SpiritMaa

well, i made it to new orleans! after a hella time packing up 15 years of my life (and all the markers of my psycho-spiritual process) and saying goodbye to san francisco (and all my favorite nature spirits), i got in my car (packed to the gills), and started driving. i knew it would be a long trip, but crossing 3 deserts and the whole state of texas! seriously? the whole desert thing was so bleak and desolate it felt kinda like a death/rebirth experience... i made a skull offering to the mojave desert (the first and most desolate) after making it through... stopped at the halfway point - albuquerque - with friends and explored a bit. enjoyed seeing the native american art again... but when i finally saw the green of west texas, my whole mood shifted. then the deeper green of louisiana, and all the water (bayous) started lifting my spirits... only traffic jam of the whole trip came when i was an hour or so outside new orleans... finally entered the city as a rainstorm was starting...

the first few days in new orleans have been all about unpacking the car, adjusting to the heat, resting, getting groceries, setting up internet, all those kinds of settling in things... after i redecorated with my indian batiks and crystals, my studio apartment in a 150 year old house with a balcony on a street filled with live oaks looked more like me :)...  though i received a great SF style welcome when i awoke the first day to the Red Dress parade - men in drag and women in tutus (!) - things still felt a bit 'foreign' to me... then yesterday i finally had a chance to walk around the french quarter for the first time, and headed to a couple voodou spiritual centers... later went to listen to music on frenchman st... first some zydeco, then danced all night to a samba band... made some new dancing friends, and remembered why i'd come to new orleans...

p.s. did i mention the seafood gumbo and red beans and rice?(!)