The Coldest Night Of The Year In New Orleans

Lower the temperature about 30 degrees and make it
night, and this might be the parade that we saw...

Friday Into Saturday
By the time
1 a.m. had arrived and I had amassed Friday night's 55 dollars in tips, the wind had started to pick up from the west. It was blowing cold.
Forecasts were for the temperatures to drop Saturday into Sunday, as a cold front was to blow in.
Saturday Into Sunday

First priority: Just staying warm, as Howard
continues to read in his sleeping bag (third from left).

Saturday morning, the dreaded cold front was blowing in.
I came to this library and blogged, deciding that there would be no busking that night, only trying to stay warm and hopefully getting some sleep (despite having a Colombian woman in the same sleeping bag as I).
The library closed early (2 p.m.) because of the Mardi Gras parades scheduled to run into the evening.
I went to the "sign" spot, to find Howard braving the elements and reading a book.
Adding the last of the clothing hanging in the trees to my wardrobe, I left to go into the quarter, thinking that I probably wouldn't busk, but curious to see how many tourists were about.
I ran into none other than Sue, the Colombian lady at the first intersection.
She was laden with her customary 3 bags, and also holding a white Styrofoam, which she gave to me after I told her that I indeed was hungry. "I'm full, I was going to give it to someone else," she said. I don't know how full she may have been, but I know how suspicious she is of food of mysterious origins.
Not prone to look a gift horse in the mouth, I chowed down on what turned out to be rice and beans -"gumbo" to the natives.
Sue then produced two Monster energy drinks, which she gave me. "They were giving them away off of one of the floats," she said.
"I wish I had brought my hot sauce," I said, which produced a couple packets of Tabasco Sauce from one of her bags.

I invited her to walk with me, towards The Unique Boutique, to check out the sights and, would she like a beer. That was the least I thought I could do in return for all that she had given me.
I was able to find two cans of NOLA Blonde ale in the 99 cent bin, which I grabbed and which Sue deemed "delicious," as I had done upon first trying it.
A parade was "about" to start, if an hour and a half away qualifies for "about." There were people gathering along the barricades, giving the impression that the wait would be shorter than what it turned out to be.
In the meantime, I ran to the store for another beer for each of us. Then, twenty minutes later, a third.
"I'll get this round," said Sue, handing me two dollars.
I found a fancy pair of Mardi Gras sunglasses, which were molded into a gold crown, sitting in the bin with the 99 cent beer.
I grabbed them and returned to where Sue was *still* waiting for the parade to start.
We were having a good time by then. When I had returned wearing the sunglasses and crown it took her a few seconds to recognize me, whereupon she burst into laughter. We took pictures of each other wearing the thing on my newly resurrected Sprint LG phone. (I will post them here, as soon as I get a new USB cable, which turned out to be the phones only problem).



"Every time I have a good night, something happens to screw it up" -Sue the Colombian lady

Find Out What Happened Next!!!

 And, as it would turn out; we weren't out of the cold yet....