warm welcome

These are the hot, hot, dog days of August, and darlin', I can't believe you won't see New Orleans and me again 'til it's cool.

We're on fire, all of us, with the spiciness and sweaty jazziness of it. Much as ever.
The heat feels like it's working its way up to an explosive crescendo, at which point the essence in the air will burst into flames and will only be able to be put out by a hurricane. Like a giant magic fire extinguisher monster.

Dog days. Everybody shinin' wit it. Panting. Pantsless. Everybody dripping their uppitiness away. It gets dabbed off of foreheads and cleavages by damp bandanas that sag, as fatigued as we are.
When everybody is sweating, everybody is all in this together. And I feel at home, part of the city, now more than ever.
We got air-of-superiority conditioning.
Reality is giving out more checks than FEMA these days -- and can't nobody maintain a dry enough disposition to fully disconnect from this human condition. Not this summer, No Ma'am.

We're all soaked at this point, all us runaways who came to get eloped with the music. Us orphans in the city except for our Nawlins-in-laws whose roots help to run us back to the original rhythms that sent their pulse through the south.

Oh how we want to be in that bloodline, when the saints go marching in.

If you're like me, you might spend your daylight hours tending to your sapling musicality, with hopes that if you really hustle, the city's laid-back pace will offer you a chance to catch up.
If you're like me, you may have detached your respective pony from the carousel and decided to race instead of ride.
You may appear to be off your rocker.

So cheers to the revolution - I've just completed my first.

One full swing around the seasons of the city. Dizzying and dazzling they have been.

A whole life. My whole life, demolished, reimagined, rebuilt, and prospering in its infancy. Similar to its older sister, the now kindergarten aged (NEW) New Orleans.

A life brought to the table like a potluck which shared its great luck as a new piece to our growing community. It's all come full circle.

It's been a gorgeous year, y'all. Thank you for the insanely, smolderingly, warm welcome.