a little is better than none at all

i've had a scant two days in New Orleans

a small detour on the way to Inverness in NorCal

arriving at the witching hour very late on Monday

and

while my visit fell in the calm between the two weekends of the Jazzfest

i've still had a splendid time

warm welcomes from good friends

and a literal full baptism in a rain storm that filled my boots with water

 - they and my leather backpack are still quite squelchy -

my trusty bicycle had been pumped and polished for me

:: together we sailed along favourite byways redolent with an intoxicating fragrance

[magnolia, stephanotis and sweet olive, tempered with a hint of rose and a dash of iris] 

while luminous green tendrils of poison ivy wound their way

seductively up the live-oaks

wickedly whispering "touch me, touch me"

 

so it is time once again

to thank the wonderful folk at the Joan Mitchell Center

for looking after me so kindly

+

tomorrow i'll be at the airport at dawn

to be in San Francisco by lunchtime

and driving across that Golden Gate in the early afternoon

there was a time when i thought i might eventually have my ashes hurled into the Pacific from there

but now i'm thinking, maybe,

 

but not for a while yet, i trust

i have an exhibition to fabricate

ready for March 10, 2014

right here in New Orleans