Une journée typique à New Orleans

So, yesterday, I was driving with Mojo, my cat, to visit Petco on the far side of town, since my own neighborhood lacks most kinds of services. Mojo was behaving admirably, so we stopped to have coffee with a friend and also buy more pet supplies with my one-day-only 20% off coupon. The store was still sold out of her favorite catnip, tant pis!

On the way home, I leapt out of the car to snap a picture of the glittering Black Men of Labor mural, which had caught my eye several days earlier. This time, I was prepared with my Nikon KoolPix camera and wanted to record it for posterity. Running across the street and standing in the way of traffic as cars streamed by, I noticed a bicyclist approaching.

I recognized his profile from the grand opening party of my acupuncturist, Monica, who had invited folks over at Christmas to see her new daMata Herbal Medicine digs. He was bicycling down St. Claude with a guitar slung over his back and a grocery bag swinging from the handle bars. His long unkempt black beard blowing in the breeze made him unmistakable though I failed to recall the name.

"Allo" he said, reminding me he was Daniel from Quebec, an electrician and musician. I actually thought about Daniel every time I wondered how I might ever fix the short in the outdoor porch light, which blinks like a Bourbon Street nightclub.

But, today, Daniel was searching for meat, which he could not find at the Healing Center Coop. The Coop carries only very small, expensive cuts of grass-fed, organic meat in tiny shrink-wrapped packages as well as tofu and meatless turkey. (I did purchase some buffalo there.) He was looking for a big slab of meat to prepare a hearty meal for a group of friends.

The Coop directed him to look on Broad Street. Broad is the longest street in the city so a more precise address would probably be helpful, particularly for somebody on a bike. I pointed the way to Circle Foods on St. Bernard Avenue, probably a half mile away.

After saying he would come by and take a look at my electrical connections, he sped off. Daniel is still trying to get a green card so he can practice his various professions here.

I stopped two more times to take pictures of colorful houses along St. Claude Avenue. All the while, Mojo waited patiently in her carrier, understanding full well that this is how things generally go in New Orleans.