Big Easy Pieces

Just before landing in New Orleans, the pilot asked over the speaker if anyone had change for a twenty. Sweetpea shook her head and smiled, “You know we’re in the Big Easy.”

While touching down and applying the brakes on the plane, the pilot made it sound like he was stopping a horse, “Whoa, boy, slow down, whoa,” (slowing gallop sounds) and then “neigh.”

We were there for Blane’s cousin’s wedding, the one who was our translator on that trip to France where we saw that spooky French property with the bones all over the place. She is a cool girl and she married a cool dude who went to film school. The rehearsal dinner was a crawfish boil, oh boy, and the wedding was just beautiful. We all had a great time.

Of course we had to go out to the French Quarter while there to kill some time between wedding events.

Places like this call me, “Come on in.”

As well as places like this. (AJ, I was thinking about you, this guy gave us tons of free samples and a hefty discount on a case of pralines.)

Had to take a stoll down here. I told the girls that the guy to girl ratio is always about 5:1, and not a single guy on that street is worthy of them. Too bad. One thing I love about this area is how there is music coming out of everywhere, all types, jazz, zydeco, rock, blues, techno, country, you name it. The sounds just sort of all mesh together in one big gumbo of music.

I love these old machines even though they give me the creeps. I wonder what he knows about the future of New Orleans?

Here is a cool video I took of a street performer/acrobat who cuts a flip over some audience members (Sweetpea and Spanky are in there). It is amazing. Street acts are one of my favorite things to see on any trip, and New Orleans is full of them, especially near Jackson Square.

While we were leaving the Quarter for our trip home, we ran across this guy near the river. He was drumming on plastic five gallon cans for donations. I noticed his legs were bruised and he was weak. Then I noticed the hospital bracelet on his wrist. He said he had just been released from the hospital and pointed to his walker, “I got that from them, too.”

Out of all the people I saw out there, all the Hurricane Katrina stories I heard over the weekend, this one man embodied the spirit of the people there the best. Still crippled, but up on their feet and back to work with no excuses, no rest. Just moving on. So really, as weak as this man looked, he possessed some of the greatest strength and resilience I have ever seen.