Seashells in the Park: Happy Earth Day!

You see seashells in New Orleans no matter where you go. There are on the sidewalks, in the parks.

I started my day with a vegan brunch at the Eco Cafe Canal where I had the best grits I have ever had in my life. It was so good, I had to ask how did they make them? Good try, but they didn't fall for it! It's also a great place to get freshly pressed juice. I've been coming here for a morning cup of carrot and parsley juice. The lattes are pretty good as well. Then I walked over to one of the local stores, and looked at plants. Took some names down for the ones I want to have in my garden:

tickseed

sunfire

& autumn sage to name a few...

Learned the difference between perennials and biennials: the former lasts for three seasons or more, the latter, according to Flower Gardens by Suite 101, "grows vegetatively its first year, lives over the winter, then finally blooms in the second season. Once it has bloomed and set seed, it dies. Foxgloves and hollyhocks are usually biennial."

The point is, the vegetation, foliage and gardens here are amazing. One can truly grow one's own food here. Many of the plants I see are tropical and remind me of Trinidad and Hawaii: various palms, ferns, flowers. Oh, & I forgot to mention that I smelled my first magnolia the other day! Wow. Did you know that you can't pick them because if you do, they turn brown? So you have to leave them on the tree. I love that. And the oaktrees that flank the streets. And the sweet smell of jasmine that wafts through the air. I thought that the only thing cities had to offer its wildlife were potholes for birdbaths...BUT nature sustains itself, the giant roots of the oak breaking through the concrete is testimony to that.

I could live on the St. Charles street car. Someone misses a stop and the streetcar driver amicably brings the car to an abrupt halt. You need to speak up now, she admonishes in a friendly voice. The whole car erupts in laughter and I am like, is this what city life is like in New Orleans? People are so relaxed! The woman who sits next to me confesses under her breath, these people better get their act together! I smile, ok, so it's not that chill. She leans over and asks, you from here? I confess that I am not. I'm sorry she says. It's just that my sister is in the hospital, I just got off of work. I have to go home and make dinner for the kids and my husband...but her face is peaceful. Turns out she is older than me, but as they say, good black don't crack. I had to ask her, how come she looks so peaceful? Faith, she replied, and before she disembarks, echoes what many locals have been saying to me when they meet me, "Be careful, now..."

I'm not romanticizing New Orleans. You can't. Lives here are so disparate, so varied. On the street car there is the woman who's breasts are hanging out and in true New York style, every one just looks away. Her tattoo on her arm reads, Ms. Sadie, and let me tell you, there are no shortage of tattoos in this town. Ms. Sadie is wearing a tight gray bodysuit with purple stripes. Eventually, she pulls up her top, much to the blushing tourists relief. Like the Joy Theatre on Elk and Canal, there are people here who you know once shined, perhaps in childhood? But now their existence seems but a distant past to the shell that is now present. Unoccupied bodies, souls which have fled elsewhere.

Charles Street is stupendous. There are large plantation houses with seemingly out-of-proportionally small lawns. There are shotgun houses I long to see the insides of. There are gigantic stone mansions, seemingly abandoned. This town has ghosts. But friendly ones, I think.

There are a lot of caterpillars here. Many get squashed on the pavement, perhaps when they get too ambitious? Doesn't anyone know that they are allowed to be? They will, if allowed to live, turn into butterflies.

Plastic beads from Mardi Gras are still hanging from majestic oak trees on Charles Street.

The other day I met BJ, a woman originally from Ohio (New Orleans has a lot of transplants). She got here four years ago. She was on her way to Arizona, a destination still in her dreams, "I promised myself that I would not be here for another Mardi Gras..." She says with a little defeat in her voice. BJ points out the magnolias to me. She teaches me what a shotgun house is. She lived in Europe for 16 years and when I told her I lived in Copenhagen her face came alive and said, "You're just like Nella Larsen." The other time BJ's face came alive, in fact, she transformed into an 11 year-old gushing with excitement, was when she told me about her love-affair with the 1930s. "I was born in the wrong era," she confided. "Everything about the 30s was better. Everything was quality, more crafted." She reminisces as though she was actually there. "In fact, the next time I go to Europe, I will do it by boat." There is something in her eyes that tells me that she indeed lived in that time...that her soul is a true time traveller.
At Audubon Park, I hang out with the trees.

Ladies & gentlemen, the trees of Audubon Park:






I bumped into some kids giving out free hugs. When asked why, "Because we want to do something positive for the world! It's Earth Day!"



I found this gem in the park:



and thanks to Garden District Needlework Shop, was able to buy amazing yarn and make this hat:



I skipped the zoo cause I don't like seeing animals in cages.

I like: heycafe (great veggie burger, coffee, lemonade, location, zine collection). I also visited some amazing stores, one of them Blue Dream, opened up by a transplanted New Yorker, Sam. He sells vintage clothing and other oddities. It's located at 2038 Magazine Street. Great store, great energy!

I love this city. It's got edge. It's got flavor. And it's completely bandit. For real.

farvel,
the lab