Spring and New Orleans

Hello, family! I hope you’re all enjoying this first gorgeous day of spring. The wind may be gusting, but the sun is warm, and the trees are beginning to bud. I just got back from a walk in the Great Plains Nature Center, which is only a 20 minute walk from our apartment. While there, I had the pleasure of seeing 18 turtles sunning themselves on logs in Chisholm Creek. Eighteen at the same time – all different colors and sizes, some nuzzling each other.

Last week and weekend, I got to spend some time in New Orleans for a conference for work. The last time I was in New Orleans, it was on a family vacation the summer before my 7th grade year. I remember Bourbon Street and the Superdome and the unfamiliar feeling of the being in the minority when the four of us boarded a bus downtown. This time around, I took in more sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. It was sensory overload.

When my colleagues and I went out the Thursday after Mardi Gras, we soaked in the sights of decorated verandas, performance artists, sex shops and strip clubs on Bourbon Street, art galleries on Royal Street, and people, people everywhere.



We enjoyed the sounds of live blues, jazz, and Zydeco music, as well as the performances of street musicians of all ages – a family band performing “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” a violinist and guitarist performing “The House of the Rising Sun,” a middle school age boy blasting on his trumpet.

We breathed in the smell of cigar smoke and waffle cones, and we feasted on gumbo, pralines, red beans and rice, and beignets. In fact, on our third night there, we dined at Emeril’s NOLA Restaurant where I indulged in shrimp & grits and three kinds of crème brulee, including mocha and coconut. It was heavenly.



By the time we left on Sunday afternoon, however, we were all ready to get away from the crowds of people (who’d arrived for St. Patrick’s Day) and stench that had overtaken the French Quarter – a foul mix of garbage, horse crap, and cigarette smoke. It feels good to be back in Kansas where the air is fresh and the people are not right on top of you.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I hope to see you at Easter!