Evangeline's New Orleans: Happy Saint John's Eve!

They say there are over 450 festivals in Louisiana every year. That's like a festival and a half every day. This only takes into account actual festivals, but not certain "holidays" some people keep sacred.

For years—centuries even—Saint John's Eve, which commemorates the night before the birthday of Saint John the Baptist, has been celebrated along the shores of Bayou Saint John. Bonfires are lit and and these days the whispers of Marie Laveau are only imagined. But in the1800's it was well-known (the newspaper knew, anyway, and told all) as the place where the voudou queen would perform rituals in which rooster's blood was a necessary component. People of all races, ages and classes would come to see her, or to see others perform ritualistic dances, and listen to the hypnotic thrumming of the drums.

It's an interesting topic of study, since so many authors have sensationalized New Orleans and Voudou since the late 1700s. Some say that Congo Square, the original location where slaves and free people of color would gather—immortalized in sketches like the one below—had grown too overrun with onlookers, spectacle seekers.

So the rites were moved to the Bayou. Other people claim that the Bayou fires were just another diversion from the real voudou rituals happening somewhere else, in secret.

Whatever the truth, it's interesting to think how long this ritual of lighting the bonfires has perpetuated, probably since before the 1860s.

 Marie Laveau—both the original voudou queen and her daughter used this name—is most likely the cause of all the fuss. Her name is synonymous with voudou, and her grave (well, one of several tombs which supposedly hold her remains) has long been known as a place to go and pray, and mark your prayer with a cross.

Evangeline's New Orleans: How Do You Sit in That Thing?

 Morning, y'all! It's hopefully going to be a balmy 59 degrees F in New Orleans today, and sunny. Hope you people north of me (which is pretty much everybody) are having better weather. Even my poor daddy in Tupelo has been getting snow. He had to clear the driveway with a leaf rake. He's had his share of snow in Germany and Upstate New York, though, so don't feel too bad for him.

I was just filling an order for a colleague doing a lecture on a century of women's fashion, and came across these beauties in the Collection. I thought they'd make a perfect visual aid for another installment of Evangeline's New Orleans. Instead of talking about the New Orleans of the present, I wanted to talk about how Evie has to adapt to the type of clothing she's got to wear in Jude's New Orleans of the 1880s.

Now, poor Evie is a runner. A sprinter, to be more precise. And in the 1880s, not only is there nary a running shoe to be found, it's obvious from the picture below that "proper" women weren't supposed to do much more than traipse about the drawing room room showing off their bustles. ;)

So you can imagine how difficult it would be for poor Evie to strap on a bustle—that is, have one strapped on her. Not sure how you'd be able to get into one of these dresses yourself, on top of all the underwear beneath. Evie's about as comfortable with the clothing as she is having someone help her get dressed, yikes.

Look at those tight skirts! It only lasted a few years, and then they went all full again. The poor lady in the green silk looks like she can only walk about four inches forward at a time. And the sleeves are so tight, it barely looks like they can do anything more strenuous than pouring a porcelain tea pot. Of course, these are day dresses and walking dresses, for visiting and hostessing, not for anything like riding. Thank goodness.

Got to love the hats, too, which were proper hats by now instead of the lowly bonnet. They had to pinned on and strapped down with heavy ribbon. Gorgeous, though, and dripping with lace and feathers and sometimes a small bird in a nest like the first image below. 

 

Hope you enjoyed this edition of Evangeline's New Orleans. Carnival is upon us, so I hope to have another post up soon. Only six more weeks until Mardi Gras!

Yes! EVANGELINE is AGENTED!!

Actually, scratch that! I'm the one who is agented! I am now represented by Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio.

Life is good.

Jude's New Orleans: Tropical Depression

So it looks like old TD#5 is turning back around to dump some more rain on us. That was nice last week, it barely got above 99 degrees what with all that rain. Too bad that didn't last: today for southeast Louisiana, there's a coastal flood watch, a flash flood watch, and an excessive heat warning. The heat index could get up to 105 degrees. Air conditioning for the win!


As an historian, days like today always make me marvel at how people survived in the days before a/c and automatic ice-makers. Back in Jude's time. I mean, even the shaved ice snow-ball with its delicious syrup was a luxury until the 1920s or so. And with all the heavy fabrics everyone wore, like wool in the height of muggy August... Ugh, I'm getting overheated just thinking about it.


But New Orleans has experienced many, many hurricanes and tropical storms like TD#5, with all that rain and wind. The Mississippi used to flood its banks and spill into Lake Pontchartrain with astonishing regularity, yet all these old houses from the 1800s and earlier still stand.

How is that possible in such an environment where sheet-rock molds and electrical work corrodes when they've gotten just a little wet?


Simple. They didn't use sheet-rock or (obviously) electrical wiring. Plaster and lathe walls would dry out after a few days, with the doors and windows all open and fires going in all the chimneys. In fact, it wasn't that uncommon to see families out and about the neighborhood despite the flood waters; some on tables, or doors or the lucky prepared folk in their rowboats.


These engravings are from an issue of Harper's Weekly (courtesy The Historic New Orleans Collection) from July, 1871. This flooding was caused by the Mississippi River spilling over its banks at Bonnet Carré and raising level of Lake Pontchartrain. Strong winds and drainage canal systems did the rest, despite efforts to sandbag the levees.

Second floors became the family living space for a while, and it was sort of a free-for-all as far as missing livestock went, but everyone knew the water would go down, and soon everything would get back to normal. Jude's family home was in the Faubourg Marigny, where it seldom flooded, so they would have been okay, but I can picture a ten year old Jude and his mother poling through the Back-of-town on a door, handing out water and meat pies to those in need.

"It is not the first time that Lake Pontchartrain has poured into these streets," the Harper's Weekly author writes, "but let us hope it will be the last."

Unfortunately for this author, the 1871 flood wasn't the last time that lake water filled the streets, but fortunately for Jude's New Orleans, the desire of the city's residents to help one another get through a disaster hasn't waned over time.

Hope y'all enjoyed this little trip back in time! Have some real Nitchitoches (pronounced Nakadish) meat pies and a lemonade before you go. You know you can't resist!

Evangeline's New Orleans: Food and Music Festivals

It wouldn't be New Orleans without festivals. But we're more than just carnival and Jazz Fest. We're the Po-boy Preservation Fest, the oyster festival, Greek Festival, and too many others to name.

This weekend in Evangeline's New Orleans, we've got the Seafood/Creole Tomato/Zydeco Festival.


If you think you've never heard zydeco, think again. It's the accordion, the Cajun fiddle, the washboard music you hear during any movie that takes place in the French Quarter or the bayou parishes—which are quite a drive away from one another, despite what the movies show. Historically, it's the music of the parishes, of the fais-do-do, but contemporary zydeco is a little Cajun and a little Swamp Boogie. See the schedule here.

Since the heat index will be hitting about 105 today, a lot of the food offered by local restaurants will be cool, tomato caprese and crab salads, but La Divina Gelateria will feature their crawfish gelato made by none other than my sweet husband Jason. Last night he brought home blueberry basil sorbet. It was like eating fresh berries off the bush the way the basil gave it a hint of green flavor. La Divina uses local ingredients whenever they can: milk, fruit, yes, even crawfish.

With everything that's happening in the Gulf and now the wetlands, it's more important than ever that these festivals, many of which raise money and awareness, go on.

I'm thinking of braving the heat to walk down there for lunch. Who knows, maybe I'll run into Jude and Evie? ;)

Welcome to the Crescent City

This here's my new blog devoted to all things EVANGELINE. This YA paranormal romance is set in New Orleans, where I live. It's a city so inspiring I had to set a novel here. I mixed a little time travel with a dash of demons and a dollop of witchcraft, baked til golden brown, and voila, EVANGELINE was born.

Check out the pages listed in the above tabs for a brief summary, the first chapter, and character bios. I'll be adding elements to this page, like photo tours and recipes, periodically.

Thanks for dropping by!