Soar-Dream-France: February 2016

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February 2016

February 29, 2016

Sunday Morning Ramble #1

Out early yesterday morning, those flashing blue lights at every intersection on Esplanade did NOT bode well. Instead of shooting up Esplanade into City Park as I had planned, I very sweetly asked permission to cross to the other side and came up to the park from the back.

It worked pretty well. There was some kind of Rock and Roll Race through the City ending in City Park. The runners seem to love this route. WE are disrupted regularly...another good reason to be on your bike!

I almost dispensed with photos and just rode, but my lion pulled me to him. Good thing! Look what I discovered upon arrival. At first it seemed that someone had laid the stem of a flower at his feet. My thought was: "How sweet!" But, then I saw both sets of shades and couldn't help but giggle. My lion who always feels living, breathing and powerful to me; suddenly seemed more human and softer than ever before. I don't know about you, but I'd even give him "distinguished!" There must be something about this guy!

We sat together a bit as usual. A flock of birds flew overhead past a whisper of the moon and caught my attention. There it was again, that moon.

They drew my eyes to the roses.

A noisy crow flew up for a little conversation!

And pretty soon, I said my a bientots to my lion

and I was on my way again.

Posted at 12:34 PM in Fabulous Friends and Family, Just One..., Mélange-ing Magic, New Orleans NOW, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 28, 2016

Working Overtime

And so...at the end of the driveway I hear wicker on rubber! That's not unusual when I'm carrying a little heavier load. I stopped. This time was different. The bike basket had almost split in the center and was only hanging on to the handlebars by its two leather straps! What to do?-Time to regroup...and to be very grateful for the angel on my shoulder who intervened long before I could get very far. What a disaster that could have been for me!

Instead, I brought the basket in the house. I removed the flowers from their vases, wrapped them in paper towels and stuck them inside the backpack for travel to school. As you can imagine, someone with a backpack full of flowers riding through the neighborhoods of New Orleans isn't something you see every day. It was fun. I got lots of looks. I got to pretend I was home in Cadrieu!

Our "Mom" deliveries made it.

The newest angel on my shoulder has been working overtime.

Posted at 01:27 PM in Fabulous Friends and Family, Just One..., Mélange-ing Magic, New Orleans NOW, Photography | Permalink | Comments (1)

February 27, 2016

Carrying On

With so many beautiful flowers that would probably not make it through the weekend,I began by slowly dismantling and making bouquets for vases that I could put around C-Street. But, there were just so many. I remembered that one of the things that had made Mom so sweet in Nannie's eyes, was that Mom always gave her flowers. And so, the voyage began.

I had been able to take pretty bouquets to friends shortly after arrival.

Supervisees were able to choose their own bouquet from the big pretty one that was sitting on the piano bench. Sam got to have her fun too.

But then, there were my colleagues and students who had been so wonderful.

I had just enough sunflowers for all of the professors who had been so supportive through all of these times, and easily way more than 20 stems so that each of my 18 students could pick a flower for themselves if they chose to do so.

I even had a plan for how I would get them to school Thursday morning. I'd given myself a little extra time, but not much. I was pretty pleased with myself.

I was off in the spirit of Mom-ready to make our sunflower deliveries and display a wine carafe vase for student choices. We got no further than down the curb at the end of the drive when...

...can you guess what happened?

I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the story.

Happy Saturday!

Posted at 01:31 PM in Fabulous Friends and Family, Just One..., Mélange-ing Magic, New Orleans NOW, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 26, 2016

Rainbows and Roses

From the moment I saw Mom's basket of flowers that I'd ordered for her sitting on the counter at Geraldine's in Ferguson; I was stunned. If I said it once, I said it a hundred times...it was absolutely the prettiest arrangement I'd ever seen. The flow and the meant to be of these times continued when I arrived at Valhalla to discover that our arrangement had also been placed right beside the piano just to the right of where I'd be playing Moon River. I find it is important to pay attention to these times. Boundaries are blurred. So much is swirling here and there that there can be messages everywhere.

Mom has been close for all of us.

Should I have been surprised when I went in to journal the other morning and discovered rainbows and rose petals on the pages of my open journal? Some of the tiny petals from Mom's arrangement had already fallen on the open page. The sun was streaming in, and at just the right time...we had rainbows and roses and Mom.

Posted at 01:15 PM in Fabulous Friends and Family, Just One..., Mélange-ing Magic, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 25, 2016

Times Like These

Everything is changing. Everyone is doing their very best to roll with it in their own way.

I took this shot on the morning of our departure from 411. It is poignant. This is the only piece of furniture left there. My black dress that I'd worn for Mom's day added even more somberness to this parting shot.

As I've written before, each trip to 411 has been different. Mike, John and I knew that 411 was basically "empty", but we were prepared to stay there. We brought what we needed. We hit the ground running and didn't stop. To be honest, we had fun.

We shocked others with what we were able to accomplish in this "empty" house that had been my family home. My sister-in-law looked at the beautiful snack trays we'd put together and said: "You mean you were able to do this in that empty house?"

It actually was an excellent question. When we came back from the store with our goodies, I walked through the front door and about half-way to the kitchen I remembered there wasn't a table there to put everything on-just the counter. We did a good job of making do: a lace table cloth for "picnics" on the floor in the living room; graduating to lace on radiator covers to make a kind of staging space for a wine and cheese buffet after the services; sweet little touches from tiny surprises that were still left behind; resting coffee cups on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen; and enjoying a picnic on the back patio in the sunshine.

We had quite a couple of days. Those days felt good for lots of reasons.

On our last night, neighbors Theresa and John came over to share a wine with us. Theresa sat with me on the folded out chair/bed. Everyone else pulled up a piece of carpet. It had been quite a day. Toward the end of our visit Theresa asked: "Do you think you'll ever come back to this house?"

I had to say I didn't know. I don't. We continue to be on such uncharted waters with all of this. I expect to come back at spring break.

Where we will be by then...

...only time will tell.

Posted at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

February 24, 2016

The More of Moon River

Having the love of family, friends, colleagues, supervisees and students; wrapped me in my own special cocoon that carried me through the sadness and loss of Mom's passing to the sparkling celebration of her life this past weekend.

Our Mom was well-loved and well-celebrated by everyone.

Mike, John and I arrived early so I could get a little feel for the piano and practice Moon River a bit before I was set to play. We were the first to arrive with our wine, snacks and memorial book marks in tow.

I had a little alone time with Mom and got to serenade her just the two of us as I practiced. Somehow, the floral arrangement I'd ordered from us ended up very sweetly beside the piano! I could see Mike setting up in the other room. Then, I see my sister Kat in Mike's arms. Next, I see Kat in Mike's and John's arms. I was horrified. I stopped and ran out to them. I hadn't stopped to think that I could have been playing Moon River as Kat was walking through the cavernous Valhalla on her own. (Her husband Tom M. and our brother Tom B. were bringing Dad over in the van.) It was a grand group hug for four!

Who'd have thought that Moon River could come to mean even more?

Posted at 01:18 PM in Fabulous Friends and Family, Food and Drink, Just One..., Mélange-ing Magic, Photography | Permalink | Comments (1)

February 21, 2016

To Flower or Not to Flower

When I was little, Nannie used to tell me how sweet my Mom was. One of the things that made her so sweet (according to Nannie) was that Mom would always bring her flowers. Today, Mom will not want for flowers. As wonderful as all those fresh beautiful flowers are, they don't hang around for long.

Honoring Mom today and being true to our southern roots, we went on a hunt for 2 special things to bring north with us. With Mike's helps, we were successful. Among the many beautiful flowers today, Mom will also receive a live camellia with a "Helen" kind of name and a live gardenia to stir the memories of Dad's first flower gifts to Mom that flowed from his New Orleans roots.

We love you Mom. Your spirit and our love for you lives on.

Posted at 11:24 AM in Fabulous Friends and Family | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 20, 2016

Louisiana Sunrise...

...Missouri Moon Over 411.

Posted at 11:41 AM in Fabulous Friends and Family, Just One..., Mélange-ing Magic, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 18, 2016

Lovers of Music

Teaching this morning, and then getting ready to begin the trip north this afternoon; I may not get back to write.

Mike is coming to get me. Then, we'll go uptown to scoop Tom and stay at Mahogany Oaks tonight before John, Mike, Tom and I head north to celebrate Mom's life with family and friends.

We are lovers of music in my family. We've each had things of our own that we've wanted to do and share. Of course there will be flowers for our Mom, but music is a big part of celebrating her and her life with our Dad and us.

Before Kat was born and we were still living on Kappel Drive, Mom would get out her Nat King Cole "Ramblin' Rose" Album and we'd all sing, laugh, dance, jump around and sometimes scream. Although so much of what Nat sang were ballads and love songs-we found that Wolverton Mountain and Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer were great screaming and jumping tunes! Of course, Mom danced and sang and would grab each of us and try to teach us a bit. Some of us were better pupils than others of us

Jim has put together an impressive tunes list for background music during the visitation and a smaller targeted choice for the service. Kat mentioned to me yesterday that there is a piano. I confess; I'd wondered and wanted to ask but thought maybe it would be best to just leave that alone. Now, I can't.

I'll be bringing "Moon River" up with me again. I remember all my loves and friends who have passed on for whom I said that I'd wished I could have played "Moon River" for them one more time. Sunday afternoon, I'll be playing it for Mom.

For those of you who would like to join us in celebrating Helen's life-you will find us at Valhallah, 7600 St. Charles Rock Road, St. Louis, MO on Sunday, February 21, 2016 from noon until 3pm. From noon to 2 is visitation. From 2-3 we will be celebrating her life with a family planned memorial service. Cookies, Coffee (and maybe more) to follow. Mom would approve!

Posted at 12:23 PM in Fabulous Friends and Family, Food and Drink, Just One..., Mélange-ing Magic, Overalls and More, Photography | Permalink | Comments (6)

February 17, 2016

Montmartre Mom

During 1996, I'd planned a three week trip to Europe. Dad kept saying: "Take your Mom to Paris." So, the first week of my three week sojourn began with Mom in Paris. Ah, the stories and photos from just that first week are incredible. I got to share my Paris with Mom. I've rediscovered my journal from that trip and was wise enough to bring the photo album home from 411 that I'd made for Mom after our trip. There is so much I could share. I chose this one that I'd taken of Mom in Montmartre. I love that she is saying hello! I've already said "Bonjour" back a number of times this morning. She is everywhere and will always be close.