Nola Black and White V

“Photographs and Random Brain Droppings."

There is an old saying about New Orleans, “You can live in any city but New Orleans is the only city that lives in you.” This old adage seems rather parasitic, no? When I first heard this saying I visions of small, worm-like creatures swimming in my blood feasting on my red blood cells. However, once I was able to over come the horror movie playing in my head, the thought occurred to me that yeah, deep down inside of me I am hooked into New Orleans like no place else. Nola has a lot to be afraid of: scary streets full of dangerously deep pot holes, broken sidewalks, and of course car hijacking. Why would anyone want to live or visit New Orleans?

Bill and his pet opossum, Saffron, live in the French Quarter

Well, the one thing that keeps me coming back and connected to New Orleans, not discounting my family living there, is joie de vie! There is an overwhelming, uninhibited and non-judgmental joy about living life. There is a sense of freedom to be one’s self, where the acceptance of any non invasive or trespassing lifestyle is pretty much okay with New Orleans. As Muhammad Ali once said, “ I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I am free to be who I want to be.”

And, oh yeah, the food, le fait-dodos, the parades, the festivals, the fact that costumes are the basic outfit of the citizens, and the simple fact that New Orleans looks different from any other U.S. city, including the nostalgic 18th- and 19th-century buildings and the faded beauty of the French Quarter. Walk down any neighborhood street and ask yourself how many homes look alike. Answer: few--if any. 

What about trees? I remember when I first moved to Texas and I asked someone, “Where are the trees?” That person pointed to something that we, in New Orleans, call a bush. New Orleans’ trees are magnificent.

And then there are the people who give the city so much character. For example, how many people in your life have you met that had as their primary pet, an opossum?

Your honor, the defense rests…..There’s no place like New Orleans.

Alex