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Lovin life in the "Land of Dreamy Dreams” and some reasons why New Orleans is not just a place.

Almost three years ago, after nearly drowning in the fast approaching Gulf of Mexico it is just common sense to expect that New Orleans is not going to become some Hi Tech, Medical or Educational mecca. The oil companies have been leaving town for years. Long term investments are considered speculative at best...

When the condition of our levees is somewhat speculative as well... what are we to expect. The Army Corpse (sic) of Engineers has admitted fault in their design and construction. The climate of "corruption" has made it hard to do business, and the climate in general these days is not conducive to life as we know it... (unless your a cockroach)... This place has always tested ones "Faith."...

After the storm, the bars opened before there was electricity. While much of the city Languished in Mold and it's resident refugees were spread as far as Alaska and Hawaii, The French Quarter was populated by hard drinking FEMA employees, First Responders, Military of all stripes and those "special" people of the "Quarters" that never leave... The Mardi Gras went on while the city's only emergency room was a mash tent.

One asset we still do have is our culture. It is hard to explain, but suffice to say it ain't the same in Topeka... or anywhere else for that matter. While geographically in the so called Deep South, New Orleans is hardly an American city of any typical description. Most people outside of New Orleans, think of the city as only being the eight blocks of Whorseshit drunkenness that is Bourbon Street. Many natives rarely set foot on that part of Bourbon Street

While the folks from Oklahoma sit down to a Tits, burgers and beers at the Hustler Club, the rest of the French Quarter has many bars and restaurants that tourists can't find, The cool courtyard patios of the Quarter that can only be seen through filigreed wrought iron gates and dark carrigeways. Hear the laughter and stories of Ghosts still with us... It is in these places you will find the characters and lifestyles that have inspired writers for centuries.

During much of the 19th century, Other than New York City, New Orleans was the largest port destination for European immigrants to the United States, Our city's ancestors includes groups of of all nationalities and ethnicity's. These people and the freed sons and daughters of slaves settled in neighborhoods with names like the; Irish Channel, The Black Pearl, Gerttown, Hollygrove, Fauberg Marigny, Bywater, Treme and many others. While neighborhoods having their distinctive personalities, the city was mostly integrated in both racial and socio- economic terms as well. an effect of the early settlers finding "Higher Ground"... When I was a child, for the most part these neighborhoods were welcome to all.

Almost three years after the Storm, The still visible "high water" line now crosses all these imaginary boundries, just as I did when I was younger. Riding the streetcar past the grand mansions on St. Charles Avenue...Transferring to the "Feret jet, " a bus that passed by the "poor peoples" homes. I never noticed the difference... neither did Katrina...

One of the things that makes life special here, is the Musicality of the city... the sound of Street Cars, boats on the river, rain on tin roofs, English spoken 33 ways... Everything, celebrated in song... My earliest memories are set to the sounds of syncopated rhythms, moaning horn melodies and free spirited dance.

The Vegetable Man drove by daily singing his wares in predictable song.
Got da Mirleetons, Creeeole Toms, greens and cabs... come n gitcha banananas...

Unintelligible to all but his customers and friends... He was one of the Islanos or Creoles whos ancestors were originally from the Canary Islands.

I grew up not far from cemeteries where the African descendants burial tradition dictated a solemn march to the grave... following the internment, a raucous second line parade, A brass band and sometimes hundreds of people dancing in the street. After the tears of sadness for ones loss, Men and Women " Poppin the Gator," celebrating that the "Deceased" had gone to a better place.

Hearing a Lone Drum of somber mourning in the distance, we would pony up our "Sting Rays" and head down to "Latuso's Grocery" for a cold root beer and wait for the "second line"...

The African American "Jazz Funeral" was part of my childhood. It never occurred to me that everyone in America did not have the same funereal experience... and that it wasn't normally attended by white kids on bicycles. Spirituality in New Orleans is something one must witness to believe... Even our football team, The "Saints" play in the now infamous Superdome, reputedly built over the original grave of Voo Doo Queen, Marie Laveau. The traditions and ritual of primarily Catholicism and African belief combined in a passionate celebration of life as well as death...

As a Child in my neighborhood of "Carrollton," There was only one church, "Mater Dolor Rosa." Everyone went. I didn't know the "races" were supposed to be different... I went to a "Jewish" school. Maybe the Naivete' that is youth shielded me from the larger world, In those idyllic days, We lived together, everyone was different, everyone was an individual; Worthy of his character and not so much his history. The lines here are blurred. I still wonder...Man still dreams of this...

Even our diet reflects our musical culture. Crawfish boils, Coshon de Lait, Muffelletta Sandwiches, Gumbo, Po-Boys, Jambalaya. A myriad of spices combined with love and creativity... Shared with friends and family, It makes you feel good, Red Beans and Rice, a day long ritual of cooking, resulting in a few days feast. All of this and a liberal attitude when it comes to drink.

Like a spirited jam of horn players trying to cut each other on the bandstand. Our food culture takes the best of wildly divergent ingredients and methods and melds them into new and exciting melodies of flavor and sensation.

The spread on a typical New Orlenians table takes many clues from the classic French Provincial, while borrowing influence from around the globe. The freshest ingredients available, combined in classical form, always representing the season.

I grew up in a home filled the scent of onions and peppers being sautéed as a base for the Main Dish. Butter and Pork Fat were used liberally... My Mom had no problem with Oyster Dressing or Stuffed Goose and Duck on Thanksgiving. Now we have expanded those dishes horizons with a combination of local style and international ingredients resulting in some of the best eating on earth..

Our Sunday familiy dinner was usually Fried Chicken, rice and gravy or maybe boiled Crawfish, Crabs and Shrimp... the "Seafood Boil" is a Louisiana family ritual... usually with the family patriarch and other menfolk helpers presiding over a 50 gallon boiling pot of seasonings and seafood, somewhat, like a group of "Barbeque" masters in America...

Our Architecture also reflects the unique variety of ethnicity, culture and class that make up the "Gumbo" that is New Orleans... A "French Quarter" with mostly buildings of "Spanish Colonial" design. Houses who's style is termed Camelback or Shotgun... Creole Cottages, West Indian Verandas, The Grand Mansions of the "Garden District" with their Slave Quarters...ironically, now being converted to chic condos for upwadly mobile professionals.. The front porch steps or "stoop"...a place for meeting and chatting with neighbors and passer buys... Some still call the sidewalks, "banquettes", and medians, "Neutral Grounds"...

In New Orleans, One must travel to the suburbs to see the Faux "English Tudor" and "Italiante" homes that dominate the patina free expanse of American prosperity...our cemetaries are more architecturally interesting...

I love this place, and I love sharing it. Wherever life's travels take me, New Orleans and all of it's quirks will be the home for my heart... If you ever get the chance to come to the "Big Easy" dont miss it. Before the age of Plane Train and Truck; our great city, founded in a crescent bend near the mouth of the "Father of Waters" connected a diverse culture and vibrant commerce to the world. Now, Our levee tamed Mississippi River is no longer allowed to nourish the land with the alluvium of spring floods. Our surrounding Barrier islands and Marshes are subsequently deteriorating. This entire area is quickly being reclaimed by the sea from which it rose. This "rising tide" and the aftermath of recent storms threaten our culture, livleyhoods and very existence... A reminder to be greatful for, and to savor, these wonderful moments that are the circle of life in the land of Dreamy Dreams...

☯ Jeffrey P. Colon May, 2006 Edited 08, all rights reserved... please feel free to share this, I only ask that you let me know beforhand and credit me as author, otherwise I will have a voodoo hex put on your a**... Thank you.