The drive was without incident, though, and once I got out of Alabama, went mercifully fast. Because I had stopped for breakfast at a Waffle House before getting on the road (#267: if you ever find yourself at a Waffle House, you will do yourself a favor by avoiding the food altogether. They do a decent cup of decaf, though) I stopped only for gas--both kinds. (#38: even after many hours without a meal, a roll of Breathsavers will still trump the baby carrots.)
So I arrived at 1101 Napolean Ave before 7 pm, and after a phone call by the tenant in Unit B, was met by Wayne Gravois, the owner of the property. He let me in, showed me around, and we got to chatting. A New Orleans native and retired architect, Wayne's the kind of guy who after 15 minutes of conversation inspires a call to Ken Burns. I realize then how foolish I was to think I could write this blog from my treo and kick myself for not schlepping the laptop. But not to worry--I'll peck out more on Wayne eventually .
After a while, James Abner, the tenant who shares this condo with Relief Spark, comes in. He helps people negotiate insurance claims and has been here since right after Katrina. His brush with greatness: his childhood friend from Cincinnati is the kid who gets his tongue stuck to the flagpole in A Christmas Story. This comes up when, walking his dog a little later, we pass a house that has in its window the same leg lamp that the father wins in the movie, and it gets us on the subject.
Today I spent walking dogs and otherwise helping out at Animal Rescue of New Orleans, a 100% volunteer- and donation-powered no-kill shelter. They do a pretty incredible job. Nola, James' dog, must smell my virtuousness, because tonight she's bedding down avec moi! Sorry Henry!
2 comments:
D,
I envy your road trip. Please go easy on Waffle House though...those places have been a staple of my diet since high school.
From Wilkipedia - Stars Fell on Alabama
"Stars Fell on Alabama" is the title of a 1934 jazz standard composed by Frank Perkins with lyrics by Mitchell Parish.
It is also the title of a 1934 book by Carl Carmer in which he recounts the time he spent traveling through Alabama in the late 1920s as a professor at the University of Alabama. The book was republished in 1985 and again in 2000 with a new introduction by Howell Raines (ISBN 0-8173-1072-X).
Sections of this book were adapted by Brad Vice in his short story "The Bear Bryant Funeral Train." His failure to acknowledge his debt to Carmer led the organizers of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction to revoke the prize he was given in 2004.
The titles of both works refer to a spectacular occurrence of the Leonid meteor shower that was observed in Alabama on November 12-13, 1833. As reported by the Florence Gazette: "[There were] thousands of luminous bodies shooting across the firmament in every direction. There was little wind and not a trace of clouds, and the meteors succeeded each other in quick succession."
One of the earliest recordings was by the Guy Lombardo orchestra, with his brother Carmen doing a vocal. This version was recorded on August 27, 1934 and issued by Decca Records as catalog number 104.
The song was later performed by Ella Fitzgerald together with Louis Armstrong. Jimmy Buffett also performed a version of this song.
In 2002, The phrase "Stars Fell on Alabama" was added to Alabama's license plates and the familiar "Heart of Dixie" emblem reduced to a much smaller size. (A 1951 law requires Alabama license plates to display the words "Heart of Dixie" within a conventionalized heart shape.)
I know - more than you ever wanted to know.
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