Why we stay
Last night, I was reminded once again of why I stay in this city. It was the beginning of Mardi Gras for real with Krewe de Vieux rolling in the Marigny and Quarter, but here we were at the Spirit House, entertaining a friend I met on Facebook. There were micro greens on the table from my friend’s farm in the Treme, there was kale from my garden, and there was a bottle of wine from my favorite winery in Napa – St. Clement, there was music, there was laughter, and there was love.
“I love your house!” is what my friend said when she walked in the door because frankly where else in the world could you live in a 100-year-old house with 12 foot ceilings and hardwood floors that are worn from a century of living? “I love this house more than the one of the bayou!” said my friend who does hair for the movie stars, the thriving film industry that has taken root in New Orleans over the last decades. We spent midday catching up on the time we haven’t seen each other as she has been moving from one film to the next.
My friends who knew the LaLa love the Spirit House more – this house with the sign at the threshold that says BE LOVE OR LEAVE. “I knew this was your house when we turned onto the street,” said my friend from Chicago. While the house I left on the bayou was my dream house, this is the house for who I’ve become.
And we are always becoming …
I didn’t let Sty come to my house. I had a hunch or a hinch as Tin is want to say that more would be revealed, and I found out. This is a place for healing, a place for love, a place for laughter. It is not a place to be messing with me. It’s a place to be celebrating me.
And so we’ll stay here in the Spirit House, in New Orleans, for a while, until we can’t, or won’t, or don’t. And while we’re here, we’ll listen to music, eat yummy food, drink wine and spirits, and have loved ones come to dance and laugh and love with till we can’t anymore.
