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It was fun to be out. It was fun to be gone. It was fun to be away. It was even more fun to be silly. What a wonderful day to have my birthday on the beach in Bay St. Louis with Mike.
A HUGE MERCI to Mike for suggesting the trip, and to John Wilson and Carmen Baham for rounding out the day. I leave you with a little more beach and silly.
Happy Monday and Have a Great Week!
Photos 1, 2, 3, and 6 taken by Mike Edwards
...WAY! Without a car, it isn't always easy to get to places far afield. The evening of our New Orleans International Overalls Weekend Party in November 2013, I met Michael Edwards for the first time in person. It was the first time I'd seen John Wilson in probably 20 years!
As everyone was leaving, Mike said: You'll have to come over and have dinner with us one evening." Me: "I would, but without a car it's difficult." For those of you who know Mike and know him well, he didn't let that stand in his way. Mike-"We can handle that-John will pick you up on his way home from work. You can come have dinner and spend the night with us and he can take you home in the morning!"
As I'm sure y'all have noticed...we've moved from one night sleepovers with a morning return, to two night sleepovers with a day sanwiched in between; and, for those longer visits Sammie Cat comes along. We are also very good at cramming a lot of activity into a short period of time (to which I'm sure my friends and family would attest!)
Wednesday evening's arrival had us enjoying a selection of favorite cheeses, pate, a nice Bordeaux, martinis stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes, and a wonderful dinner of steak, salds, fresh vege, and ice-cream for dessert. Mike had already suggested that evening that we spontaneously spend my birthday in Bay St. Louis where we both have friends. What a nice surprise!
After a rousing Happy Birthday sung by Mike, coffee with John before he headed off to work, a rousing Happy Birthday from Mom and Dad over the phone from St. Louis; Mike and I headed for the beach.
Our timing was off for finding friends, but not for finding fun. We are fun-finding pros! Even though Jamie was busy with family that morning, Tabitha took very good care of Mike and I at Buttercup's on Second Street in Bay St. Louis. After I nice breakfast and I littlle collectible oggling across the street, we headed to see if we could find my friend Pat Davis's house. I was amazed that we did, but Pat's husband told us she was out entertaining family. Unable to raise a few other friends, we decided to take a drive along the beach and then find a spot for a walk and a sea shell gander.
Everything felt good. Everything was a treat. On the way home we stopped in Slidell so I could scoop some shoes and a few dresses at very good prices. I got to wear one for dinner that night as we celebrated with Carmen and John, opened presents, wine and martinis encore; and Mike outdid himself again with an incredible Chicken Marinara, I got to make the salad with a little bit of the twists I like to use at home in Cadrieu, and a beautiful, fruit stuffed, doberge cake and champagne to top off the dinner and the evening.
We even got home in the nick of time to shed a few Katrina tears together as we watched our wonderful Presidet, Barak Obama laud and encourage our City of New Orleans.
What a day! What a Birthday! What wonderful friends!
...be lucky enough to be able to take
a walk on the beach on their birthday!
I was!
That Sam. To look at her in her element at home in Cadrieu, you'd never think that ten years ago this weekend she'd have been traveling around New Orleans in a canoe with Gaynell and her 3 dogs...Stone, Bernard, and Trixie. I've often had a cartoon-like picture of her in my mind, sitting at the point of the canoe with only her big eyes showing above with Gaynell and the rest of the gang lined up behind her. I tease that she's my little hurricane survivor. It's the truth. She had quite a journey, but this is about Sammie Cat and the piano.
Since I wasn't here and Sam was with Gaynell, Sam was one more four-legged child to be concerned about.
Once evacuation had become mandatory for everyone who hadn't already, you were NOT able to take your pets along with you.
At one point, Gaynell told me that Sam was up in the attic at her parents' house with Stone, Bernard, and Trixie. I was worried to say the least, but a day or so later Gaynell called to let me know that Sam was back on Columbus Street upstairs with enough food, water and litter for a month. It just hit me that I used to buy a huge plastic bucket of Deli Cat. I can still see it sitting open on the floor in the middle of the upstairs bedroom at the top of the stairs when we returned.
Only recently, when we were sitting together in my kitchen; did Gaynell describe to me how she floated into my house up to the base of the steps in the canoe, and took Sam upstairs. As you can imagine, that's a pretty surreal visual for me. I'm forever grateful to Gaynell for taking such good care of my Sam.
Herein, I believe lies the mystery story of the cat food crispies found inside the piano. Gaynell made sure that Sam and the rest of the gang eventually went to a shelter set up by the LSU Veterinary School. All that food and litter was still upstairs in the house. I'm guessing that we had rats or mice who had found their way into the house and into the piano. It would have been quite easy for them to walk/float inside and then go higher up to the keyboard and begin storing their goodies where they knew it would be safe. By the looks of it, they were ready for the long haul. Who'd have thought...ten years safe!
Writing today's post not only lets me solve a mystery, but it lets me thank Gaynell and our pack of "hurricanesurvivors" one more time. A huge MEOW from Sam!
The only way you wouldn't know about the return of my childhood piano, is if you hadn't stopped by here in a while. Ten years ago she flooded after the levees broke, and sat in 6 inches of water for quite a while.
Ryan Peterson-Piano Repairer & Tuner
She's made the journey back to New Orleans from Tennesse in what feels like a very huge coming back around for me...yet another coming home and definitely something to celebrate!
I'd made an appointment with Ryan Peterson to come over yesterday morning to take a look at the piano and tell me what he thought it would take to get her repaired and tuned. When he opened the base of the piano, we noticed some dry stuff in the bottom that looked like cat food. As he removed a couple of the keys, we discovered the same stuff under those keys. Turns out, this cat food rice crispie looking stuff was in the basin below ALL of the keys, between the felts and the strikers.
With keys everywhere,
we went to work!
Never in a million years would I have ever thought there would be anything inside the piano, and especially NOT cat food crispie bars. They were so firmly molded into the basin of the piano that they had to be dug out with a spoon.
Had I wanted to, I probably could have carved out a very nice bar. As it was, I just dug and vacuumed. I probably got 4-5 bowls this size out of that length where the full keyboard rests!
All cleaned up and ready to be tuned, the keys returned. Just that cleaning made a world of difference in the sound and sticking keys. Ryan explained that because of the age and the length of time it had been since she had been tuned; he'd have to do a base tune first through all the keys and then come back and repeat to fine tune. After all of this, we were in for the long haul.
By the time Ryan left, she was sounding wonderful. The bigger problem is that the sound board is split in two places. That sound of crashing plywood on concrete every time I hit the D/D flat below middle C is NOT going away without great time and expense. I teased Ryan that it was actually okay with me, since it brings memories of my debris removal man. Vann will never be very far.
I have a theory about the mystery of the cat food crispies. It does require a lengthier story than just a floater would touch on. I'll be back with our mystery story and more about Ryan Peterson Piano Tuning very soon!
Many Sunday mornings, I get on my bike and let City Park carry me where it will. I have no destination in mind. I let her grab me and take me along. As Eric and I frequently say: what a treat to live so close to this incredibly beautiful park? Yesterday was just such a Sunday.
Coming up Lelong towards the museum like I do, I always miss the alley of ancient oaks that led you up to the New Orleans Museum of Art before the storm. I generally keep moving and enjoy the new beauty surrounding the big lake and double alleys of crepe myrtles and new oak trees coming up Lelong.
I visited with all my old famliar favorites and shot a few photos here and there. But, after I enjoyed my favorite fountain and thought I was on my way home...I had to stop again.
Look at those beams propping up the branches of this ancient oak! I had never seen this done before. All I could feel was gratefulness, that these beauties were being "supported," loved, and cared for in such a HUGE way. Silly me, I stood there and cried after I took my shots. Memories still rise.
But, we are nothing if not resilient. Standing beside these huge beams, surrounded by the branches of this oak, left me even more awe-struck with their grandeur, beauty, and the pivotal part they play in the lives of all New Orleanians.
I'd stopped at a little island I enjoy to get a few shots of the Peristyle and my lion from the other side. I discovered a plaque or corner-stone in the ground (along with finding out that the island is called "Goldfish Island") and had to have a shot. What a wonderful tribute to life, love, family, New Orleans, and these ancient oaks that are woven into the very fabric of all of our lives.
As they "support" us, we support them. I leave you with a few "supportive" shots. Have a great Monday and a great week!
...is another man's flower. However you see these guys, they are strong little suckers! Returning to Columbus Street that October, everything was dead except these little guys. That photo above, taken through the broken,wavy, water-marked fence; became my symbol of hope after the storm.
I was just so happy to see them.
In the past, I'd had the tendency to pull them up when I'm out "weeding" in the yard. With the heat this summer, very little weeding has been accomplished. Good thing! Seeing them everywhere yesterday, reminded me of how they say: "hope springs eternal". As you can see, there's lots of "hope" and lots of "springing" going on around here.
Wishing you a Sunday filled with hope and joy.
Enjoy my sweet, gentle reminders below. It looks like they're here to stay.
With the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent levee breaks in New Orleans on everyone's mind, it has been interesting to see the range of responses. There are some who seem to want to immerse themselves in flood waters all over again. Others are ignoring it all together. Then, there are those who fall into the middle somewhere.
I'd made up my mind not to dwell on it, but I'd share a story or some strong reminder if it floated to the surface. I'm calling these posts floaters!
During 2005, I'd been offering workshops at the Chatette. As it happened, I was in Cadrieu when the levees broke.
I'd made arrangements for Dali and Sam. Dali went with my brother when they evacuated and they eventually ended up in Ferguson. As it turned out, Sammie Cat stayed with Gaynell who had been house-sitting and caretaking for us.
I'd been in constant contact from Cadrieu. At first dawn, it appeared that everything was fine. Gaynell noted a beautiful sunshiny morning. Then, she described the huge wall of brown water that came down the street when the levees broke. From then on, getting in touch was difficult, but she would call me when she could.
On calls to Ferguson, I discovered that Dali wasn't happy. She'd been kept in the basement, which was something she wasn't used to. One too many times, my Mom told me what a "bad girl" she was and that my brother was having to go downstairs to keep her company so she wouldn't cry.
It was then I decided I needed to get back early, but not before I explained to my Mom: "Dali is not a 'bad girl'. You have to remember, Dali is used to sitting on the sofa with Sammie Cat while I play Moon River on Columbus Street!" There's the proof, above! My sweet, sweet, girls!
I was able to change my October return, to September...for a fee of course. Had I been returning to New Orleans it would have been no charge, but St. Louis didn't count. Tom and Adrianne picked me up at the airport, and Dali and I took up residence in the basement.
Here's a shot of Dali, Sam, and I in our Columbus Street kitchen during the spring of 2005 before the storm. Mike Kelly had come to visit and grabbed this memorable shot with the three of us together in the kitchen with the screaming color that is no more!
Although it isn't a contest, it's difficult NOT to compare Brian's Saturday piano delivery to Columbus Street to the delivery of Monsieur Winklemann to the Chatette in 2006.
Brian came down from West Virginia, stopping at Kate's in Sewanee, TN to pick up the piano. Although Monsieur Winkelmann came down from Philippe's atelier in Paris, I would say that the distance from Paris to the Chatette is shorter than the distance between Sewanee and Columbus St.
Everything about getting the piano into the house went smooth and relatively easy. A spinet is a much smaller piano than a baby grand. We had many fewer steps to contend with, and a much shorter distance to travel to get it in place.
Monsieur Winklemann arrived in pieces, requried lots of special equipment, and three men to get him into the Chatette. Fortunately, they were able to roll him across the uncovered and covered parts of the terrace to bring him straight in one of the back doors to his new home in the newly dubbed "Piano Room".
The whole thing was an amazing feat. I am still in awe as I look at these photos again and write today. And so today, we savor moving memories and celebrate being a two-piano family!
Sometimes it's just not possible to be together, even though you want to be. Before the piano was even unloaded, Brian handed me a brown bag through the passenger window of the truck. Yes! Homegrown tomatoes from Kate's garden. I'd mentioned the menu for the thank you dinner that evening, so they couldn't have arrived at a better time. It was a great way to have Kate with us in spirit.
There was one very interesting guy in the bunch. I asked Kate about it and she said this was her favorite variety, an heirloom variety called "Cherokee Purple." He was colorful, artistic looking and very tasty! What a treat! Thanks again to Kate and Brian for all they did to make this piano homecoming possible!