Our dear sister Cow Queen reports from New Orleans:People have not forgotten New Orleans! No they haven't. Anyone who has ever visited here knows that.And New Orleans will be okay. We have seen worse catastrophes through history, and most times we've had no-one to help us recover except ourselves, and perhaps some new immigrants.
It is sad that many of the people who are really good for this city feel that they must move away in order to survive. And oh so many have. I WILL NOT judge anyone who has lived here and then left, but you do not have to leave New Orleans to survive.And it is possible to actually THRIVE here. To do so requires a bottomless pit of energy, the patience of Job and the constant use of creativity to live a life of quality in NOLA. It may not always be easy, but it will always be an interesting journey.
New Orleans is a city of layers. Layers of cultures which have come in successive waves whenever a real change was happening. Imagine an old house with 200 years of layers of paint. Each layer has added its identity onto that of the last. When a layer peels, it reveals those beneath -- a PATINA or vestige of the past, as it were. Each has changed it a little, not completely, but each has smoothed out the sharp edges to a fluid, fuzzy, even decayed blur that is constantly changing with each new layer. Many prefer a fine old patina to a crisp clean new view anyway. Those who continue on here tolerate or embrace this beautiful-versus-ugly state of perpetual decay.
Sure the Vieux Carre is not the total identity of this City. It is however this City's Heart, with which everyone here identifies. And which everyone loves. but for different reasons.
The hope to which I cling is not that New Orleans can survive, I know it will survive, but that it continues to be THE most quirky, unusual and memorable alternative to all other American cities. It will certainly continue to be a laugh-a-minute here, one way or the other. We've learned to laugh at ourselves a lot lately...Come visit, create some memories and "HAVE FUN". You will help keep New Orleans alive.
Was that drag queen dressed as Delta Burke, by any chance?
ReplyDeleteDelta Burke? Who knows, honey? Cow Queen is nothing but insane.
ReplyDeleteThe resemblance is pretty eerie, huh? Especially the moustache.
I spend two New Year's Eves in New Orleans and I had an absolute blast there! LURVED IT! Was sad to see the hurricane hit it.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks for stopping by my blog! Come back soon!
I have always wanted to go to New Orleans. I blame Anne Rice and Boys Gone Wild.
ReplyDeleteIt's all that and more.
ReplyDeleteThe city will survive if people can move forward. If they keep looking back they will turn into a pillar of salt.
ReplyDeleteNew Orleans is a place I enjoy visiting, reminding me of a number of places in the Caribbean and Latin America. I sometimes think what Vertigo would have been like if Hitchcock followed his original plan of shooting it there. In an odd way, I see similarities between Montreal and New Orleans at times. I like the weather better in Montreal.
ReplyDeletePoodle- moving forward has bever been New Orelans strength. It's sidways sliding is a part of its charm
ReplyDeleteJunky-
New Orleans is so much more a part of the Caribbean than it is the US. I'd never heard of Vertigo there, that would have been perfect.
I think Cow Queen looks a lot like Julianne Moore...after a dye job and a rough make-over at the local Retail Rodeo.
ReplyDeleteT$ - I'll tell him you said so. He'll be beyond thrilled.
ReplyDeleteI share this Cow Queen, (Bovine Regina's ?), sentiments.
ReplyDeleteI also have very ambivalent feelings about folks leaving...
But she's right...we've been through the yellow fever, fires, hurricanes, a couple of wars, and
years of neglect. We'll get through this too.