it’s a big deep river
Most towns on a river put all the fancy restaurants with decks right on its edge. But in New Orleans the Mississippi is hidden by a twelve foot levee so you never see water, just the house or the stack of a passing tanker. Four decks up a pilot steers towards the ocean and you are sitting in Jackson Square eating a beignet and your eyes meet. It is the only reason you can believe a mighty river is just behind that concrete.
A character by the name of the gray ghost goes through town covering any graffiti he sees. Actually it’s a rebel crew and sometimes they cover up murals that have been paid for and properly permitted with the city. Such a thorough job is done that I saw no street art in the city. People feel a sense of uselessness and don’t even try.
I’m not a fan of most graffiti. It’s like peeing on someone’s property, trying to claim the corner as yours. That’s boring. In New Orleans the effect has trickled up and you see no hand painted signs anywhere. Almost every business had a sign made at a sign shop. Computer graphics. Glossy banners. Vinyl letters.
In most California towns you’ll find a muffler shop with a hand painted mock up of a guy installing the catalytic converter. The name of the papuseria will be blocked out with an untrained hand. A sense of paint and brush and bonding the name to the building is all around. In New Orleans just untie the banner and the building is nothing again. With paint the memory lingers after the eviction.