Cold Spaghetti

On Saturday, our friend Reilly turned 2 — and super parents Dora (an owner of Frock Candy and Shoe Nami) and Paul (Irish Furniture Maker) set the bar for awesome kids parties! Using Paul’s warehouse, they set up a huge chalk-friendly floor, enormous space jump with attached ball pit, and bubble machine. It was like kid heaven.
Both of my kids were into the bubble machine.
While Will loved throwing himself in the ball pit, Kate just loved the balls that fell out.
Will was especially into the cakes — yes, TWO cakes! When it was time for cake, Will was the first one at the table, positioning himself right across from Reilly. Friend and teacher Renee saw him and instantly saw those wheels turning… mentioning to me how Will was sitting completely erect, still, and at the ready, watching those cakes. I had to check it out myself. I saw him just as Reilly’s aunt was encouraging her to take a finger to swipe some icing. After a few go-’rounds with Reilly (who was hesitating to put her finger on the beautiful pastry), Will crept up on the table, reached over, and swiped a hunk of corner icing before I could even breathe to stop him. (His audacity was met with applause from Reilly’s family so we escaped that one!) Now I know what to discuss when we talk about going to parties!
We all had a great time!

Of the 17 Wards that make up Orleans Parish, the 9th has become it’s most well-known. In the 1920s, the Industrial Canal was dredged through the city’s largest ward, creating the “Upper” and “Lower” sections; “upper” referring to the section upriver from the canal to the west and “lower” as the downriver section to the east. In New Orleans, one tells direction based on the flow of the Mississippi, not the direction of the sun.
Much of the 9th Ward sits above sea level along the natural levee built by the Mississippi River. It is home to historic buildings, million dollar mansions, famous musicians (Fats Domino, Kermit Ruffins, as examples), and the famous Jackson Barracks. Like most of New Orleans, the streets of the Lower 9 are tree-lined, with corner stores, beauty parlors, and small restaurants.

The last census showed that the majority of the inhabitants owned their home and that more than half of them were retired. Of the homeowners, few held mortgages. They simply owned their home outright, having grown in that home and lived there for many years. One of our teachers at Abeona describes her home, flooded in the Gentilly neighborhood in the Upper 9th Ward, as “the pride of her family, her family home” and talks with a tear in her eye about how hard her parents worked to make it a home for her family.
(Note the water line on the stop sign above.) The picture was taken from the Holy Cross neighborhood in the Lower 9th Ward, between St. Claude and the River. Families must gut their homes in a timely manner in order to save them from demolition. Here, someone had gutted their home (from the appearance, this happened many months before). There are so many obstacles to overcome before rebuilding, yet the signs are clear that this area is loved and people want to return home.
In the Florida Avenue area (between Florida Avenue and St. Claude) — where the levee breach was so huge that a barge floated in and where water pushed in so fast and so hard that homes splintered off their foundations and cars were thrown like toys — all that remains are footprints. There are blocks and blocks of empty lots.
There may not be a house sitting on this land. But it is still someone’s home.
Photographs of what this area looked like after the storm may be viewed on Charlie Varley’s website. Click here to see his year after Katrina collection. Here are “then” and “one year later” shots. Note that the white house a few pictures above is the same one in his before and after collection (page 12); it is still sitting, collapsed, in the same position it was in after the flood.
A homeowner has made a sign to signal that this empty space is still 2026 Tennessee. The lot looks out to the newly constructed levee (the white wall) the St. Claude Drawbridge and the city skyline beyond. The Lower 9 has, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful views of the city.
A mailbox, labeled clearly for mail delivery, in front of a destroyed home.
A home sitting several feet off of its foundation.
This home has “do not demolish” signs on it at the request of a film crew.
Violet and I discussed the time frame for which the “HELP” was written. Finally, we decided that it didn’t matter when. Writing help on one of these destroyed buildings is just as relevant today as it was on August 29th, 2005.
A community reaches for faith to survive.
What would it mean if this were the only home you’ve ever known, the center of your family, the one thing that you own?
An open gate and open door, leading to…?



Entergy at work (below).

Soundbites from Will on the confusion between Daddy’s business trip this week and Manx’s death (and other things)…

“Manx is on a business trip.”

“Mommy, why did Daddy put bricks on Manx?”

“I have two kitties, just like Abeona has two potties… a white one and a brown one.”

“Is Daddy going to get Manx?”

It’s been two days since he’s said anything. I actually think he understands the concept, but asks about it just to test that it’s legit.

Life has been full of so much adventure that I missed posting some pictures from Kate’s first bathtub experience. It was last weekend, in Mobile, with her brother.





They had a BLAST. Now Kate does her best to throw herself into every bathtub she sees. We REALLY need to get a move-on with renovations so that we can have a tub, too!!

We were in the presence of grace and beauty on Sunday evening when my friend, Niki Wolf, had dinner with us! Niki and I have been friends since middle school, when I introduced myself to her on the bus to the summer arts program we attended together. She was a year ahead of me, but we were able to perform in a number of shows together (in Brighton Beach Memoirs, I played her over-worried mother and she the beautiful daughter with dreams of Broadway — perfect choice!) Now Niki and husband Jeff are triple threats working in the Big Apple. Among other things, Niki works as a Rockette (she’s the one on the left in the picture here, and the one cheering here), choreographer, and often travels to be a guest judge for dance competitions. Which is what brought her to New Orleans. (She’d made it once before, too!)Because we were out of town for Itzhak Perlman, we thought we were going to miss each other. But Saturday night, I got a surprise email from Jeff saying that Niki was going to be back early from judging in Jackson, MS, and could do a late dinner on Sunday. Hooray! So, we connected via phone and on Sunday night, Paul, Will, Kate and I waited outside Niki’s hotel for her limousine to arrive. Being the classy people we are, we took her to Mothers for dinner (that’s a pun, just in case readers aren’t familiar with the establishment). We had a great time and like always, we connected as if we talk everyday. I adore seeing her, loved that she was able to see the kids, and hope to someday see her perform again. (I would have loved to see her play Lola with Jeff as Joe in Damn Yankees — scroll down this link to read a brief show review.)

Friday morning, we took the kids to the Gulf Coast Exploreum to let them play in the Wharf. They had a blast. The Pompeii exhibit that I’m hoping to see was filled with school kids on a field trip… so we stayed in the Wharf. We followed up the morning fun with a lunch at Felix’s with my Dad. It was a very nice morning and early afternoon!

It seemed like a lot of time had passed since I practiced my one-on-one photography with the kids. Will was napping, a package from Granna with some spring/summer outfits for Kate arrived in the mail, and I decided to take advantage of the warm afternoon.
Little Nasal Spray is providing prop support.
I was amazed that I actually managed to take a few pictures before she pulled the barrette out of her hair to eat it.
At some point, my Dad arrived home — that’s why she’s smiling!
This is a great example of Kate’s new crawl. She’s still getting up on her feet and taking several unassisted steps… but then gets down to crawl. Except her crawl (faster than you think) resembles a push-up. Check out the one leg in the air action! Hooo-waa!

When my Dad was in grammar school, he visited the Loew’s Penn Theatre (now Heinz Hall) to hear the Pittsburgh Symphony. Its impact was profound. Dad is a huge fan of the symphony; memories of that first experience (hearing Copeland’s Rodeo) can actually choke the Old Man up. Since moving to Mobile 6(?) years ago, Dad has been an avid supporter of the Mobile Symphony. It’s not the Vienna Philharmonic, but the MSO has some fantastic folks on board who have brought in impressive artists, events, and community programs. In the past few years, I’ve gone to the MSO for about half a dozen or so concerts and enjoyed them. Last fall, we learned that Itzhak Perlman was coming to the MSO and jumped on the opportunity to get tickets. The concert was Thursday evening. My Aunt Sandy and Uncle Kirk, family friends who knew me when I was Will’s age in Boston, offered to watch the kids — leaving Paul and I free to relish in a worry-free evening. We had a great time with my parents. The concert was fantastic. Polio racked his body as a child; he used braces to take his place on the stage. Looking at his supported movements as signs of weakness would be an incredible mistake. The power he is able to express through the violin — the ease with which his hands slide across the bridge — is astounding. At times, it seems almost unreal. It is such a pleasure and honor to have the opportunity to see a legend perform. We were thrilled with the night.The kids had fun, too. We played together and enjoyed some decent family time.

Right before bath time last night, I called up fellow Super-Mom Denice to follow up on a consulting work meeting. And she says to me, “Word on the street is that La Divina has opened.”

!!!

‘nuf said! We packed up the kids and drove the 20-or-so blocks to the Garden District, where friends Katrina and Carmello had quietly opened their beautiful, much anticipated, gelateria for the evening. Walking up to the door, we spotted a familiar bright orange hat (favors from Ana’s party — same ones we wore to MG parades) and came up to find their son, 4-year old artistic genius Nicco, munching away on a panini.

“Wanna panini?” he asked us between bites. We explained we were in for the gelato. His favorite flavor? “STRAWBERRY” he said with huge eyes.

Although the Nicco endorsement was hard to pass up, being me, I had to try something new. (Katrina and Carmello brought delicious strawberry gelato to our Abeona Krewe Ball, so I’d tried it before.) I went for the Stracciatella, which is Italian buttercream with pieces of chocolate inside. Paul and Will went for variations of chocolate. It’s sort of like the best chocolate chip ice cream you’ve ever had, except better. Denice and family were there, too, so Will had a great time playing with classmates while we parents hung out.

The restaurant itself is beautiful. An adorable bright white house on Magazine Street, a few steps from other fun Garden District eateries and shops. Inside, a kids table holds tinker toys around brightly colored kid-sized chairs — all in fun, retro shapes. Two are in the shape of animals that the kids can sit on! The “adult” sized tables and chairs share the throwback theme. The space is open, clean, and very friendly. Paul told me that La Divina holds a special permit as the only ice cream/gelateria in the city who is authorized to make all of their products from scratch on-site. The tastes are full, rich, and creamy — without question, divine.

Locals: check out La Divina! They’ll have their Grand Opening sometime in the next month — we’ll announce it when we know!!

Kate is:
– 9 months, 17 days
– saying “ma-ma” “da-da” “uh-oh” and “bye-bye”
– waving “bye-bye”
– signing “more” (related to more food)
– taking unassisted steps, but still crawling to move around
– still only eating with one tooth… we think
– drinking out of a sippy cup
– obsessed with her big brother

Will is:
– 3 years, 3 months
– recognizing letters and relating them to the names of his friends (i.e.: “N” is for Nicco, “A” is for Ana)
– writing “W” for Will (he actually writes his full name, but it looks more like a long string of connected W’s than W-I-L-L)
– potty trained (occassional accidents, usually related to acting out)
– skin and bones… down about 2-3 pounds from his bought with stomach flu
– making up his own songs to sing each night before bed