Just got back home to DC after spending a fortifying week with some very dear friends in New Orleans. I was lucky enough to call that intensely magical place my home for six years. Despite the seeping (gushing) black sludge that is suffocating the marshes and wildlife preserves as we live and breathe, it was a lovely respite. Unfortunately my darling Snakes was unable to join me even for the weekend. I’m hoping we’ll get a chance to sneak in a visit before we ship out for our first post. I brought him back a signed copy of Real Cajun by Donald Link (which just won the James Beard award for new American cookbook), some housemade sausage from Link’s phenomenal eatery, Cochon Butcher, and a CD collaboration recorded to benefit Preservation Hall. Had a great time with my ladies but I surely missed my guy.
I stayed with my dear friend, Miranda Lake. She is a wickedly talented encaustic and collage artist whose home never fails to make my head swell with inspiration and my heart ache with beauty. I spent many lazy hours sipping white wine from a glass as slick sweaty as my brow, wandering through her home and yard, snapping photos. I kept it fairly low key with just one girls night “out on the town”. Ahhhh…. New Orleans. You just don’t disappoint. On our way back to the car, walking through the residential section of the quarter, we ran into these guys, out for an evening stroll.
They’ve recently started a mobile petting zoo. They live in the Treme with two pygmy goats, a pot bellied pig and these two gals, Teeny and Rascal. For $175 they’ll show up at your kid’s party and let the animals romp around your house for about an hour. They can hardly keep up with the demand. Just one of the infinite reasons that New Orleans sets my soul at ease. A foursome like this, wandering the streets, having some cocktails on a Saturday night after a long day of toddler parties.
And speaking of toddler parties, that brings me to the real reason I was there, a baby shower. I helped put it together from afar, arriving in time to assemble a nice menu. This friend and her husband have just finished building an impressive home literally ON the bank of the Mississippi, one of maybe 11 waterfront properties in NO. A walk onto the back deck often greets you with the low resonant blast of the passing barges. Such a beautiful place: the city, the homes, the strong and resilient culture, all of my gorgeous friends. It is always good to come home.
from the back of beyond 
Do you think miniature horses are allowed in state department housing?
Amazing. . . I’d be more jealous of your time there, expect we spent time in NOLA last month — right in the midst of crawfish season. You know the Pontalba Apartments, right on the Quarter? That’s where I grew up when I was just a small child. New Orleans never leaves your blood no matter where you move, does it?
A “portable petting zoo”. An unbelievably creative way to turn a buck! Talk about making your own niche…
Sounds like a heavenly visit! I grew up in Memphis and NO was just a hop, skip and a jump. Hope to get my kids there soon, I know they would love it, especially the food…