Vignette #3 from New Orleans: The pretty and the gritty

Sun Jan 1 2012

Vignette #3 from New Orleans: The pretty and the gritty...

 

“New Orleans is like a beautiful woman whose had one eye gauged out, has two missing limbs, and a permanently damaged outlook....but...and this is very important...she’s not dead.”- Anthony Bourdain

 

Walking down the street to Cafe Rose Nicaud...I realized it has been some time since my senses were as acute as they have been, since I stepped out of my car and onto the sidewalk at Dauphine St. 

 

I heard church bells...foghorns...the sound of footsteps behind me...the squeaking of a rusty bicycle being rode by a guy with dreads and a cigarette hanging from his lips. 

 

It is New Years day and I am the happiest I have been in some time.

 

As I sit drinking my coffee looking out at the light rain falling on the black, potholed street...I ponder...

 

What is it about this city that I so identify with? I wake up happy in the morning. I wake up inspired. I wake up at peace. I wake up alive and not just the breathing kind of alive. I wake up the way we all should be a(live). Live. The Saturday Night Live kind of alive. Not running on tapes of the past. On auto pilot. Re-runs. Live...unscripted...alert...willing to improvise.

 

Open.

 

I have done well at creating a persona that does not reflect a lot of my life story. I have done this because I refuse to be identified by experiences. Heart breaks. Mistakes. Betrayals. Hardships. After all, at the end of the day, these are just “stories”.

 

There is a part of me that can stroll down St. Charles and identify. Feel at home.

 

There is a bigger part of me that can stroll through the French Quarter in its beauty and grit and feel one with it. 

 

If you were to look underneath this skin...the clothes...the hair...the make-up...the body...the human shell...I would most likely resemble that Anthony Bourdain quote. More scars than skin. Missing parts. Broken parts put back together. I am proud to say I am not a pristine soul that has had easiness of life to keep it spotless. And yet, most assume the opposite.

 

That is why I resonate with this city. Why I feel like a part of me has come back to me every minute I am here. 

 

We are all like New Orleans. A melting pot of richness, beauty, and heartbreak... so much deeper than the outer surface first portrays. No one can be judged by their persona...and it is only those who care to look deeper...walk all your streets...see every part from the prettiest parts to the back alleys...that are truly seeing you for who you are.

 

I have those in my life who treat me like Bourbon Street. They come to my “city” and all they see is the touristy, superficial part. They don’t want to hear the original...they want to hear the cover....and when they find they don’t like what they hear...they start a fight and leave a mess behind.

 

I have those in my life that treat me like St. Charles Avenue. They see the grand parts...and treat me with respect for those parts...

 

There are those in my life that treat me like Royal Street. They know the hauntings...they feel the magic...they want to hear the stories...they are intrigued with the past.

 

Then there are those that treat me like Frenchmen St. They hear the “music” wafting out of the open doors...they heard there was a great place to sit and listen...they take some time...they close their eyes...they enjoy what they hear...they do not criticize. 

 

Yes, the human condition is the New Orleans condition. Something so beautiful with so much grit and grime. Perfection in the imperfection. 

 

Full of life and full of fight.

Comments

• Thank you for the city view... The glimpse created a curiosity to want more from this city.

  Sam 2 months ago flg

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