SpiritMaa

drums, two trumpets and a tuba, rhythms so good, the crowd gets bigger and bigger and we take over canal and bourbon, dancing the electric slide in the street...thunder and lightning don't matter, we just keep on dancing... the joy theater sign accompanies us as we walk to marie laveau's final resting place. a city for the dead... xxx's all over the walls of her tomb... is she still there? or is that her palpable presence at the voodoo shop altar we visit? a beautiful dark woman with neon blue eyes at the grave talks with us - is it the energy from the other side coming through?... spanish architecture in the french quarter, art and music on every corner. colorful creole cottages and shotgun houses discovered on long hot walks through the marigny...green trolleys taking us through the arched canopy of live oaks with those big 200 year old pillared houses on both sides...the city delights with beauty around every corner... the mississipi winds its way around us, cooling the heat coming from every pore as we walk, ride, dance, eat.... gumbo, etoufee, po-boys, crawfish, fried chicken, red beans and rice and lima bean dishes that melt in your mouth - the best food in the country... wide open waters of ponchartrain, the green waters of the bayou, standing trees and alligators' beady eyes staring back as you shrink away from their nearness... dragonflies making it safe for human skin as they dine on the mosquitos... tall cypress trees 700 years old with that mystical spanish moss hanging down... cajun camps on the bayou, mardi gras indians in their stunning beaded presence, african americans, from trini and new york, west africa and haiti grounded in traditions hundreds of years old - all healing, rebuilding and reenergizing the city...the creative heart of the country... there are no strangers here...

or click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dUhgbcqruM