NOLA and All the Jazz

The Jazz was lots of misunderstandings, and a great time anyway.  As someone pointed out later, trying to organize us is like trying to herd cats.

Three of us made the early service at church.  Grace, Di and i had coffee and a good sermon.  When the collection plate was passed, Grace told me that she had no cash left, and that she had thought about waking up her roomie, CanDo, but didn't because she would feel awful about waking up her Jewish friend to ask for cash to throw in the plate at a Christian church!  We inappropriately giggled right during the service over that one, especially since, CanDo being the sweet person she is, she would have turned her purse inside out to help.  But we did stop after church where Grace could find an ATM and i could get more bottled water and ice for us to pack along on our trip.

We got back just in time to say goodbye to Dayeanu, who had to get back because of the animals and needing to help with her grandson.

As the rest of us gathered later and started to pull out of the driveway in two vehicles, Script was stung by a wasp inside the car.  Our vehicle stopped, but CanDo had already pulled out and was around the corner and actually way ahead before she realized.  A quick call and it was decided for them to go on ahead while we applied first aid.  We would catch up in NOLA itself.

The drive fascinated Script and Eagle.  They liked the "scenery," which is so common to me.  Especially impressive to them was the 10 mile bridge over Lake Ponchartrain and the Bonnet Carre Spillway.  Funny how what is to me so very common, to them is something to be exclaimed over.

Once we got down there, we knew it was time for lunch, so we decided on Franks.  That was a bit of a trick, all of us catching up to each other.  We try to meet at one place, but someone sees another interesting place to stop first, and anyway by the time we settled in at Franks all of us were more than ready to just plain sit.  It was a good choice, as they accommodated us with regular, vegetarian, and vegan muffalettas.

After eating, we just walked, each of us heading out to see what we wanted to see most that was nearby.  At one point i found myself in the Cathedral explaining some Catholic practices to Ninja, and at another in a rundown daiquiri shop so a couple of us could wet our whistles (not me, i fall asleep after half a glass of wine, so i don't bother).  Right before we were to meet at Cafe du Monde, i ran up the street to the French Market Produce Stand for some real food -- fresh fruit.

The coffee and beignets were as good as usual, and it was nice to sit in the shade and have another nice talk with everyone.  Dayeanu sent a text while i was there to say she had gotten home safely.

By this time, the sun was setting and we knew it was time to head home.  One car was heading for the Garden District for a bit, the other to the airport to let WSS rent a car.  My mistake was going to the Garden District because, at the airport, WSS got separated from everyone else.  Di knows NOLA, but not the airport, as she drives in.  So they couldn't find short term parking, and stopped on the highway to wait for her to rent her car and head back that way.  After waiting quite a while, and lots of calls to her phone, they headed back, knowing that she could call me for directions.

She never called, and never answered, even though all of us tried many times to reach her.  About an hour after i got home, she popped back up, having seen all of the scenery of our town trying to find my exit!  She said she had fun going all over by herself, but it still makes me kick myself that i wasn't with her to make it easier.

Plans for Monday were finalized, and all of us settled down in our respective hotels or my abode, to eat and get some rest.


Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Peru

Bicentenario de la Batalla de Tucuman -- Argentina

Constitution Day/Recoronation of King Norodom Sihanouk -- Cambodia

Do Impressions of Famous People Around the Office Day -- again, i wonder about the intentions of those who start these things

Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children(TM) -- sponsored by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University

Feast of Our Lady of Mercy -- Catholic Christian
     Lady of Mercedes Day -- Dominican Republic
     La Merce -- Barcelona, Spain

Festival of the Latest Novelties -- an internet generated holiday to celebrate everything from traditional whoopie cushions to some of the more modern and weird novelty gifts out there; a great day for practical jokers

Going Forth of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Heritage Day -- South Africa

Independence Day/National Day -- Guinea-Bissau(1973)

International Women's Ecommerce Days -- through Friday (celebrating women's buying power)

Mahidol Day -- Thailand (commemorates the passing of Prince Father Mahidol Adulyadej, the "Father of Thai Modern Medicine")

Moose Day -- the day Bullwinkle J. Moose, from Frostbite Falls, MN, US, and his pal Rocky the Flying Squirrel debuted in 1959

National Bluebird of Happiness Day -- US (and no one knows why, but it's supposed to be a day to go spread some happiness)

National Cherries Jubilee Day

New Caledonia Day -- New Caledonia

Punctuation Day -- make sure you are using those punctuation marks correctly!

Republic Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

Santa Cruz Day -- Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Schwenkfelder Thanksgiving -- Pennsylvania Dutch followers of Silesian Reformation theology

St. Gerard's Day (Patron of Hungary)

St. Rupert's Day (Patron of Salzburg, Austria)



Birthdays Today:

Nia Vardalos, 1962
Phil Hartman, 1948
Linda McCartney, 1941
Jim Henson, 1936
Anthony Newley, 1931
Sheila MacRae, 1924
Jim McKay, 1921
F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1896
Horace Walpole, 1717


Today in History:

Prophet Muhammad completes his hijra from Mecca to Medina, 622
The last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire, Manuel I Komnenos, dies; the empire slips into terminal decline, 1180
The Dutch Republic surrenders New Amsterdam to England, 1664
The first autopsy and coroner's jury verdict is recorded in the state of Maryland, 1657
John Jay is appointed by George Washington as the first Chief Justice of the then six-person Supreme Court, which was instituted by the Federal Judiciary Act passed that same day, 1789
US Attorney General Office is created, 1789
The Northern Daily Times becomes the first provincial daily newspaper in London, 1853
Alexander Dey patents a dial time recorder, 1889
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy, 1890
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument, 1906
Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong, 1946
The Honda Motor Company is founded, 1948
Forest fires black out the sun over portions of Canada and New England, and a Blue moon (in the astronomical sense) is seen as far away as Europe, 1950
Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe, is opened in Barcelona, 1957
President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation, 1957
The United States court of appeals orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, 1962
Swaziland joins the United Nations, 1968
Compu-Serve launches the first consumer internet service, which features the first public electronic mail service, 1979
Periodic Great White Spot observed on Saturn, 1990
Hurricane Rita devastates Beaumont, Texas, southwest Louisiana, and finishing off some of the parts of New Orleans and southeast Louisiana that Katrina missed, 2005
The G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA, US, marks the first use of LRAD for crowd control in the US, 2009