Partly Cloudy with a chance of Snow

Snow possibilities drive us to shop.  It seemed like a hurricane preparedness day at Rouse's yesterday.
There were no buggies and all of the check out lines were long.

Fortunately, I had only seven items, and I was able to carry them all in the bag that I brought into the store. I was able to use the "sort of" express lane. In New Orleans we get lots of bread, potted meats, and alcohol to fortify us during and after a storm.  I was buying apples, kale, bananas, broccoli, cheese, cannelloni beans, and rigatoni.

I vacated my front row spot and there were four cars waiting to snatch it.  I drove home admiring my quick egress. Tomorrow will be another story.

Driving after a sleet might be fun to watch.  We do not understand ice driving.  I believe that we could start a new winter Olympic event, "Cajun Ice Driving."

We can navigate with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other, while talking on our cell phones. Or we can navigate with a cocktail in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and talk on our cell phones! Yes, we do drink and drive,  I imagine that we have more accidents than those areas that do not provide drive up, and drive-through daiquiri shops.

But, God forbid we might be careful and know how to react when there is patch of black ice!

Cafe Degas is situated in a tree house on Esplanade Ave. in New Orleans.  Having lunch in a tree house allows for a playful afternoon.  A dear friend, Nat, and I shared some wonder and deliciousness this afternoon.

She loves the ambiance and the menu at this Cafe that is midway between the Degas House and the New Orleans Museum of Art(NOMA).  The family house is where Degas spent ten months living, visiting, and painting and NOMA is where several original pieces reside. 

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available from this cocooned eatery. The menu is inspired by the cafes of France.  Today, I indulged in a glass of Trimbach wine and a lovely goat cheese, walnut, and beet salad.  Nat enjoyed a lovely white crab meat salad.

Something about sitting in a tree house helps illicit happy memories and record new ones.  This photo is such a recording.

The lush history of this city allows us to continue to blend cultures and entertain with a European flair.


http://www.cafedegas.com/

Canadian Ducks in Louisiana Waters

One final comment of the Arctic Blast from earlier this week.

• It is over. We woke to 40 degree temps
• The hunters had a ball; shooting their limits
• Guest in the swamps of Louisiana BEware
• Happy hunters are brave? Going out into frigid weather???

• Duck and sausage gumbo will be cheaper this week

Come and get it while the supply lasts.

What's with this arctic blast?

This type of cold weather produces palpitations in the locals.  We have to layer clothes that we rarely wear to combat this arctic blast from Father Winter!

I am inside with a wool turtle neck, a corduroy jacket, winter stockings , velour pants, and a fur hat on my head.

We love our raised shot gun houses in New Orleans.  They are charming but rather energy inefficient. My gas heater has been running all day! I hate the thought of burning up so much of our natural resource, BUT it is still less than 68 degrees inside.

We keep our thermostat at a cool 68 in the winter and 72 in the summer. We have had the floor insulated and the old windows caulked.  It seems to me that the air is leaking in faster than we are able to heat it up. I don't like to complain because there are people with no heat at all.

One of my sweet yoga student knitted a pair of fingerless purple gloves for me. I had them on as I wrote in my journal in the predawn hours.

This evening, I am sitting at the computer with a glass of red wine and my hat still on.  I made a pot of potato and vegetable stew and plan to wrap up in a blanket with my smooth hair miniature dachshund, who protests each time he has to be taken out for a walk.  He thinks that his 13 lbs. of resistance will prohibit me from taking him out.

The two of us look like Nanook of the North as we waddle down the street seeking the sun's warmth.

The Epiphany and the Victory

Only in New Orleans do we celebrate joint mythical and physical experiences simultaneously.  After reading the New Orleans Advocate and it's front page title," Philly Staked," one has the sense that all is celebrated here with some sort of food.  The pun here is read as a steak.  We convert everything into food references.  That is one reason so many travel to our dear city.  The food is always savory, sweet, and memorable!

The Epiphany is celebrated with the King Cake, which I mentioned last week.  Now we have a Philly Steak, which we scorn as a poor choice of sandwich. We have perfected the po-boy sandwich, which my neighbor, at Barcia's serve up with aplomb across the street.  

Here are two event thousands of years apart, but never-the-less paired together like a good wine and cheese.  WE draw upon food to nourish our spirits, and feed our collective souls.  We bury our dead above ground so that we may keep a better watch over them.  We challenge others to cook-offs and costume contests.  We believe that the dead will rise up and assist us in our day to day needs.  Hence, Hap Glaudy's name is evoked each and every time our Saints march towards a play-off game.

Hap "was lead sportscaster for New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL-TV. He was part of a trio of colorful sportscasters that graced the airwaves in New Orleans for the decades beginning in the 1960s extending up until almost 2000." *

Hap swore that if the Saints made it to the Super Bowl that he would dawn a dress and march down Canal Street.  He died before such an event, but that did not stop hundreds of men from fulfilling Hap's promise.

Really, where else have you seen such irreverence and insanity mixed together. You have got to love the irreverence!  Here on the eve of the Epiphany, we are celebrating like Hap and  Wise Fools!

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hap_Glaudi

New Orleans Winter Surprises

Buried socks in book bags, sweaters stuffed into purses, and scarfs left at friends homes  are hazards of the winter weather in New Orleans. You wake up to a cool 46 and by noon it is 67 or 70 degrees.
Knowing what to wear is always a challenge.
I like to call it the weather wheel. It spins around and makes you dizzy.  Our summers are just one tempreture, scalding. The long summer, which may last from April through September, require wearing as little as possible: only cotton, and sleeveless attire.  But, Father Winter leaves us in a quandary.
Visitors from northern climates tease us when the fall temps hit 68, because we take out our hats and coats! We are just preparing for the weather wheel.....Up, down, round, and round.  Grab an end and give it a spin.... If you are coming for a visit, which we sincerely hope that you do, bring a variety of apparel.  You get three seasons for the cost of one visit!