2 January 2025
AJ and his team arrived around 8:15 to dismantle the tree and store the ornaments and pic. I apparently purchased the wrong bubble wrap. He wanted the one with very small bubbles. It takes up less room in the storage boxes and is more flexible.
I suspect they will disassemble the tree much faster than they put it up and it only took an hour and a half to put it up. Now comes the problem of where to put everything.
AJ said he would contact me around August to discuss when to put the tree up next year and that he would do it a little after Thanksgiving.
Now I have to move the steamer trunk back in front of the window and restore the house to semi-normal. The tree has really been fun.
I didn’t do movie night last night. After cleaning the house, I felt a little off and after John left, I headed to bed to read and nap. This morning I still feel blah. I’m wearing a mask so as to not infect AJ and his team. I don’t know if the cold is holding on or if it is something else.
It was cool this morning when I got up. It was 60°F and with promise of cooler temperatures tonight. It will make the morning walks really nice.
I had black-eyed peas yesterday for good luck. Of course, I do that every year and it hasn’t worked since 2020. Maybe this year will be different.
Luck ran out for 15 people who were killed and the numerous people injured in the New Orleans, in what appears to be a terrorist attack. I have many, many memories of New Orleans, particularly three Mardi Gras over the years. My first was when I was in college and went with Jimmie to visit my cousin Jo who introduced us to frozen daiquiris.
I was stationed at the Coast Guard Communications Station New Orleans for two years. I got to know the city intimately and grew to love it, particularly the French Quarter. I was at Pat O’Brien’s before I was legal and many times after I was legal. Those hurricanes are really strong. The crowds at Mardi Gras are unreal and I’ve grabbed many a set of beads from the floats. I’ve walked Bourbon Street many times and I saw my first nudie bar there. New Orleans is a city where you can find the best food for the cheapest price in America.
There but for luck I was never injured or hurt anywhere in the city. My heart goes out to the victims’ families. No one deserves this, especially New Orleans which is struggling still after the effects of Katrina.
The new year hasn’t started out too well. Perhaps it is like March. In like a lion, out like a lamb.
Stay tuned!
Your writing brings back so many memories. I think that when Jo took us it was my first trip ever to New Orleans. Jo taught us to say New Orleans the way the residents do–more or less ONE LONG syllable, and we practiced on the car ride down to New Orleans. That frozen hurricane was my first ever and I remember after one hurricane how difficult it was to navigate the spiral staircase down from the restroom on the second floor. I remember the waiters wearing metal thimbles and tapping the metal trays for tips in a sort of performance. That was some noise. If I remember correctly, we met Ken for the first time. What a great time we all had.