New Orleans Misses You.

               

It isn't the end of the world as we know it but it isn't the beginning of anything great, either.  Life goes on.  In New Orleans, life goes on every day in the best of all possible ways.  What's to complain about when you live in New Orleans?  Well, some people don't have a job, but, aside from that, not much.

I'm one of them.  During the coronavirus pandemic, with no one traveling, being in the hospitality industry isn't a sweet spot to be in.  Most years it's comfortable, if no way to get rich.  Not this year.  This year is a double negative.

19.5 million people visited New Orleans last year.  In 2020, it will be noticeably less when they finally tally the total at year's end.  It will be a sad December.  Happy New Year, I hope.

It is good to be alive in New Orleans, even when it's not great.  Usually, it's great.  2020 is an annus horribilus but what's a body to do?  The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  There is nothing going on except social distancing.  

The New Orleans economy is based on tourism.  We don't take it personally that no one is visiting this year.  Everyone is sheltering at home.  Wish you were here.

When the time finally comes that you can finally no longer resist the siren call of seductive New Orleans, Louisiana, we hope you won't waste any time to come back.  New Orleans is calling you.  You belong here.  Use your best intuition.  New Orleans is here for you.

New Orleans misses you.

New Orleans is a sponge that absorbs love from the rest of the world that knows New Orleans is special.  How many millions of people have to be right to prove it to you?  

New Orleans has an oyster heart.  You'll find what you deserve in this wonderful city we call home.  Home is where the heart is and you are the pearl.

There are no strangers in New Orleans.  There are only friends you haven't yet met.

If you find yourself bored in New Orleans, you're lost.  You either have a hole in your heart or you have a hole in your imagination.  Hopefully, you'll find a wine cork big enough to plug it.

People come to New Orleans to catch a wish.  If wishes were fishes we'd all be eating crawfish, which, in New Orleans, is what we do.  Be nice or leave.  

The sun shines even when it's raining in New Orleans, especially in August.  When the streets flood, the water is never cold.  Calf-deep on a storm-flooded street, everyone is smiling from the waist up.  It's something to talk about.  Another story to share at church or at the bar.  Even a the worst day in New Orleans is better than the best day of fishing.

Well, there is always next year.  This year, we've had our fun all to ourselves.  New Orleans missed you.  I know.  I live here.  New Orleans missed you.  It misses you, still.  

Get your good self down here when you have the chance.  No regrets.

---Have a great New Orleans day today, wherever you happen to be!