Dispatch From New Orleans

It's snowing today in New Orleans

Streetcar in New Orleans. Photo by the Times-Picayune. Read the story here.

Our Jefferson Parish neighbors enjoying their snow day. (Photo by Bill Robinson)

What's Blooming Now? — Mid September

It's plumbago blooming in East Jefferson. See the lady peeking out the storm door? When she saw me taking photos, did she call the cops? Did she hide? Did she pull the drapes?? She did none of those things. Instead, she came out of her darling white house with blue trim and told me that she'd found the perfect spot to grow plumbago. She seemed pleased that I was shooting photos.

Porch Patrol — Clean and serene

When the workday is done (the owner's a gardener), this porch gets a good workout with the grown-ups in the chairs and the kids kicking the balls around in the street. This is the living, breathing, heart-beating American Dream. (Jefferson)

Porch Patrol — Big Blue

This is the kind of porch I salivate over. (Jefferson)

When you live in New Orleans . . .

When you live in New Orleans, or anywhere in the path of hurricanes, you think twice about your love of "leafy" neighborhoods. While you desperately need the shade of a big oak tree like this, you also have awareness that this tree could come crashing down in a big wind event. And there goes your house, and you if you're inside. The big tree issue is a definite quandary.

Signs of the Times — MRGO Must Go

Spotted on a front lawn in Jefferson Parish, just west of New Orleans Parish, just north of the Mississippi River. The sign refers to efforts to close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and thus decrease damage to the wetlands that have historically protected New Orleans from storms.

Hot dogs in New Orleans

Here's my dog Zeus, right, making a new friend on our daily walk. Having a big black dog in New Orleans limits your activity in the hot and humid summertime. The choices are: take the walk early in the day, take it late in the day, or make it a short walk!

New Orleans House Colors: Jefferson Parish

Do you love the colors of this house?