The Crescent City

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we have arrived! we are sitting around the table with cici, our tiny neighbor, eating shaved ice and blue bubblegum flavor. the city is golden and smells of summer honeysuckle. the heat is high but the breeze from the mississippi keeps us from sweating in the morning time. we are biking everywhere. down esplanade to the french quarter, skirts are all i can handle. shorts and jeans are too hot for legs. the mosquitoes are biting bad and we all have bites around our ankles. in the neighborhood there are kids everywhere! they come to the door around 9 in the morning and rarely leave until 10 at night. they are all boys. there are 10 of them that ride in a pack in this neighborhood and hang out with us on the porch and in the backyard. jeremiah, the boy next door plays cards with me and generally wins. last night we made a fire in our backyard and had a fish fry. the boys had gone fishing at the bayou and they cooked what they caught. we had such a good time. we took lots of polaroids. the neighborhood is wonderful. there are so many families around and everyone knows this house as a safe place to play and eat. we live in the 7th ward, which is about a 5 minute bike ride from the upper ninth and about 15 minutes from the quarter. we live with the women who run the bike collective in the back of saint mary's. liz, who is here now, is the most amazing women i have ever met. she goes from 7 in the morning until 2 at night and wrangles kids while making dinner while running the bike shop while organizing field trips while painting murals while waitressing while dancing in a burlesque show. she is definitely my kind of busy woman. we haven't really been able to nest yet in this house. everyone still lives here (there are 8 of us in total including me, kat and kayla). it feels a bit like we are living someone else's life. but it is starting to feel real. its strange to be in this city for more than two weeks. there is no end to this visit. we are all trying to get jobs this summer, doing different things. i want to work in this voodoo shop in the french quarter. i might also try to work at the green project. a local store with all recycled materials. they sell paints, window panes, jars, jams and clothes. kat wants to waitress and kayla wants to work in a coffee shop somewhere. we are also working down the street at the homecoming center doing art projects and massive murals. we start our longer days when kids get out of school in a few weeks. things are falling into place. we are starting to create a routine and things feels good. this place as always is magical. everyone is kind and can cook well. i will try to update as often as possible and share some soft stories from the deep south. i hope everyone is well this summer! i am of course missing you all. everyone is also welcome to come and visit anytime. just let us know when. always, michelle.

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