings it all back without any artistic flourish. However, Ian McNulty is one of the city’s finest writers.

I have pestered Ian more than once about relegating his talent to the not-at-all challenging work of restaurant reviews, where his adjectives seem to go to waste.  I was so happy to see he’s actually completed a book that will zero in on a new feeling about our experience.  Why do I think this?  Because a few months ago I posted my recommended ”One Dead in Attic” through Good Reads and my youngest sister Kate picked it up and read it.

We discovered that her reading it helped her understand the magnitude of what I/we’ve gone through and are still going through here in New Orleans. She was very understanding when I explained why I have to bring my cats to Illinois when I visit her while on vacation next month. It made sense to her and made her miss New Orleans more. Since she’s visited me here, we have had a great amount to talk about as a result. 

“Season of Night”, promises to bring a new perspective to our lives post-Katrina. I am sure it will pack more bravado than all other books on New Orleans lately.  I am sure Kate and I will read it and compare notes. 

Ian is a very charming man and I love so much of what he does even beyond his writing. He encompasses that superior sense of whimsy that is New Orleans. Ian doesn’t need to ’sell it’. He’s the opposite of Chris Rose, he’s not a-social at all. For example, I love his Tour de Pants event, a bike ride / pub crawl through the neighborhoods of New Orleans which is hosted in conjunction with the final day of the Tour de France.   Ian’s Coolers and Candlight Party also speaks to his higher level of connectedness and ability to discuss this whole big experience in a its real context. Ian has a larger-than-life wit that I am sure will make reading about Katrina related events and emotions adventurous again and breath new perspective into our healing. I know that Ian can deliver us from darkness.

You can come see Ian at The Garden District Bookshop in The Rink at Prytania and Washington on Thursday, July 10th from 5:30-7:30. Having been in the bookselling business for many years, I must say that hearing an author talk about his work is always very enlightening! Hearing Ian speak will be a great treat.

Just in case you miss it elsewhere, here is the official publisher write up on the book:
In A Season of Night: New Orleans Life after Katrina, author and New Orleans journalist Ian McNulty offers an intimate account of that homecoming and the battle between hope and despair in a surreal landscape.
McNulty moved back to his wrecked New Orleans house soon after the floodwaters drained, living on the second floor and writing this book on a laptop by candlelight.
By turns haunting, inspiring, and darkly comic, this memoir offers a behind-the-headlines story of resilience and renewal for a neighborhood and a city. From bittersweet camaraderie in the ruined streets to the first flickers of cultural revival and the explosive joy of a post-Katrina Mardi Gras, A Season of Night delivers an unprecedented tale from the wounded but always enthralling Crescent City.

ps: Being a literary dork, this title reminds me of Celine’s “Journey To The End of the Night”. But that’s pretty French.

pps: Ian, I am really fucking proud of you! Thanks !  

2

Over the past few months my friend, Rob and I have been helping, Naydja Bynum, the president of the Historic Faubourg Treme Association, to create a web presence for her cottage craft endeavor. She’s a very talented seamstress and an all-around amazing lady. Naydja is involved in many aspects of the community and one would think that would keep her busy enough.

In the middle of this project, she was offered a slot as a craft vendor for the upcoming Essence Festival. Naydja’s been sewing her heart out from the moment she wakes up until she falls down in the bed so that she’ll have enough inventory for the big event.

Today she is featured on the cover of City Business. Nayda and her team have been making Fleur de Lis purses and a variety of bowties to sell at the festival. You can see some of her work on her website: Naydja’s Designs. Naydja’s neighbor, E.J. has been taking the photos and I have been getting them up on the web, it’s been a real group effort.

1

A few weeks ago I was out looking at properties for the NCDC agenda for June 16th. This property at 3016-18 Bienville was one I visited. It’s a fine house, it can be remediated without a doubt and has architectural value on this very beautiful street. A good investment. However, it’s not been cleaned out since Katrina. This is infuriating.

The front yard had become a dumping ground for trash and the long grass/weeds were pretty bad. It’s not boarded up. It was sited by the city for demolition because of these problems. The owner, Louis J. Elliot, et al, who’s address is listed as 1128 Nashville Ave, was at the NCDC meeting and he told me the house was under contract and going to the Act of Sale in early July. He wanted it withdrawn from the demo list. This was all good news but I asked him sternly to go at least cut the damn grass, clean up the trash and board the property up. He said he would. Three weeks later, he had not done this simple task. I called his realtor and bitched too since Mr. Elliot slumlord’s phone number wasn’t available.

Finally, today I took Nick to the Mid-City Library to show him what they had to offer and we got some books. On the way home, we stopped by to get this craphole under control. It took us about 30 minutes to fill up two contractor bags with trash and cut the grass and weeds down to a tolerable level. The neighbor had said she was trying to keep up with it for a while but she was disgusted too and had given up. So we came by to help at least a little. I just get so disgusted with people, sometimes the best way to deal with being angry is to just do something about it.

Shame on Louis Elliot and all the owners who have left these perfectly good properties open and filthy throughout the city while families try to live next to them. Our patience is running out but we don’t want to see homes demolished just because of laziness either. The neighbor said she would prefer to deal with the property rather than an empty lot which would quickly become a dumping ground for tires, trash and trashed cars and all types of crap. 

It’s worth it to me to spend a little time cleaning up and maybe boarding up too if we can prevent a lazy-ass demolition which is free. So far, I haven’t seen any programs for money dedicated to cleaning up these historical properties but there is plenty of funding for tearing them down.  The property, once gone, cannot be replaced to the same level of quality as this old construction.

1

Yesterday, I took Nick and Josh with me to computer tutoring over at the Freret Communty Center because they also have arts and crafts for kids on Saturday.

It worked out great because they were able to make “stained glass” items for their mother, Betty, whose birthday is on Monday. We went to Walgreen’s on the way home and got giftwrap and cards so they are ready to give their mom some great, great, great, handmade presents for her birthday along with big hugs. Josh helped me write this post.

1

I am not one for large goodbyes.  Anyone who has left New Orleans knows you have to eat/drink your way out of town, resulting in an extra bulge for the road.

Today, one of my very best friends, Mark Williams, is moving to Beaverton, Oregeon. He’s leaving today and I am trying to be positive about him going to a place where the streets won’t wreck your car and crime is a comma.  Mark has lived in New Orleans most of his life aside from his early upbringing in Mobile, AL.  He’s taught me how to Love/Hate New Orleans with the proper authority.  Since he grew up here, he and his friend Tom, who is also in our circle of close friends based out of La Crepe Nanou, they taught me over time how local it really is to get comfortable with your disgust about the city. I was regularly irritated with their negativity until post-K, when I finally understood their position of futility about our historic dysfunction. 

One of the final breaking points leading up to Mark’s decision to bail was the $800 S&WB bill Mark got at the apartment he shares with his friend.  Two people, $800 was simply ridiculous. He had to go to hearing to defend getting it reduced but it was still too much money.  Suddenly, moving to Oregon with his best friend Tom looked easier.

So, today, he’s gone. He’s probably in OK, City tonight. 

We’ve been through a whole lot together. We’ve known each other since about 1995 when I moved here and we worked together in the bookstore.  Over the past 13 yrs. we’ve been through the loss of two friends to drug/alcohol related problems.  He was there for Robert Small’s benefit at ‘the restaurant’.  I’ll never forget the time he was there to lean on when I had to take a pack of feral kittens who appeared in my backyard to the SPCA. I was convinced they wouldn’t last long and he came over to my house to drive me to there and let me bawl my eyes out. 

In October 2005, Post-Katrina, I kinda lied to him and his girlfriend, Kitty, and said things were fine to come back right when I was looking at a dead dog in the road. But they believed me and came back. I just wanted them to come back.  We all cleaned out our friend Margaret’s refrigerator together.

Mark also lived in my condo while I was away at grad school and took care to call me when there was a bloody shoot-out outside on Toledano. He let me sleep on the sofa bed when I came for frequent visits and introduced me to the illustrious Canadian humor of the Trailer Park Boys to help me keep my sanity. We were good roomies, a real test of friendship. After Katrina, he let me convince him to throw his old bachelor chair on a pile of other furniture on St. Charles Avenue as I was coming back for good and he moved into a new place.

When we both went through some small chernobyls together after Katrina we drank some whiskey on the porch together to talk through things . . . logically.  When I was beyond logical and unable to get out of bed I called Mark to tell me what to do . . .
“take a shower or a bath” he said, and I went about my day, did some laundry and made it through a bad day. 

I’ve relied on him a lot in so many many ways. I sometimes wonder how I will get through the new rough spots yet unseen without him but we promised we will call and he promised to get an email account, he’s a well known luddite, adding to our challenge of remaining connected now that he’s 4 days away from the Small Difficult, our name for the Big Easy.

I am looking forward to hearing his perspective from a city where the mayor isn’t Satan and where they have hills and clean streets, where their MLK has a Starbucks. Some may say he’ll lack the ‘cultural’ stimulation but at this point, normal peace is the goal and not getting shot in the head on the way to get to the corner store sounds like a solid plan of action.

 I have told him a hundred times that I love him and miss him but many people here will miss him and many beers are being tossed back in his honor tonight. As he left, he assured me, “See you at Mardi Gras!”

1

Remember a few weeks back when I wrote this? Well, we won! New Orleans is the nation’s most “Sparkling City.” What does this mean? Well, read on for selections from the press release;
White Plains, NY, June 23, 2008 — [yellow tail] wines announced today that Americans deem New Orleans to be “America’s Most Sparkling City.” After a national survey narrowed the list of nominees to 10 locations, Americans were asked to vote online for the most animated, brilliant, lively and vivacious city in the United States. The winner proved to be the home of Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street, and Jazzfest—as well as a rich volume of American history.
Jacquelyn B. Clarkson, city council member at large, plans to accept the inaugural honor on behalf of the city during an event in New Orleans’ iconic Jackson Square on July 1, in conjunction with the Independence Day holiday. Renowned travel guide author and expert, Pauline Frommer, along with a [yellow tail] wines representative, will be on site at Chartres Mall, in front of St. Louis Cathedral, to present the award.
“It’s exciting that the American people realize New Orleans has not lost its sparkle,” Frommer said. “Although the city has gone through very rough times, the tourist areas are back—and are as exciting and dynamic as ever. It’s great that [yellow tail] is honoring this city for its warm culture and unique history. If there ever were a city that truly sparkles, today and forever, it is New Orleans.”
“We are pleased to name New Orleans as ‘America’s Most Sparkling City,’” said Mark Lyle, vice president of marketing for [yellow tail] wines. “A city with so much determination and hospitality is well-deserving of this title, and we look forward to honoring—and toasting—New Orleans.”

0

An old friend of mine is here visiting from Chicago with the Hairdressers Unlocking Hope project, they are building a house in Slidell today.

Yesterday, I took Jeff and his friend around the city for a tour of the complete area to show them where we are in recovery. This was previously known as the “disaster tour” but honestly, it’s impossible to give that tour anymore. Things look very good throughout Lakeview but less good in Gentilly. It was hard to give them the picture of how far we have come. Driving from one end of Louisa down back into the Marigny one can still see the devastation clearly but so much of it takes more dramatic language to convey what you could once simply see that this task of the tour is much different.

We saw the housing projects being torn down and I had to explained how much demolition is happening throughout the city. We passed many, many empty lots where there used to be dense housing in many areas but it seemed so impossible to explain what a war zone so much of the city looked like before. The brown landscape, the smell, it all seems like another world today. So many houses are freshly painted and landscaped now, contrasted with an empty, open house every couple of houses. I have become accustomed to this but they seemed shocked by the amount of empty, gutted homes throughout the city.  

Jeff noted the many FEMA trailers and sympathized with people who have been living in them for more then two years now. I know that areas in the lower wards are still struggling but I was quite amazed at how much progress seems to be happening and how much giving this tour had changed and how hard it was to narrate. I had to look up this old photo of myself doing the Population Survey back in 2005 when I returned to remind myself.

While this tour was optimistic, when asked if we’d flood again, unfortunately, I had to say we still feel there is a big risk for flooding, we could still see the loss of property again in some areas if faced with the threat of a low category storm today. We just don’t know until the Army Corps is tested again. This is somewhat hard to tell someone who is investing their time and energy in helping people rebuild. I spoke at length about how volunteers and faith based organizations have helped New Orleans. As Craig, said, we could never repay them.

1

Man…

I know things slow down here in the summer. It’s hot, it’s humid and all that. Folks from elsewhere make fun of Southerners for moving so slow until they come down here — then they learn why: it’s just hot, okay? Years ago, the city of Houston spent untold thousands of dollars to hire a PR firm to come up with a slogan for some international event being hosted. This quick-thinking think-tank came up with “Houston’s HOT!” I wanted to add, “…and humid too.” But I digress….

…so business has SERIOUSLY slowed down on Magazine St. and elsewhere. No wonder so many places simply close their doors for a month or so or wind up curtailing hours. We’re cutting back a bit ourselves, though we’ve discovered it’s better to remain open and reduce hours than to simply close down for two days a week. The lack of cash flow was having a larger effect than I thought it might, so lesson learned.

I note here that there are plenty of folks taking some time these days to give back to the flood-stricken areas of the Midwest (forgive me, but I’m still getting used to the updated site. It seems every freaking site has its own rules anymore and I’m just old enough and cantankerous enough and busy enough that I refuse to learn them all. Oh, and — get off my lawn). Lord knows so many people we never met were so good to us after Katrina that there is really no way we could possibly repay or even try to balance things out. If you can’t actually go up there, I’d suggest contributing whatever you can to the American Red Cross. I know I am.

Of course we don’t wish this kinda thing on anyone. But I gotta say it’s heartening to see someone else getting pissed off at FEMA and the Corps and the false promises and the levee situations and the insurance companies and all the other crap that’s going to take, um, years to even begin to iron out. And, in a lot of the areas, it’s the same as Katrina — the water came up and it’s still there. It just sits there and stews in the hot sun, day after day.

God bless the latest round of flood victims. We’re with you more than you know. On a whole lot of levels.

3

Today I took the baby to City Park. I had seen people feeding the ducks many times so this trip I took some bread to feed them thinking this would be a fun experience for all involved. Just behind the museum I spotted some ducks hanging out and thought this would be a great place to stop. No sooner had I sat the little one’s feet in the grass did the ducks and geese start to waddle toward us from the edge of the water. At first things were ok but they just kept getting closer and closer and before I knew it the geese were just a foot from the baby. They are as tall as he is and seemingly unafraid of humans. So, I picked him up and we walked back a few steps but he overly friendly waterfowl just kept on coming. When the pigeons swooped in, I knew it was time to go. I threw the slices of bread I had left and walked briskly to the car.

We then drove around to the playground area where we played and were able to toss the rest of our bread to some ducks in the water who were much more respectful of our personal space. And when I say ‘we’ threw the bread I mean ‘me’ because though the baby seemed to like the birds he just ate his bread. Lesson learned; few birds - cool, lots of birds a la The Birds- not cool

3

This just in from Sallie Ann Glassman:

On Monday, June 23rd at 7pm, Sallie Ann Glassman and La Source Ancienne Ounfo will celebrate St. John’s Eve with their annual ceremony on the footbridge over Bayou St. John (near Cabrini High School).

Vodou Ceremony: Wear all white and bring a white scarf or rag for your head. (It will get dirty.)

Marie Laveau: Bring an offering for Marie Laveau. She likes flowers, blue and white candles, Creole foods, hair ribbons and hair dressing supplies,(she was a hairdresser), Vodou-esque items (Voodoo dolls, potions, gris-gris bags, etc.), or images of Marie Laveau.

FYI, this is not the same as her annual Hurricane Ceremony–nor, obviously, are the stakes as high. But it’s always a good time.

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Many of you have been following the ongoing effort to get rid of derelict buildings in New Orleans. Since Katrina, the number of blighted structures has absolutely mushroomed — only adding to the number of buildings that were abandoned and in poor shape BEFORE the storm hit. It’s been obvious in recent months that Something was going to be done — since not only our overpromising mayor but the entire City Council as a unit has decided it’s time to press ahead and either get these joints cleaned up or get them into the hands of those who will. Or to simply get them torn down, and the list of targeted properties is a long one. Our own Laureen Lentz has been heavily involved in this process, as she has documented.

Welp — it’s working. It was only a couple of months ago that Councilwoman Stacy Head participated in a news conference just a few doors down from our house — in front of a longstanding hellhole that everyone agreed had to come down. The place was bad when we moved here — disintegrating only moreso since Katrina. But it’s being cleaned up — at least outwardly — and all of us in the neighborhood are grateful.

But the even bigger news is that the junkyard (owned by the same person) next to our house has been the object of a massive cleanup effort over the past several days. Gone are the old cars, the overfull dumpster, the assorted appliances, the rotting bags of beer cans and bottles, the six-foot weeds and virtually every (outward) sign of decay. It looks like you could land a small plane in there (well, not really — but y’know).

Something Actually Worked. We appreciate it.

…though our cats are wondering where all their buddies have gone.

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