My job today was chauffeur. Dropped my rider off at 8:30 and had to kill six hours in New Orleans before picking her up at 3:00. I know, I know but somebody’s got to do it. Parked in the usual spot, Elysian Fields & Esplanade; with an umbrella in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, I started down Decatur St. Since Katrina, everything costs more but people seem happy and vendors don’t look any the worse. I cruised through a candy store where they make pralines right in front of you. The free samples are too much to resist so I made a second pass, and a third. Made me think of WW2 bombers on their missions over target except these bombs were flying up, into my wide open, bomb bay doors.
The Quarter is a good place to be in the rain with lots of covered sidewalks and open doors. You just duck inside and shop around until it lets up. I sat on the bench under the Joan of Arc statue while I text messaged my cousin in California and my daughter in Alaska. An old, homeless dude with all of his belongings in a beat up grocery cart sat down against the base of the statue with his cart between us. All I could see was his crossed legs. He was talking to himself and I tried to listen but it made no sense, cursing and mumbling. When I got up to move on he ignored me, kept on talking. It started to rain and I leaned against a door frame, under a balcony.
Last year I discovered Doreen Ketchen and her band, under a big umbrella on Royal St. They were jamming in the shade on a hot afternoon. Royal St. was blocked off to auto traffic and the buskers were spaced out for several blocks. She plays the clarinet; I stood there for half an hour listening. The Quarter wouldn’t be the same without Street performers, some are famous, others are still finding their way. I took a photo and posted it in my blog, only to find out she is already famous, shares the stage with Ellis Marsalis, Doctor John, Trombone Shorty and a long list of other legends. But there they were, playing for tips. Today I thought, ‘It’s Friday, I’ll check out Royal St.’ Doreen was there; they were on the sidewalk, leaning back agains the wall. The street was still wet and only a few tourists were stopped to listen. I checked my wallet and didn’t have any one dollar bills. Across the street is a neighborhood market so I went in and bought a banana for 22 cents, got some ones. When I went back out the sun had come out as well and the crowd was growing. The sousaphone is played by her husband who also plays trombone and drums. There were only three of them today but the music was great. She played, ‘All Of Me’. She put her horn down and I thought she was finished but the big horn and guitar went on with the melody and she began to sing; “All of me, why not take all of me, can’t you see, I’m no good without you?” - Blew me away. I watched for about ten minutes, two songs, in that time I saw at least 25 or 30 dead presidents slipped into the plastic buckets on the curb. I put a couple of mine in there too and headed up the street knowing very well why they bother to play for tips.
A guy I know is a foreman, working on an old house; 1225 Bourbon St., several block beyond the tourist traps, into the residential end of the Quarter. It’s a 150 year old, 3 story residences with court yard, carriage house and slave quarters. The court yard has a new, big fountain with aquatic plants and exotic Koi fish swimming through the stems and leaves. The walls are up to 5 courses of brick and mortar with huge cypress beams. They are converting it into condos with 7 separate units. He’s been there for over a year, will be finishing soon. I checked out the stair cases, light fixtures and the solid, four panel doors. Not for sale but they will lease by the year. Before I could ask, he said, “You don’t want to know.” I saw it last November when it was gutted, getting rewired and new plumbing going on. He’s anxious to move on to something new.
I started back toward the parking lot but only got as far and the French Market. It’s an open air flea market under a roof with vendors of every ethnicity. While wandering from booth to booth, checking out gaudy, bawdy t-shirts I felt a gust of cool, wet air and looked up to see the beginnings of a deluge. Sheets of water from one direction then another inundated vendors along the outer edge of the building and tents set up outside blew over and away. Everybody seemed to naturally gravitate to the middle of the space but I don’t think anybody bought anything. It lasted for 10 - 15 minutes. Some of the venders were sorry they came today. I picked up a couple of 1 lb. tins of Dark Roast Chicory, Decaffeinated Coffee. By the time I got to the car it was time to play Chauffeur again. On the way back to Baton Rouge we stopped for a fried shrimp salad, with remoulade sauce. - By the way, check out Doreen Ketchen on You Tube.
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