Tatjana is in Zagreb under two feet of snow and we’re here on the bayou in our tee shirts. Don’t get me wrong, I love wearing boots and I have coats a plenty but the freedom to move in and out of the house without a drastic weather change is what I love about this area. Snow is nice to see every once in a while – like every ten years – but give me…
We went to the Monkey Room on Saturday to celebrate Violeta’s birthday. Everyone there knew Tin even though he and Violeta don’t go to school together. The reason? Violeta has apprised everyone that Tin is hers for keeps. So when the cake was being cut and Tin took his piece to Violeta, I just had to laugh. Isn’t it so easy to love those who love us?
We’re preparing for a Hanukkah party on Tuesday night, usually we have one on the eighth night. We moved it up because we had renters who wanted the house on the weekend of the 14th and the 8th night falls on the 15th. It turns out after rearranging my life to accommodate the renters – two house cleanings to show it, rescheduling my sacred eighth night, they opted out at the last minute. Ah, the…
You know how it is when you buy a car of a certain color or make and then suddenly start seeing it everywhere when previously you didn’t. Such are many things in life. Once I adopted Tin I started noticing all the handsome young African American boys and youth in our city. So it is also that in preparing to launch Transracial Parenting and reading about race, I’ve noticed how integrated New Orleans is and…
I live on Bayou St. John in Faubourg St. John and our neighborhood is distinct and rich in people and place. Yesterday, I went to friends’ 20th anniversary together and they had a feast spread out to celebrate from rare roast beef to oyster shooters, with all of the neighborhood there to wish them well. And I learned that DeBlanc’s Pharmacy is closing – one of the holdouts from the era of the big three…
We were watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer today, the first feature length film Tin has watched in his life. Of course, it’s the first night of Hanukkah but it’s a story for all ages. Rudolph is a misfit who is made fun of by the other reindeers and he hooks up with a bunch of other misfits and through their adventures they find out how to fit in. How appropriate – in the world…
Hanukkah The story of Hanukkah is the story of religious freedom. In 168 BC King Antiochus the 4th, who inherited his kingdom from Alexander the Great, set up an idol in the Jewish temple and ordered Jews to worship it. He was a zealous Hellenist and wanted all people to follow Greek ways. A revolt led by Mattathias and his son Judah the Maccabee to overthrow Antiochus raged with the odds against the Jews; they…
I’m trying to reach sources on a Friday, usually this is the best day, but today you’d think that they were all out at recess or something funner than trying to reach them. Meanwhile, there is a sort of June gloom outside that everyone once in a while breaks into a stream of sunshine. But it’s in the 70s and who is going to complain about living in New Orleans when the weather couldn’t be…
There was an earthquake in Japan yesterday. This morning, before dawn, I noticed the stars had been rearranged while I was sleeping. Three years ago today heaven and earth moved my life in a new and exciting direction. I met my son, Tin. Or rather Constantin Pavlovic Dangermond. My mother died on November 30th, I was in New York. I flew home on December 1. We buried her on December 2. On December 3rd I…
Someone asked me to define love the other day and I was stumped for an answer. Years ago I was explaining my father to a friend at a cabin in the Sierra and my friend said, “That’s not love.” It is to me, I thought. And now, many relationships later, I still couldn’t tell you what love is, but I found a definition that will suffice for lack of my own: Love is what you’ve…