[Fwd: Fw: New Orleans by Chris Rose]OT

[Guest guest]

> This is very OT but is such a good article about the city I grew up in and

still love..

Betsy

>

> Date: 2007/03/29 Thu PM 09:14:10 EDT

> To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>

> Subject: Fw: New Orleans by Rose

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> New Orleans by Rose

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> New Orleans

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>

> New Orleans . How wonderful those words sound when said with no quirky

emphasis on odd syllables. They always seem to elicit some response.

> Have you been there?

>

> Have you ever been to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait and gone

back every morning of your visit? Have you ever sat for hours in the piano bar

at Pat

O'Brien's sipping hurricanes? Have you ever been to Mardi Gras - Bacchus?

Endymion? Rex? Have you ever had oysters at the Acme House?

> Have you ever sat out on the " fly " eating crawfish and drinking Dixie

beer?

>

> Have you ever taken a walking tour of the Garden District? Have you ever

sung

karaoke at Cat's Meow? Do you know who Folse is? Have you ever risen at 6am

to roam the streets of a " quiet " French Quarter? Have you ever been to

Galatoire's?

K-'s? Emeril's? Can you remember when Zulu threw gold-painted coconuts? Have

you ever ridden the street-car down St. Avenue secretly sipping your

strawberry daiquiri?

>

> Have you ever had

> a mint julep on the porch of The Columns Hotel? Have you ever been to

Audubon

Park ? City Park ? Have you ever been to mass at the St. Louis Cathedral?

>

> Do you know who Harry Connick, Sr is? Have you ever had breakfast at

Brennan's? Have you ever been to the original Tipitina's? Have you ever been to

the

Superdome? Saint's game? Sugar Bowl? Super Bowl? Final Four? Have you ever had

cheese fries at Fat Harry's? Thrown peanuts on the floor at O'Henry's? Have you

ever

been to the Rendon Inn? Can you remember the New Orleans World's Fair?

>

> Have you ever been to the campuses of Tulane and Loyola? Have you been to

a

crawfish boil? Sucked the heads? Have you ever been " on the lake " ? " Across the

lake " ? To the " west bank " ? Have you had a Ferdi from Mother's and wondered what

" debris " was? Have you ever been an unexpected invitee to a jazz funeral? Have

you

ever been to Jazzfest ---- first or second weekend?

> Have you ever been to Pontchartrain Beach ?

>

> Have you ever stood in line at the Camellia Grill? Had a po-boy at

Uglesich's?

Oyster and artichoke soup at Mandina's? BBQ shrimp at Pascal Manale's? Gumbo at

Dookie Chase? Have you ever been to a plantation home?

> Have

> you ever been to the French Quarter festival? Can you pronounce

Tchoupitoulas?

Thibodaux ? Boutte? Have you ever been to Clancy's? The Upperline? Brightsen's?

>

> Have you ever been to the Biloxi beaches? Have you ever had a monsoon at

Port

of Call? Breakfast at the Blue Bird? Have you ever seen the Neville Brothers?

Cowboy

Mouth? The Radiators?

>

> Have you ever been to New Orleans ?

>

> If you've been there, undoubtedly one of these things found its way to

your

itinerary. You probably also saw the dirty streets, the tired shotgun houses,

and

cracked sidewalks. You've heard about the high crime, poor public schools,

poverty,

and racism. And yes, there are many housing projects. It is very hot in the

summer,

people are generally overweight, and the city is always a hurricane away from

being

flooded.

>

> Each visitor chooses to see the New Orleans they want to see it. Luckily,

New

Orleans has the amazing ability to win over many more than it loses. It can

cause one

to see the big oaks hovering over St.

and not the trash on the sidewalks. It can cause one to focus on the street

musician

and not the street beggar. It can cause one to see the wrought iron balcony

rather

than the dilapidated building. What is it about the Big Easy that makes most see

the

positive and not the negative?

> The answer to New Orleans ' allure may, on the surface, seem different for

locals

and tourists but I suspect that there is a common thread - the people, the heart

and

soul of New Orleans .

>

> There is a culture and tradition in New Orleans that is sweet and simple.

No need

to over analyze this. It recognizes that the enjoyment of family and life is as

attainable

for the poor as it is for the rich. A hand on a shoulder and touch on the arm is

just the

way we say hello. We know that good music, food, and drink is made all the

better

when surrounded by friends who share the same outlook. When it is your way of

life,

when it is woven into your circle of friends, social gatherings aren't seen as

" excesses "

but as something you just do.

>

> New Orleanians don't believe they've cornered the market on this way of

life. They

recognize it when they see it elsewhere and they applaud it. What makes New

Orleans

special is that they have a concentration of people who have it and foster it.

It's

generational. It's hereditary.

>

> The challenge to New Orleans , to the New Orleanian, is as great as ever.

Its

reputation temporarily tarnished by the things that occurred in the aftermath of

Katrina,

it is up to those who live there, have been there, and adopted this city to not

let these

terrible scenes replace the ones they have of the Big Easy. While money is

needed to

rebuild, preserving that feeling and attitude that New Orleans gave you on that

last

visit is just as important. Did the flood waters wash away the New Orleans way

of life?

Not a chance. Not a chance that New Orleanians would deprive future generations

of

this breeding ground of the good life.

>

> With the vast destruction of parts of New Orleans now clear, the question

is being

asked repeatedly, " Is New Orleans worth rebuilding? " To that, I can only reply,

" Have

you ever been to New Orleans ? "

>

>

> To end, here is a quote from the Times-Picayune newspaper "

>

> We dance when there is no music, We drink at funerals.

> We talk too much, and live too large and, frankly, we're suspicious of

others who

don't...When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the

saddest

story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.

> But don't pity us, we're gonna make it. After all, we've been rooting for

the Saints

for 35 years.

> Thats got to count for something. "

> -Rose, Times-Picayune Columnist, New Orleans

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