Barefoot in Louisiana

I have been a terrible blogger lately. Tate and I are on a 3 week sojourn in Louisiana, and we are loving every minute of it. There is not much reason to blog when the person I mainly blog for is downstairs. I love visiting my parents in old Madisonville. The long walks under the big oak trees down to the Piggly-Wiggly, the boat rides down to "The Redneck Riviera", the acoustic music down on the water front where there is actually a musician that specializes in playing a metal tub...it is so peaceful, sleepy and warm.

While Chad and I both truly love living in Oregon and specifically Portland, there is something about the city of New Orleans that lights up our eyes and tugs at our hearts. We have only been gone for a few months and it is incredible to see how much change has already happened in such a short time. I feel like the city is on the fast track to becoming one of the best places to raise a family in the country. I am trying to be careful about not passing judgement about what place is better. I know that if I let myself go down this path, then I will either be steeped in regret for making such a huge move across the country, or I will be dwelling on the negative aspects of a wonderful city that I only want to be positive about. It's like looking back on a past relationship and either regretting ending it or remembering only the bad parts about it. Forgetting the good is dishonest and doesn't honor a valuable part of your life. In that spirit, I refuse to regret, choose or judge which is better. Both are wonderful places and I feel blessed to have been a part of both. In short, life is good.

When Chad and I were in the Quarter last Friday, I ran across the work of an artist that really struck me. We were waiting for Don and Judi's wedding to begin and ducked into a gallery on Royal Street, where we came across the work of Holly Sarre. Her paintings depict scenes from Hurricane Katrina, but in a light that is hopeful, peaceful, resilient, and graceful - in typical New Orleans style. Look at the details of the image below: the church, the power lines, the cat, the flowers, the musician, the stars and moon, and the floodwaters surrounding it all. Beautiful yet devastating, another example of the contradiction that is New Orleans.