Tomorrow, June 1 marks the official start of Hurricane Season. Yippee.

After donating last year’s canned goods in a recent food drive, I stocked back up for this season. Still need to get water… turns out there was a gallon from 2 years ago in the back of the pantry. It sprung a leak. That’s why the “use by date” is 2 years from when it’s bottled: isn’t not that the water goes “bad” but the plastic just can’t hang anymore.

Today’s paper had a special hurricane preparedness section with checklists, contraflow maps, lists of this year’s storm names, etc. I think even more helpful was Saturday’s column where readers sent in their thoughts. Another article that really interested me was “Airport a vital escape route from storms.” What fascinated me was this:

During Hurricane Gustav, federal officials originally wanted to stop flights about 10 a.m. on the day before the storm made landfall, but airport officials were able to get a few more hours of flying time, Wilcut said. "That allowed us to get a lot more people out of the city," she said.

The last flight out was Aug. 31 at 6 p.m., according to news reports. The storm made landfall the next morning about 10:30 at Cocodrie.

For Gustav, the airport opened again to commercial flights on the afternoon of Sept. 3. It took about two weeks to reopen to commercial flights after Katrina, Wilcut said.

As Gustav made its way towards Louisiana, I was road tripping from Georgia to New Mexico. Aug 30 Aug 31

I’m glad the airport didn’t close at 10 am August 31, because I would have been stuck in Dallas. I was in a serious race against time to make it back to New Orleans to help Greg evacuate. My friend in Albuquerque said I was welcome to stay as long as I needed to, but I would have lost my mind. I couldn’t even sleep the night of the 30th, I was so amped up with a singular thought “I must get home.” Not only would there have been a period of time during the height of the storm when I would have no idea if Greg was OK, but who knew how many days it would have been before the airports reopened. As you can see, after Gustav it was a few days. After Katrina, two weeks. One of the most important lessons I've learned about hurricanes and storms is no two or exactly alike.

Festival Double Header

Last Saturday we squeezed two festivals into one day. We needed our Sunday to do the mundane weekend chores.

First was the Greek Fest. Held every year at the first Greek Orthodox Church to be established in America back in 1866. It’s on Bayou St. John near the lake. The day started out gray with rain in the forecast, so we didn’t bother with hats and sunscreen and packed ponchos instead. An hour later it was full on sun. Oops.





We spent a few hours consuming a smorgasbord of Greek delicacies, a bottle of retsina wine (tastes like drinking water from a Christmas tree stand, but in a good way), browsing the market place, chatting with friends and taking in the music and Hellenic dancers. It had been a number of years since we had been (it’s usually beastly hot, which isn’t fun) and it has grown considerably in size; they apparently bought more land, probably after Katrina. Opa!

* * * *

We then went to the other end of Bayou St. John for Bayou Boogaloo, a festival of local music, crafts and food vendors.


Floating in the bayou seemed to be the place to be. Shade was limited and what shade there was, people crammed in under.






The music was great – we were too full to eat anything else – checked out the crafts and bumped into more friends. We only stayed a few hours because it was really getting hot.

So somebody is jerking the public around. Here’s a brief time line of events surrounding the Lyon’s Pool:
----------------------------------------------------
April 21, 2009, Day 0
2 Suspects were arrested for theft of copper at Lyons Center

April 30, 2009 – Day 9
2nd District Email blast from Major Little about arrests sent to Public via Google Groups

May 11, 2009 – Day 20
Irish Channel N.A. hears rumors about extent of vandalism and the possibility that the pool will not open this summer.

May 12, 2009 – Day 21
1st Email Sent to Councilman Fielkow and Councilwoman Head asking them to inquire about Lyons pool. These inquiries are forwarded to NORD and others for follow up.

May 14, 2009 – Day 23
NORD Dep. Director makes presentation to ICNA regarding NORD programs. He makes a statement regarding the Lyons Center Pool. “Mr. Barabino asked that I give a status of the Lyons Center Pool.” He further states that the pool is expected to open by “June 1”

May 22, 2009 – Day 31
NORD Director and Capital Projects Administrator address status of Lyons Center pool at a City Council subcommittee meeting. They state that they expect the pool to open by 2nd week of June. NORD was awaiting Entergy to install a pole to provide power to the pool pumps, at which time they could test the pumps. It was also reported the center had been broken into earlier that week and one person arrested. At the same public meeting a petition was presented to NORD Director and Councilman Fielkow with 196 signatures from neighbors asking that Lyons Center be opened. All signatures collected in less than 2 weeks.

May 26, 2009 – Day 35
Press Release from NORD Director and Capital Projects Administrator state “targeted a late summer date to open Lyons Center pool”.
----------------------------------------------------

We just want to know the real story. Several emails were sent in response to the May 26th press release asking why Friday the 22nd it was said the pool would be open in June, and now on the 26th it won’t be open until the end of summer. What good is opening the pool at the end of summer? And what transpired between Friday May 22 and Tuesday, May 26th? There was a Saturday, and Sunday and Memorial day in between these two days.
----------------------------------------------------

Part of the press release that addressed Lyon’s Pool:

Mayor's Press Office
City of New Orleans
1300 Perdido Street, Suite 2E04
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
Official Statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2009

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM NORD AND CAPITOL PROJECTS

Unfortunately last month, the Lyons Center was damaged as a result of copper theft. The facility has been secured and further security measures, are being evaluated at this time. Understandably, the theft and resulting damages, have delayed NORD's plans to reopen the Lyons pool in June, but, NORD and Capitol Projects will continue to move forward with repairs and have targeted a late summer date to open Lyons Center pool.

----- Original Message -----
From: Arnie Fielkow
To: William M. Chrisman; Larry Barabino, Jr.
Cc: Jackie B. Clarkson; Shelley S. Midura; Stacy Head; James Carter; Cynthia H. Morrell; Cynthia Williard-Lewis; Deborah J. Langhoff; Eric Granderson; Katherine R. Schneiderman
Sent: Tue May 26 17:48:53 2009
Subject: Fw: Official Statement NORD and Capitol Projects

The lyons opening is inconsistent with the public testimony bill provided friday to the youth and rec comm. At that hearing, it was represented lyons would be open in mid june. How could your position have changed in 4 days? This is a major setback for the community!

----- Original Message -----
From: Brenda G. Hatfield
To: Arnie Fielkow
Cc: Jackie B. Clarkson; Cynthia H. Morrell; Shelley S. Midura; Stacy Head; 'James.Ross@mayorofno.com' ; cwlewis@cityofno.com ; Ray Nagin; 'ceeon.quiett@mayorofno.com' ; Larry Barabino, Jr.; William M. Chrisman; Deborah J. Langhoff; Eric Granderson; Katherine R. Schneiderman; Pamela S. Smith
Sent: Tue May 26 19:36:22 2009
Subject: NORD press release

Councilmember Fielkow:
Regarding your reprimand to Larry Barabino and Bill Chrisman today, wouldn’t it seem rational for them to promise a more reasonable date of late summer to open Lyons’ pool after gathering more capital repair information -- so as not to disappoint the community while aiming for mid June? Even doing our best, it sometimes takes longer than anticipated.

Can you give some credit for nine pools being ready to open along with 84 parks and playgrounds for recreation, cultural and educational programs for our youth, seniors and families to enjoy this summer?



----- Original Message -----
From: Arnie Fielkow [mailto:AFielkow@cityofno.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 8:58 PM
To: Brenda G. Hatfield
Cc: Jackie B. Clarkson; Cynthia H. Morrell; Shelley S. Midura; Stacy Head; James.Ross@mayorofno.com; Cynthia Williard-Lewis; Ray Nagin; Ceeon.Quiett@mayorofno.com; Larry Barabino, Jr.; William M. Chrisman; Deborah J. Langhoff; Eric Granderson; Katherine R. Schneiderman; Pamela S. Smith;
Subject: Re: NORD press release

Brenda, I am truly sorry you see it that way. There was no reprimand but rather a statement that there is little credibility when a senior official (and I think bill does an excellent job!) makes a public committment and then 4 days later the administration says something very different. The neighborhood leaders who were present on friday are pretty frustrated with this situation given the importance of the lyons center and the fact that this matter could have been averted with appropriate security. Even this past friday, I had to call the nord director because a door to the center was wide open when I passed by.....many kudos and thanks were extended to bill and larry friday for improving the facility issues and working closely with fema to close the reimbursement disparity.....I believe the community deserved a straight answer on this one but they can weigh in directly with you.
--------------------------

At this time, we wait for any further clarification on the matter.

Petition to open Lyon's Center Pool

Lyons Center

The pool

NORD's Lyon Center is in my neighborhood. No renovations have been done since Katrina. Last July at the Mayor's Round Table I attended last August a representative from NORD said that the Lyon's Center was under Architectural review and construction would start the end of the year. No work has been done since then.

Last summer the pool was open and kids from all around went. These are kid who parents can't afford to send them to a summer camp. And it's hot down here in the summer. The pool is a safe, supervised opportunity for the kids to have some fun.

April, two men were arrested after doing over $300,000 worth of damage to the Lyon's Center. Here's what someone from NORD emailed us about the damage:

There was substantial recent vandalism to the facility:

Room housing electrical breakers for pool area- Stripped wiring, electrical breakers and pool valves and mechanics-Total loss

Under Gym Bleachers as well as Restroom- Copper tubing for water lines stolen and cut-Total loss

Large Conference in front- Most copper electrical wiring in ceiling striped ceiling destroyed to get to the copper

Additional rooms throughout building- copper electrical wiring in ceiling striped ceiling destroyed to get to the copper

Restroom Facilities used in summer season 2008- Inoperable -copper waterline tubing cut and stripped.

We have assigned an architect to the project- have to get the contract through the process- but never anticipated this most recent and significant damage of this extent and nature that will now have to be addressed. Of course with our high insurance deductibles the repair cost will be borne by the most part by the City. There are bond funds available ($1.7M)which were supposed to go toward overall improvements which will now have to be used for this remedial purpose. There is little to no likelihood that FEMA will even entertain the idea of any funding to address that vandalism. It is my understanding that the thieves were apprehended but any help that Council could give making copper theft less attractive will greatly help our and thousands of others efforts in the recovery. We will do what we can but this is a major blow to that facility which will be exceptionally costly and time consuming to repair.

I have instructed MWH that the City will no longer use copper piping in the construction of any of our facilities; however, electrical system, the most costly in the construction, remain wholly vulnerable.

Why wasn't the building better secured and monitored? That much damage can't be done in a day. Plus when the arrest was made there was evidence that people were living in the center!

So I started a petition, to be presented this Friday at meeting with the City Council, NORD and FEMA, stating it is NORD's responsibility to do what need to be done so that the pool can be opened this summer. If you agree, PLEASE sign the petition and tell your friends. THANK YOU!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/open-lyons-center-pool

We've been tagged.


We have a long metal shed across the back of our property that backs up to a field. One day in the last week or so it got tagged. Big time. I'm not sure how I feel about this.


I am amazed they were able to work in such close confines. There's only about 14 inches between the fence and the shed. G discovered graffiti artists wear latex gloves because he found some along with empty spray paint cans.

They're baaaaaack!


New school zone flashing signs have been going up Uptown. They are very visible and appear to be solar powered. So no more excuses, slow it down.

I love April in New Orleans. The weather, while very unpredictable, can be spectacular. Today, after several stormy days this week, is gorgeous. I remembered to put on sunscreen (unlike Mardi Gras) and put on a floppy hat. After voting and walking to Harry's Ace for a few things, we stopped by Cafe Atchafalaya for a crawfish boil. Lordy be, this was some of the best crawfish I've had in a while. Very flavorful, hot and spicy. They had a trio playing tunes while we stood outside, sucking heads, pinching tails, drinking beer and chatting with neighbors from the 'hood.

After our fill, we headed over to the Freret Street Festival. It's a shame I was so full of crawfish because there was some good smelling food there. It was very crowded. I was looking for a jewelry maker who is usually at the Freret Market. It took us our third time down the street for me to see her. I bought her shotgun house necklace. Love it!

(P.S. I can't remember if I said this before but a friend of ours bought Cafe Atchafalaya back in January and has changed up some things for the better. Open on Mondays. Check it out!)

NOLA in the NYT

Just two days ago, the New York Times had an article about brewing in NOLA. Today, we get another shout out in an article "Reinventing American's Cities: The Time is Now" along with LA, The Bronx and Buffalo. The article mentions how I-10 sliced though a once vibrant community...

In New Orleans, for example, the 10 Freeway bulldozed through one of the city’s most vibrant African-American communities, becoming a psychological barrier between the black middle-class Treme neighborhood and the tourist-infested French Quarter.

... but there was no mention of the UNOP or Master Plan; and the Master Plan calls to remove I-10 in this same spot. (UNOP may have addressed this as well, I don't know.)

I Googled the author's name (Nicolai Ouroussoff) and stumbled upon this lively blog, "Lost City" about disappearing New York landmarks.

R.I.P. Wah Laundry Sign


Any old sign aficionado who's driven down Freret Street has noticed the Wah Laundry sign. The good news is the owners of this long neglected building is finally doing some work on it. It only took an expose on TV. Public humiliation does work! The bad news is they took the sign down. I snapped these pics just before they started work. Will the sign go back up? I'll let you know.

Mmmmm beer....

With the opening of a new brewery in New Orleans - NOLA Brewing - the brewing scene has been in the media lately, including a NY Times article "New Orleans Gets its Brew Back."

G has been a home brewer for years. After Katrina, his favorite local brewing supply store, Brew Ha Ha, sadly closed. He bought up some ingredients for a brew before they closed. Since then, he's made only one or two other batches of beer, after visiting a brew store in Houston. But in the last few months, a new brew supply store has open, Brewstock, on Oak Street and G has been a brewing fiend. Some folks got to sample one of his latest brews at our St. Pat's Parade party. Brewing beer makes G happy, which makes me happy. And it's also "green" - no one is recycling glass right now, so no beer bottles to throw away. (Wine on the other hand...) G's next plan is to try growing hops. I'll post photos on the garden blog once this get going.

This has been a week consumed with neighborhood/community type meetings. Because I am the president of my neighborhood association, I get bombarded with emails and invitations to participate in this, attend that, disseminate this.

It started Saturday morning, 9am. It was a gorgeous day. G and went to a meeting for a briefing on the Draft Master Plan. Waste of time. I fully support the Master Plan and will read as much of the draft as I can, and attend another meeting for my district in April. But nothing new was unveiled at the meeting. After the podium got taken over by a civil rights activist who called everyone in the room racists, and microphones were being set up for the Q&A we decided we had had enough and it was time to go.

Tuesday evening I went to the District 2 NONPACC meeting, which was pretty good. Freezing cold room. A representative from the DA’s office was there. Under Canizzaro, the DAs and NOPDs are going to work together, no more pointing fingers, communicate with each other. What a concept! That would make a good TV series. Oh wait, it is. Sarcasm aside, I am hopeful that real change is happening, call me naive. The Gray Ghost made an appearance to talk about his Operation Clean Sweep. I bit my tongue and didn’t heckle him nor did anyone else. (I was happy to read this article “Graffiti eraser told to keep his hands off”)

Wednesday was the annual meeting with the NPN. Another freezing room, what’s with that? The meeting went way past the allotted time, and ironically, I blame the facilitator they hired. She talked to us like we were elementary school children. “So I want us all to practice active listening. Can someone tell me three things of interest Bob just said?” Clap, clap, clap. At one point, everyone was asked to pull a folded piece of paper out of a box. When we were allowed to open it, I looked at mine “Advice from a Cat” with a cute picture of a kitty. Debby sitting next to me had “Advice from a Butterfly.” Madam Facilitator went around the room asking who had the various animals “Where are my bears? RRROWWRR!” Yes, she made animal noises too. “What advice did you get from the bear?” She closed the evening with a poem about how “crazy” people change the world. Some one asked her who wrote it. She struggled with the name… “Jack Mumble… He wrote a book called On the Road…” Everyone yelled in unison “Jack Kerouac!” Lordy. (Side note: This “poem” was actually from an Apple commercial, not On the Road.)

Tonight’s there’s a townhall meeting with state representatives. I was going to go, but I’ve had enough public forums to last me a while. I haven’t had a quiet dinner at home evening with my husband in over a week. Plus there’s good TV tonight.

Smoke and mirrors

I feel baffled when people “play” the race card. One recent example: Veronica White calling Stacy Head a racist. In my dealings with Ms. Head she’s never said or done anything that made me think she is a racist. Thanks to an excellent post on American Zombie I now understand why I feel baffled – it’s not about race. Duh!

Have you noticed how people who boldly proclaim themselves to be something are usually the opposite? Vitter and family values for one example? If someone has to blow his or her own trumpet so much, it makes you wonder. Maybe we can assume the reverse – some one who keeps calling other people racist is actually the racist. It’s a game politicians play when running for office. Pay attention to whom is slinging the mud, directing the discussion away from issues and from themselves.

The old guard – black and white – is coming down and they are not going to go quietly.

* * * * *

It’s Springtime again. Which means everything covered in green pollen and I continue my gardening attempts seen here on my garden blog.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

The NEW Mid-City Lanes?!?! link

Happy St. Patty's Day!



This makes me laugh so hard I cry. Oh boy oh boy...

Today is a dreary, rainy day. Yesterday was the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Parade and our 3rd Annual parade party. I'm too tired to do a full recount here today and I didn't take a single photo. I will however post the second half of my Mardi Gras saga.

A never-ending cycle – Part 2






Unlike Saturday, I went to all 3 afternoon Uptown parades: Okeanos (so-so, too much blaring bad music), Mid-City (nice) and Thoth (very nice). I walked from our house, up Magazine to a party at Jefferson stopping long the way to chat with people I knew. We were on a balcony, which is why I was able to get good photos of floats. I got a lot of exercise this day. Walked back home once the parades were over. Then G and I walked to a party over by Charlie’s Steak House and watched Bacchus on Napoleon Ave. Or I should say we tried to. People started setting up camp on Napoleon Wednesday; I know because I drive down it to work every day. We were stuck half way back, behind ladders. The worst part was using the City of NO port-o-potties. UGH.

Bacchus on Napoleon.

Not going to watch parades on Napoleon any more. We got a call from a friend who was in the Garden District, so we crossed Napoleon and hoofed if over to 6th street. We caught most of the parade again. This time we could see since the crowds were smaller. We hit two parties during the course of the evening and there was zero food. After the parade we walked back to Magazine Street for some dinner and drinks.

Bacchus on St. Charles Ave - better. Hard to get good night photos.

Flambeaux

I had learned my lesson from the previous years and took Monday off. I did go into the office for a bit and then spent the afternoon running errands. That evening we met friends on St. Charles Ave. to watch Proteus and Orpheus. I vowed to not drink too much so I wouldn’t be hung over Mardi Gras day. It didn’t work out that way since I was fed an endless stream of red wine. (I’ve decided wine and parades don’t mix. No beer either, makes me pee too much. Gin + tonic = good. Scotch = good) After the parade, you guessed it: Magazine Street for dinner and more drinks.

Mardi Gras day was another warm and beautiful day. After a fortifying breakfast we set out on foot to Liprap’s for their annual party. I love seeing all the people and costumes while walking along St. Charles Avenue. After visiting for a while we followed Adrastos and Dr. A to Krewe of Pants. We were at 3rd Street watching Rex.

The king of Rex

Boeuf Gras "the fatted ox"

Didn’t catch much. After Rex was over we all converged at the House of Pants, hanging out outside. You know that shooting that took place? It happened 2 blocks away from us. We were oblivious until I noticed a cop running down the street, gun in hand, “Uh hey guys? That cop over there has his gun drawn.” Another cop appeared, then another. People started rushing by and we asked what was going on. Seconds later, many police cars with light going pulled up and an ambulance. We got herded inside and watched the proceedings from the windows. They recovered a gun near by and we saw both suspects get put in cars in cuffs. I have to say I was pretty impressed with the NOPD's response. It’s hard enough to catch bad guys, but when there are hundreds of people, probably drunk, milling around clueless, makes it even more challenging. The one plus of all the people was there were plenty of witnesses. Adrastos also has an account here. I had considered going down to the Marigny but it was too late once the cops let us out and my buzz was long gone. G and I just walked home and relaxed. Just when I had thought Mardi Gras was over for me, we got a call from the Mad Irishman that a friend who cooks for Commander’s Palace was making gumbo and potato salad and get ourselves over there. Man was that good eating. Drinks at the Rendezvous followed that. I drew the line at shots. Jagermeister at that. Yuck. Works slows down around Mardi Gras since clients are also busy with parties, parades and balls so I took Wednesday off to recuperate.

Mardi Gras '09 - excellent weather, skimpy throws, gorgeous floats that went by too fast, good company, marred only by the shooting.

It’s never good when your mechanic calls you and says “Here’s something I’ve never seen before…” He found cat or dog food in (or near) my car’s intake manifold. He figures some critter’s been stashing it in there. WTF?!???

I first went to the Car Talk web site and there were two instances of something like this happening to others.

Another possibility here. Have you removed the air cleaner top and verified that the air cleaner is not full of stuff stashed in there by rats?
Slim odds I know but a VW was towed into the shop one time that would barely even run and the housing was completely full of dog food. Rats had gnawed their way in and had turned the air cleaner into their own personal bank vault. The owner stated that he had noticed the car running worse and worse over time.

And I also found this on a Prius chat site.

I hope my mechanic can cover up some of the inlets with screening as suggested in the articles. I’ve heard of rodents chewing on wire but never stashing food in a car. Ugh.

Flexi-Lent

In case you didn’t know, the whole purpose of Mardi Gras is to have one big blow out before Lent. Many non- Catholic people in New Orleans observe a form of Lent. It’s sort of a do-over for the New Year’s resolutions you didn’t keep. I decided to do a mini-Lent between now and the Irish Channel Parade March 14th. No booze (whimper), South Beach Diet Phase 1 and lots more exercise. I think I can keep that up 2 weeks. And putting up here will give me motivation, I hope.

Similar to my idea is something my friend emailed me “Flexi-Lent”

Flexi-Lent is a modern twist on the traditional Catholic practice of giving up vices (like booze) and living healthy between Mardi Gras and Good Friday (which is the Friday before Easter Sunday). Some Catholics believe it is acceptable to drink on Sundays during lent. Irish Catholics naturally add St. Patrick’s Day to that list. Thus, it appears fine to drink seven times during Lent. You get seven exemptions, in other words.

Here’s the modern twist: Instead of being confined to those specific seven days, we have decided to make the exemptions flexible. In other words, you have seven exemptions (or 12-hour drinking periods) during Lent, which you can use any time you want. One can engage in multiple vices during one exemption period. (Note: There is no solid theological support for that rule.) Exemptions can be used whenever you want. They can perhaps even be bought and sold on the free market (but I’ll leave that to the theologians).

Also, there is typically a fitness component. I try to run 100 miles during lent, but my foot is hurt so I’m not doing that. (I’m working on some new goal

Finally, be smart with your exemptions. Save them. Don’t burn them quickly. And remember St. Patrick’s Day is one of the seven exemptions.

Flexi-Lent ends on Good Friday, at which point all Flexi-Lentarians will have a party, which will be known as Flexivus.

And remember: Flexi-Lent is Exci-Lent!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

A never ending cycle – Part 1

Some of this year's parade booty.

So I survived another Mardi Gras. When I first moved here, I went to as many parades, concerts and parties as I could. After a few years, the novelty wears off and the stamina wanes. The couple of times I lived on the parade route and embraced it fully. There were years where I went out of town or stayed in town and tried to avoid festivities. You can’t avoid Mardi Gras here; that’s like trying to avoid Christmas. There are Mardi Gras decorations, songs, special foods, parties, and it’s every where. There are also good Mardi Gras experiences and bad ones. Since Katrina, we’ve stayed and played. I’m still recuperating, but I think a lingering cold may have something to do with that.

First parade was Krewe de Vieux, Feb 7. They parade in the Marigny and French Quarter and walk the route with small, satirical, plus some vulgar floats. G hates the French Quarter and never wants to go. I had a plan and a back up plan. Plan A: meeting people in the Marigny, fell apart because we left late (my fault). Plan B: go to friend’s gallery on Royal Street went into action. We parked, hoofed it across the Quarter and had dinner at Gato Negro. Some neighbors sat next to us and we all discussed how KdV never starts on time and they would be slow so we were fine with time. We finished dinner and walked over to our friend’s gallery. Much to our surprise the parade had already passed! So we did a quick 180 and scooted over to Decatur, as did everyone else in the Quarter. The last few floats went flying by at warp speed. G refuses to go ever again.

Krewe of Muses signature shoe float.
Their most coveted throw is decorated shoes.

You get spoiled living in the part of Uptown we do where you can walk a few blocks from your home to the parades. Having to get in a car, drive and park? We scoff at that notion. And we’ve learned to be selective about which parades we attend. Thursday before Mardi Gras (this year Feb. 19) is Muses along with Babylon and Chaos. Muses is hands down one of our favorite parades: it’s beautiful, funny, lots of marching bands, with creative throws. Bonus this year is the new extended Uptown route now starting at Jefferson and Magazine. It was a joy to see Muses and the other parades on Magazine. No huge crowds or obnoxious walls o’ ladders. Some friends of ours have a party for Muses so that makes it even more enjoyable. At any time a parade can stall and this night there was about an hour delay as a Chaos float broke down. Muses stood still on Magazine in front of us. People walked around, some went back to the party for more food. A friend visiting from out of town found me, so we sat in some chairs and caught up. This seemed to be the year of speeding parades. Once Muses started rolling they flew by. I was trying to find friends in the dance groups but only found one. Speedy parades are no fun because you can’t take in the whole float decoration and you catch less throws.

The last photo I took before my battery died. Boo hoo.

G and I took Friday off, walking from our house to a restaurant for dinner, then over to our usual Friday night hangout for drinks. 5 blocks away the parades were rolling, but in “the pocket” (we get surrounded by all sides by parades and can’t leave via car), it was quiet. We ended up skipping all parades Saturday. We had plans to go Mid-City since several friend were having Endymion parties. I just didn’t have the energy for it thanks to the earlier mentioned lingering cold. Since there are no Uptown parades that night, we ventured outside of the pocket for dinner and had a quiet night.

Mardi Gras Mambo

Tonight kicks off the first of 5 consecutive days of Uptown Mardi Gras parades. I get paraded out so I don’t go to each and every parade like I did when I first moved here. Twice I’ve lived on the parade route and that kind of spoils you too. But the Mardi Gras buzz is in the air.

Port-o-lets dot the neutral grounds and this particular one caught my eye. The signs on it says “Donations $1.00” “Pee for Paris” “5th Grade French Audubon Charter” A 5th grade French class is raising funds by letting people use their port-o-let. How funny is that? I may go by and donate a dollar.


People ask “have you been to Mardi Gras?” that’s like asking “have you been to Christmas?” It’s a holiday season and people decorate their house like they do for Christmas. The green and red get switched out for purple green or gold.