Grey skies threaten overhead as I stand beneath the black wrought-iron balcony of a stately brick home on Royal Street. If New Orleans is a city that unfolds itself in jazz rhythms, today’s melody is slow and somber; lingering piano chords plink out a lonely ballad joined by the metallic runs of a trumpet. Had … [Read more…]
There’s just a few hours left of the year 2016 here on the East Coast of the United States and, before the clock strikes midnight, it’s time for a reflection. As I prepare to write this, 2016 doesn’t feel like it was a big year of travel for me. Perhaps no year will ever feel like … [Read more…]
On a dark, dark night in New Orleans I walk down a dark, dark street in the French Quarter and there’s spooks in the air. Literally – though its mid-November, some of the houses are still decked out for Halloween and billowing white ghosts and skeletons drape down from twisted iron balconies, setting the tone … [Read more…]