Indian Fall

Today is unseasonably cool here.  Only 83º, with a lovely breeze, and almost no humidity.  In fact, it's so lovely that believe it or not, I am sitting on my balcony right now typing this.  In the shade of course, but the point is that I am voluntarily spending extended amounts of time outside and I am not sweaty.  It feels like fall, and I'm remembering why I love this city so much.  On a day like today, there's nothing better than a little aimless wandering to the sno-ball stand. 

Chocolate cream and frozen mint: an unfailing combination.

Moving

I have officially moved back to the city of my dreams, the place that captured my heart just five years ago, the place I've been craving like an addict for the past two years: my darling New Orleans.  While I did a little dance in the car and couldn't stop grinning when I saw the first sign on the interstate ("New Orleans 111"), leaving Charleston was far more bittersweet than expected.  I had finally accepted my place there, finally grown to feel like I wanted to be there, not that I was just stuck there.  I keep telling myself that this is a good thing because it means that I will go back there once I'm tired of the big city, but today it just means that I miss home.  

I miss watching the sailboats in the harbor in the evening.  I miss waking up to Miss Scout waiting outside my room for her morning belly rub.  I miss my Tuesday night date at the Surf Bar.  I miss my sweaty, smiley, musical friends.  And I hate that I'll never quite be able to go back to the last six months.  They were fantastic.  

My Last Month in Pictures

|| What better way to celebrate freedom than tequila soaked pineapple? ||

|| A Sunset Happy Hour Expedition. ||

|| Cypress Gardens ||

|| Music. ||

The Birds

The Gnarly Root

At heart I am a collector, a trait that I inherited from my dad.  Exhibit A: "The Gnarly Root" that I found on the beach, and just couldn't pass up.  Why I can't just walk right by things like this like a normal person, I will never know, but I'm sure my house will be a very interesting place in 50 years.  

Woodkid

I've been listening to this on repeat for the last two days.  I'm obsessed.  And the music video is equally addictive.  

I LOVE YOU from WOODKID on Vimeo.

My Darlin' New Orleans

Happy Mardi Gras!

Oh how I love Mardi Gras season!  Just one little taste and you're hooked for life.  That's how my grandmother ended up in New Orleans: she came down from Kansas for Mardi Gras, and never went back...I guess its not hard to see that I inherited those genes.

This year I got to go down for a fantastic parade with a magnificent costume and even better friends.  It was the highlight of my winter.  Look at all those smiles!  I think everyone is hooked.  We found a video of the parade, which does a good job of showcasing just how much fun it all is.  Can't wait for next year!

Yellow Throated Warbler

I don't mean to be morbid.  Truly, I don't.  But I am so fascinated by dead animals.  You get to study them so closely, in a way you would never be able to alive.  I'm also fascinated by the process of decay.  The opening credits for True Blood?  Possibly the best opening credits ever, thanks in large part to the time-lapse sequence of the dead fox.  This might also explain my love for places like Jazz Land, things like compost, and why I have a dead cicada on my dresser.  

The cycle of life is just incredible to me, and the dark part - the part between death and life - is often neglected, or deemed morbid.  I find it to be as beautiful as the part between life and death.  

These are some photos I took of a yellow throated warbler I found on our back steps.  I don't know how he died (flying into the glass maybe?), but he was right there.  Even in death, he was just too beautiful not to take a few pictures of.   Look how brilliant his yellow feathers are, and how the drops of rain rest delicately on his feathers.  And the most beautiful part?  His body was given back to the earth to sustain new life.  How magical.  

Feather

Resolution

LEARN MORE.