a Big & Easy kind of weather week

Wow, after tropical storm Lee swept through, it left behind some amazing weather!  Blue skies, temps under 80 degrees, super low humidity, cool nights…the sort of weather New Orleanians only dream about in September.  Of course, sadly, the temps are already rising & we know that this week was just a little taste or really more like a tease of what we hope to get more of at some point before December.  

As TS Lee was still passing through last week, I got up super early on Saturday morning to get a few errands done before the weather was forecast to get much worse that afternoon.  I drove down St. Charles Ave., & I noticed that the canopy of oak trees was swaying more than usual, but what really struck me were all the mardi gras beads on the streets!  It was actually windy enough that the beads had been shaken from the trees!  It felt like I was driving down St. Charles Ave. just after a mardi gras parade had rolled through uptown…something else New Orleanians don't generally experience in September.

But I digress, on to how I managed to make the most of the amazing weather we had this week...
I got up Tuesday morning & the news was reporting that the weather was gorgeous, then I got on facebook & every nola friend had posted the same thing.  So, I realized that I needed to get off my ass & outside on the double!  I called a friend & fortunately she was also free for the afternoon, so we quickly made a plan to head to city park.  We ventured over to the arboretum observation deck, or as the signs read, the "mountain".  It's the highest point in the city, well, since they got rid of monkey hill at audubon zoo.  It was wild, I mean seriously, we were in the wilderness!  I'd never been in that portion of the park before!  So, I'd say this outing definitely qualifies as an adventure.  We were accompanied by my friend's old & chubby little chihuahua, Trixie, the poor thing had some real difficulty climbing up that "mountain", so she had to be carried most of the way (lucky little bitch).  But, I did manage to climb up the hill all on my own, admittedly, the most outdoorsy I've been in a while.  Of course, we brought some libations, so we toasted on the observation deck with Abita strawberry.  However, with the sun beating down on us at that high altitude, that charming spot above the trees quickly became a perfect weather buzz kill. 

So, we decided to made our way over to the Peristyle to sit by a nice & quiet lagoon with the duckies.  We spread out the sheet I always keep in my trunk for just such occasions & pulled out a bottle of tempranillo (the wine I brought especially, although, if it weren't so hot, I probably would keep a bottle of wine on hand in my trunk, too).  We got a nice shady spot right on the edge of the water, there was a heavenly cool & breeze; it was complete euphoria, people.  UNTIL...we saw something absolutely shocking…there in the lagoon, casually swimming along behind the ducks, was a NUTRIA!!  WTF?!?!  I've only ever seen them in the old nature center & running along the canal on W. Esplanade in Metry, but NOT in city park!!  There were big ones & little ones slithering through the water.  I started snapping shots right away, so that I'd have proof of this nutria siting, but it was difficult to make them out while they were in the water.  Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spot one in the grass just a few yards away…I jumped to into action & zoomed that camera lens in as much as it would go!  I got one good shot of the furry pest looking right at the camera.  I swear we had a moment, but that moment was fleeting, the creepy critter swiftly turned toward the lagoon with is long tail whipping around behind him & I managed to get one shot as he began to waddle away.   I'm uploading them to facebook as I type.  I'm very proud to have documented this life changing event...if I didn't deserve it before, I think that I certainly earned that bottle of tempranillo after that!

Of course, we couldn't let city park be our last stop on this wonderful weather whirlwind of a day.  As soon as my friend's husband was home from work, we were headed over to Bayou St. John to watch the sunset…& yes, there were more Abitas, Restoration Ale this time (one of my personal faves).  It was the perfect way to end a fantabulous nola day.

And, now I'm really glad that I took advantage of the weather on Tuesday because I ended up being on the run the rest of the week.  But, every time I stepped in & out of the car, I still appreciated the absence of humidity smacking me in a face.

So, now we're all counting down the days until we actually make our way into Fall, but we know we've got some time to go.  We just have to be patient.  I'll keep the sweaters in the storage bins under my bed for now.  But, I think there may be more cardigans during the evenings, & I'll take what I can get.  

the Labor Day weekend weather curse

I can no longer remember a Labor Day weekend in nola when the weather was nice.  Katrina hit over Labor Day weekend (I remember I was planning on finally going to the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, but the hurricane put a damper on things).  Then Gustave comes along a few years later, we were all having deja vu, it felt like Katrina all over again.  The storm's path was headed straight for us & gaining strength, due to make landfall over Labor Day weekend.  Fortunately, the city dodged the bullet on that one, but we all evacuated for over a week & I remember having a mini meltdown at the thought of dealing with another disaster like Katrina.  So, as I said in a previous blog, I just hold my breath until we make it past the anniversary of Katrina & then Labor Day weekend.  Not that I think we're totally in the clear, but the further we get into September, the smaller hurricane season gets in the rearview mirror, which is a big relief.

So, it's Labor Day weekend again, & now we're contending with tropical storm Lee…see, we can't escape the Labor Day weekend weather curse!!  Although, New Orleanians hardly blink an eye for tropical storms…been there, done that, yawn.  We're all happy to welcome some much needed rain…it's cooled off temps & given me a break from watering all my outdoor plants.  Plus, it's the perfect excuse to stay in my apartment all weekend chillin' in my sweatpants, catching up on laundry, emails, & crappy tv (as long as the power doesn't go out).  We did have a power outage for about 5 hours in my hood yesterday, that was a bit of an inconvenience, but just as it was beginning to get warm in my apartment, miraculously, the power & AC popped back on…praise the lord!!  All in all, I can't complain, TS Lee has been smooth sailing so far.  I was looking forward to a possible jaunt to Ship Island with friends on Tuesday, but looks like Lee will still be raining on that parade.  There's always next week, we know the temperatures ain't cooling down for a while, so we'll still have beach time.

Rewinding to last week, I finished up the training for the Ken Burns Jazz Event tours.  Unfortunately, I missed the final day for "Jazz & the Story of Survival Today", but I enjoyed "jazz in the quarter" on Thursday.  We walked to Preservation Hall from the Ritz that morning & were greeted with some sort of southern punch (sadly, non-alcoholic).  A staff member at preservation hall gave a brief, but very interesting talk about the history of the space & music club.  During the actual event, the talk will be followed by a live concert, but we skipped that part during the training.  On our way from preservation hall to the Cabildo, us FOC tour guides were finally able to show off our skills to the Tauck folks with a mini tour of our territory, the quarter!  Once in the Cabildo, we were met by Charles Chamberlain, a Louisiana State Museum curator for a guided tour through the museum.  Of course, us FOC tour guides know the Cabildo pretty well, this was more for the Taulk guide directors, but it's always handy to get a refresher course from the expert.  While in the Cabildo, the skies opened up & the first round of hard rain began to fall.  Of course, we all had to walk from the Cabildo to Court of Two Sisters for our jazz brunch & there was no escaping getting wet, but we didn't melt.  And, in true form, I was completely prepared with rain hat, umbrella, & mini towel to dry off in my bag.  Several tour guides laughed at how prepared I was, but I know they were really just overcome by jealousy as they shivered in the chilly restaurant.  We were supposed to enjoy our brunch in the courtyard, but obviously, that wasn't an option.  There was still live jazz & a huge buffet where we all stuffed ourselves until we could barely breathe, again, compliments of Tauck!  This tour is shorter than the "roots of jazz" tour, so the jazz brunch was our last stop.  I had to stick around downtown for a meeting later that afternoon, so I decided the best thing to do while it was still pouring was to head back to the ritz (since our cars were parked in the garage across the street) & get a drink at the bar w/one of my tour guide friends.  All in all, not a bad day in the quarter, finally had my first meal at Court of Two Sisters & learned a little something, too.  

What's on the agenda for the coming week, you might ask?  Well, first we have to get past TS Lee, which should be mostly done with nola after tomorrow.  Then, I'm hoping to make it to the Race exhibit at the U.S. Mint (another Louisiana State Museum site) with some of my tour guide crew.  I also have a FOC "super" events committee meeting on Wednesday morning so we can regroup after the training for the Ken Burns Jazz Event last week.  We have lots to do, & although a month seems like plenty of time, it'll fly right by & we wanna be on the ball for this event.  All of the tour guides will probably be getting together to watch some of the Ken Burns jazz documentary, among other relevant films, compiling research on tour topics, refining our tour routes & talking points, & making sure all tour guides are on the same page.  I'm excited to be part of the committee working to coordinate this event with Taulk and a tour guide for each of the 3 tours, it should be a challenging, but also a rewarding experience.  

Now, I must go put some laundry in the dryer.  Then back on the couch with the book I'm currently reading, It Happened in New Orleans, by Bonnye E. Stuart.  I'm working on collecting more anecdotes to add flavor to my tours.