I am anticipating the Widow’s arrival. She borrowed a book from me two weeks ago and the loan is coming due. It is with no interest.
New Orleans is thick with widows. It used to be thick with orphans, which is why there are so many ornate apartment complexes and small boutique hotels scattered uptown. Cabrini High School used to be an orphanage. Saint Mother Cabrini used to live there when she was in New Orleans, right at the end of Esplanade Avenue. Her bedroom is preserved as she left it. She was very tiny.
Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini was the first American saint to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. She was born in Italy. She wanted to a missionary in Asia, like Saint Francis Xavier, but the pope, I think it was Pius VII, told her, “Not to the East, but to the West,” so she came to the United States and eventually became an American citizen.
It is always nice to make the acquaintance of new Americans. We live in the most blessed country in the history of the earth. If the United States were an oyster, New Orleans would be its pearl. I was at the swearing in of several new citizens this past Friday at the federal courthouse. There was not a dry eye in the house.
I see in today’s Wall Street Journal that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is teeming with life. Environmental disaster, like conventional wisdom, is overrated.
One thing that is not overrated is common courtesy. The ability to agree to disagree is a lost talent outside of New Orleans. In New Orleans, the lion lies down with the lamb the way the alligator lies down with the pelican. In New Orleans, people get along by going along more often than not.
I have just spent two or three hours talking to the widow. Time flies when you are having fun. A year, in memory, passes like the blink of an eye.
I went to Terranova’s Supermarket, centrally located in the flatiron building where Esplanade Avenue, Ponce de Leon Street, and Mystery Street cross paths. There are many sweet spots in New Orleans. This is one of them. Smoked gouda cheese is on sale for $7.99.
If this seems to you like a lot to pay for a small wheel of wax-encased cheese, it also seems that way to me. Only a churl would complain about the prices at Terranova’s. Personally, I blame the central bank. If there is one thing we do not discuss at lunchtime, it is politics.
That is it for today. I have things to do. If you are not already, you should become a paid subscriber. You will thank me for it later.