Oleander Water
We’ve all heard of Florida water. It can be found in any voodoo shop, bodega, or discount odd lot store in the toiletry section. It is floral perfume renowned in santeria circles and among the dirty hippie set. Hippies wear Florida water when they run out of patchouli.
You will never guess where the original Florida water comes from. It was discovered by Ponce de Leon on his search for the Fountain of Youth. Ponce de Leon Street is not a good street for buying perfume. It is, however, home to Liuzza’s-by-the-Track, on the corner with North Lopez Street. You go there for the best everyday gumbo in the city.
The Florida water that is available for purchase in New Orleans comes from the Florida Avenue Wastewater Treatment Facility down in the 8th Ward. Not much happens in the 8th Ward. Children can’t afford school supplies there. The whole place is a charity case. It is where all the city’s sewage goes on the East Bank.
Sewage goes into the plant. By a process of high oxygen pressurized filtration, clean drinking water comes out. Nobody drinks it but they can. Instead, it gets pumped into the Mississippi River, from whence it originally came many moons ago. A little is reserved. This is used to make New Orleans Florida water, the ingredients of which are poetry.
