Driving into The Crescent City was a picnic, if a picnic is driving over Lake Pontchartrain on the five-mile I-10 Twin Span bridge under construction with sudden unmarked lane changes, in the darkness and rain, lightening illuminating the orange cones and road divots. I had to call mommy on the Bluetooth.
It was all very exciting, though! Also, this is an opportune moment to talk about The Big Easy's roads and weather. The streets are very suspect. As my friend Beth explained (in a warning fashion), "You can lose a tire on these roads, so be careful." There are potholes the size of lakes, one-way streets that are closed off at random, and in an apparent effort to gain some money to pay for the construction, speed zones with cameras (for no logical reason, like a school or "alligator x-ing"). If these streets were restored to near-perfect conditions, I couldn't navigate them anyway. I got lost going to the local supermarket in broad daylight using not one, but two GPS devices. The store was only 8 blocks from Beth's house.
In certain districts, there are still traffic lights that have not been repaired since the storm (by "the storm", they mean Katrina). Which brings us to the weather. Humid subtropic seems to be the official classification on Wikipedia, and this is accurate according to my personal calculations. I have developed a simple equation, for the common man. Feel free to utilize as needed.
________________ = Chance of Hurricane (%)
Funny thing is, we had some "storm-warnings" (lightening, thunder, stuff blowing around in a circular fashion) for two mornings in a row, but Beth said it probably would come to nothing, and sure enough - she was right.
I guess you don't live in N'awlins for a decade and not become pretty savvy about the weather (and in her case, the history, and the economics, and the politics, and the food.....this woman is pretty much a walking NOLA encyclopedia).
But the most interesting thing is how the people that live in the Birthplace of Jazz shake it all off, because as legend goes, the living is good here, and troubles are forgotten. It might be hotter than a Dutch oven in the summertime, so come out at night and have a drink. You might have some money worries, so talk to your neighbors, everyone's in the same boat and that's cool. The people of this city have created some of the best music, food, and atmosphere in the world, despite a few centuries of conflicts and disasters. The air here is heavy with living.
And now, I've run out of New Orleans nicknames. Have a great day!
~A
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