So this chick was tooling around the shops at Jefferson / Magazine in this child-filled contraption. Even in New Orleans, she kind of stood out- all that RED! Not to mention she was wearing some kind of heeled shoes (patent cherry red wedge pumps, Janine remembers). To top it off, the damn dog. To top it off again, the parasol??So I said, "Hey, can I take a picture of your, um, thing, there?"
She said,"sure" and whipped into this pose like she'd done it 1000 times before (it was nothing special to the kids, either).
I asked her if she made the bike thing. She told me she had lived in Amsterdam where these things are de rigueur. She just brought it with her when she came back.
In crankier moods, I would dismiss her as part of a group of people in New Orleans who want so badly to be eccentrics but usually end up just trying too hard (trust me, there are a lot of them).
But I genuinely think she's just out enjoying herself on a nice day, not necessarily trying to put on a show, but also being cognizant that she is and not minding that at all. She clearly loves the city and embraces the freedom it gives by not really noticing things that would stand out (possibly to deleterious effect) in other cities.
13Jan08: I have learned that the bike thing is called a "Bakfiete"
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