Covert Package Delivery

Returning home from a nice, long weekend bike ride, Kyle and I arrive home to find this attached to our door knob.


So we look.


Are you serious?


My yearbook came! (I made a yearbook for my kids and forgot to order one for myself.)

I love surprises under bags of putting soil.

Small Talk About the Weather

Egads, is it humid down here. While the fall, winter, and spring months weren't much to speak of (with the exception of there being a lot of wonderfully sunny days), summer is definitely noticeable. It isn't even officially summer yet, and for the last couple weeks, I feel like I am experiencing what we Wisconsinites go through only during the last few weeks of summer: extreme humidity. Even during Wisconsin's most humid days, the evenings offer some reprieve from the heat and humidity. Down here, there is no break. The evenings are just as oppressive as the day. You cannot open the window for some "fresh air" because the only refreshing place is any place that has air conditioning.

Can you believe I just said that? I shocked myself last summer when I wouldn't want to leave Helen's sanctuary of air conditioning. My whole life I've been one of those "live with the weather" types, enjoying salty sweat coming out my pores. Moving down here changed all that. I'm sad to say it, because I realize that air conditioning is quite toxic for the environment and sudden temperature changes are not very healthy for the body, but the fact of the matter is this: if you don't have air conditioning here, you will not get anything done. The humidty and heat combined manage to suck almost all the energy out of your body, so much so, that all you want to do is lay on the couch, a hammock, or under a tree. You become incredibly tired. You move very slowly. You lose your appetite. Your muscles begin to atrophy. You literally start to melt.

Once the AC is on, you feel like a new person and suddenly, you have all this energy. How people lived down here before air conditioning was invented is beyond me. I can understand why they drink so much iced tea though. Caffiene can be a life saver!

The weather isn't yet to the point where it doesn't cool of at night. As you can see, it still goes into the 70s after the sun goes down. But those days are numbered. Having been here for only one full August in my life, I know what the end of summer feels like here, and I am not looking forward to it one iota.

Then my mom and I went to Chaz Fest

Ah yes. It was great music, my mom loved the jazz with our friend Helen Gillet on cello, James Singleton on bass, and others. Naked on the Floor, I think the group was. Well, our car was on the verge of breaking down but we were still having a good time.

Here is the Chaz Fest logo on canvas.




Here's my mom's favorite group.




This is the Hot Eight Brass Band, I think. There are so many here, I get confused.




A nice time was had by all, and I also enjoyed a wonderful piece of crawfish bread (sort of calzoney-like).

My mom and I went to Mardi Gras World

For some reason I thought we should walk there from the quarter. We made it, a few blisters later. However, it was a good reason to use Nicole's camera again! I tried to avoid the flash for pretty much every photo. The camera is great for automatic settings, ISO and other things that I have little clue about. Anyway, here are some new photos of the fiberglass and styrofoam world that they unleash for the parades here.


I'll try and explain where I know what's going on. No clue here.




Or here. You should note that they repaint these each year though.




An obligatory photo of my mom.




And one of me, as much as it pains me.




This looks almost Mayan.




Some lovely sea life.




You can get some idea of the layout of their warehouse. They also have sections for folks to work, and a touristy gift shop where they feed you cake and coffee.




This is some sort of sacrificial new orleans cow. A butcher is sneaking up behind him.




One of my favorites. The pelican is the state bird. We see them all the time here.




Finally, we took a picture of this Katrina memorial art on Convention Center Boulevard. Scrap metal and recycled materials.

Some views with Nicole's new camera

Well, a part of our tax return was well spent, with a refurbished Nikon D60. Here are some pleasant photos showing parts of Audubon park:



Just a general open park scene, nice overhanging oaks.




Ah, what am I looking at? Who knows.




The fountain just north of Magazine St.




This one with the birdy is pretty as a painting, I must say.




Nicole is wondering why she let me have the camera.




A bit of old aesthetic in the park.




As well as some newer aesthetic.



After sitting on the ground for 100 years, the tree grew to my form.

Our bike ride to target

Hello again! For lack of photos, here's another map. On Sunday we decided to bike to target to get some storage containers, and ended up getting a food processor and jigsaw! On the way we stopped at a knitting store and grocery store in the French Quarter and stopped at a cafe in uptown to play a game called Settlers with some friends. Here is a map of our route (total = 26 miles):



View Mid-City to Target in a larger map