The frolics and recipes are on their way, dear friends, really, they are. But before I can continue working on them, there are a few things that must be shared.
Not long ago, the beautiful and talented e, creator of the Tweedy bag that garners me such admiring stares all over Manahatta, and coiner of the nickname Momerina (e, my mom still thanks you for it!), took a road trip to New Orleans and picked up many lovely presents for her own roll of dear friends. My goodies arrived in a bead-filled, feather-laced, beautifully-printed box. Inside these box were an assortments of pralines (i.e. God's Own Candy), a can of Cafe du Monde coffee with chicory, and a bright red apron with DON'T FUCK WITH THE COOK emblazoned on it. It seems like a whole 'nother age now, one in which e filed superb travel dispatches from the road and made me fall in love all over again with a place I haven't seen in 15 years. The thought that it might be gone now, gone for real, gone for good, not only fills me with sadness and anger, but it makes me wonder if the universe's designs are really that intelligent after all.
e has sent me a link from the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. I don't want to downplay the very real losses suffered by the communities hit hardest by Katrina; nothing is worse than death and destruction and the washing away of places that were once celebrated as being so tough that even Camille couldn't knock them down. Still, for me, one of the hardest things I've heard, seen or read in the past two days was the simple line, "Martial Law has now been declared for the city of New Orleans." Even though I know that this is an extreme circumstance, the likes of which have not been seen in most of our lifetimes, it is still a cold and dreadful thing to see in print.
Dear friends, anything you can do in the way of relief, either by writing a check or providing volunteer assistance in communities that are equipped to accept volunteer help, please consider doing so. I would also urge you to listen to the August 28 broadcast of Harry Shearer's fine hour of radio, Le Show, which Lloyd and I listen to on Monday nights on WNYE-FM. If you don't have Real Player, it's worth getting the free download, even if you only use it for listening to Harry. This week's show is particularly fine, even if the opening musical selection, Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927," just about put me away for good.