Noteworthy in Nola

It’s that time of year again- just enough time has passed to get over Carnival and get ready for our next round of visitors- Jazzfest! The first day of the weekend was a washout but Saturday and Sunday weren’t bad. Not that it matters- the rain just doesn’t seem to drive anybody away, they just stay and splash around.

Walking home from getting coffee on Magazine Street, we came across this gorgeous bunch of Wisteria:

The day was grey and threatening rain, which would knock the delicate clusters off, so I grabbed the shot while they were still there.

I will admit to a certain amount of jealousy here- we have the stuff in our backyard, but it’s never really bloomed at all, although it spends the entirety of the warm months trying to reach out and strangle anything it can. I swear I’m going to do a time lapse over the summer to show just how fast the stuff grows. I’m constantly wacking it back, and for a show like this it’d be worth it. Around August I’m always wondering if an execution is in order, I’m so tired of it…but hope springs eternal and I always think “maybe next spring- maybe this will be the year!”

At least now I know where I can go for my spring purple fix.

The herons are busy in Audubon Park these days, molting and nesting on the Island Rookery.

The number of birds on these few trees is staggering- especially when you take into account that each one is around 3 feet high:

I’ll go back in a month or so and see if we can get pics of chicks.

Yesterday was Super Sunday, rescheduled from last week, when it was windy and rain threatened. Instead it was absolutely gorgeous… both the weather and the suits, of course.

We’ve been going long enough now to recognize many of the players, but the person who caught my eye most was my favorite little Indian:

I’ve got pics of her strutting her stuff last year, and 2008.

I didn’t upload as far back as 2007, but now I’m going to have to go back and see if I have pics of her then, too. She’s fascinating to watch, totally self possessed and in charge. This one’s gonna be a heartbreaker, folks…if she’s not already.

And while she’s growing up, the next generation is on the scene:

While their elders are there to show them the way…

Like I said, a gorgeous day all around. To see more of the Indians, click here.

This is another eBay ‘slide.’ It was listed as a group of older New Orleans slides, but they arrived burned onto a CD with no originals and I discovered he sells them over and over, retaining the rights. So while I don’t actually “own” this, it seems to be okay as per the TOS to post as long as I give credit and don’t get paid. I surely don’t get paid for the blog, and here’s the link to the seller.

I’m not really sure how I feel about this whole process, but I will admit I haven’t seen these pictures anywhere else, and there are a few that are just amazing and really worth sharing.

The temps have been all over the map these past weeks, but overnight it was damp and the temps shot up, so I headed out before sunrise to see if I could capture some of the season’s last fog:

For just a few weeks in spring, these pink magnolias are everywhere. Despite being about a third of the summer magnolia blooms they’re even more impressive in their way- with no leaves to hide amongst, they really pop.

Words cannot express how amazing this was. It was freezing, nobody cared. It was mobbed, everybody was thrilled. It was phenominally loud, noone expected anything different.

Cars waited for three hours in traffic to get into and out of the city-crowd estimates were 800,000+, pretty amazing when the metro population is around 300k. School bands from all over the state had learned to play Saints anthems and the players themselves were having a fantastic time.

When it was all over the Saints disembarked at Mardi Gras World and disbursed to all points. Drew Brees actually headed to a local dive that’s right around the corner from my office. Sigh. If only we’d known. He hopped behind the bar and took over, ultimately teaching the crowd his chant:

Is he just the nicest, most down to earth guy ever?

Bless you boys. It’s a great time to be in Nola!

New Orleans has been all Saints, all the time for weeks now. It didn’t matter that looking at ESPN or SI just told us how outmatched we were, and the question wasn’t whether we’d win, but only how much we’d lose by.

Spirits remained high anyway. A parade was scheduled for the Tuesday afterward and we were going to show up and have a great time, regardless. The boys fought hard and we loved ‘em no matter what.

Still, it would be nice, wouldn’t it?

So when I saw this prayer candle I had to pick it up (click to read the full text):

I showed it around, everybody got a kick out of it, and I forgot it.

For our viewing party we’d booked a lane at the Rock n’ Bowl, packed up far too much food and headed out to watch the game with several hundred of our compatriots. We were at a bar, ready to steady our nerves or drown our sorrows as needed and (very inexpertly) roll a bowling ball when we just had to look away. At the last minute I tossed the candle into the bag as a joke. There was no way they’d let us fire it up at the lane, but it’d be a laugh anyway.

And things were tense. We’d fought our way back to being only one point behind- 16 Saints/17 Colts. But going into the 4th Quarter things were kinda quiet at the rowdy RnB. With only six minutes left to go, a chick at the next table asked if we might light the candle. People had been coming over to look at it there amongst the Popeye’s chicken boxes and say how funny it was…while still stroking it hopefully. “Sure,” I said, “Can’t hurt, and if they come tell us no we can just put it out.” A lighter was immediately produced and it flared to life:

And everything changed. Just like that. Less than minute after it was lit Shockey got his touchdown, and it was allll over. Things were so crazed that I somehow thought the play being reviewed was the original touchdown, not the 2 point conversion. Momentum was on our side, and when Tracey Porter caught that interception and ran it all the way it was bedlam.

Here’s a highlight reel of the game- skip to 3:40 for what I’m talking about. How funny that of the entire highlight film almost half is footage from the last few minutes of the game:

(By the way, Shockey’s face when they replayed it? The man’s a beast. A glorious, primal, asskicking beast. He’s a treat to watch for sure, and I was wearing my “Hey Shockey Way” tee. )

Now, do I think it’s all thanks to the candle? No, of course not.

But then again it couldn’t have hurt, right?