I went for a walk today, taking advantage of yet another beautiful day in New Orleans. On my walk, I saw some things that stood out: Six (6!) For Sale signs in yards. That’s a lot for the three streets I walked. One Mardi Gras ladder (click here if you don’t know what this is). [...]
Pete needed to go to the New Orleans’ main library recently. He knew I’d want to join him on the third floor: the Louisiana Special Collections. Genealogy. I took my trusty Moleskine notebook and went looking for information on an uncle my great-grandmother came to live with after the Galveston storm in 1900. I hit [...]
My uncle died Friday, I found out today. Well, technically, he’s the husband of my first cousin once removed, but what do you call such a relation that is more than twice your age? In the South, we call him “Uncle.” My 80+ year old “aunt” and I share the love of genealogy. I visited [...]
Nola starts her day aware that she has an early morning appointment. The appointment goes off without a hitch. Well, except for the tears. Nola’s client is teary over the demise of her marriage. The client leaves, but the negative feelings stay with Nola. She moves on to reading her e-mails, including a reminder that [...]
They take their daughter to Oktoberfest. This is Sun’s second. She marvels at the oompa band, still too young to enjoy the Chicken Dance. She is too shy to be comfortable on her own feet; she hugs her mother’s legs when set down. Her parents are happy to hold her and not fear her getting [...]
In what passes for a cool Fall day in New Orleans, I took the opportunity to enjoy the weather. Sun and I walked down the street to the little park on the corner. The school kids were sitting on the table and avoided us. I took Sun to the slide and let her come at [...]
She sits on her front porch regularly. She thinks she knows her neighbors well: The couple next door that are having health problems, the woman across the street whose brother is living with her until his home is finally repaired from Katrina, and the neighbor catty-corner from her, Mike, who lives upstairs as he works [...]
While in the office yesterday, I remembered my sister was taking Sun for the night. I had forgotten to give Sun an extra hug. When I got home yesterday evening, the house was quiet. Quiet like it just isn’t anymore; quiet the way it used to always be. It was serene but hollow. CS and [...]