Caravan of Caravans!

Now there are two...


Nina is still here and she has been joined by another friend of hers from the road, Wiley, (another welcome addition to our little neighborhood.) In talking to them, I've been thinking that I'd kind of like to hit the road in an RV... but I'll probably get over it. Both Nina and Wiley travel a lot every year and that certainly appeals to me.

Wiley has in interesting license plate



Lovely day



I've been feeling crappy for the last few days; picked up some kind of gastro flu, spent a lot of time in bed. I read three William Gibson novels; Idoru, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Virtual Light. I love Gibson's vision of the future and cyberspace and his sense of humor.

I felt well enough today to join the crowd on the front steps and spent part of the morning chatting with Robert, Nina and Wiley. Then I got ambitious and took down the remaining Mardi Gras decorations. Now I just have to finish stowing away the stuff that's still laying around inside and do a final glitter patrol. (It's never really all gone...)


The Message Board

Just amazing! You were all very busy these last few days! There have been about 400 posts since Friday evening, and yes, I have read them all. Over all I think it's going fairly well; everyone seems to be playing nice, for the most part. Remember to respect each other; it's important to me, but I think it's important no matter what board you post on.

In case you were feeling old today...

Cora Rousseaux, 113, a witness to history



02/19/02

By Natalie Pompilio
Staff writer/The Times-Picayune

Cora Hamilton Rousseaux, a homemaker born during Grover Cleveland's presidency who lived to see both world wars and the invention of the automobile and the airplane, died Wednesday at her home. She was 113.

Mrs. Rousseaux was born in Plaquemine in 1888 and is thought to be among the oldest persons to have been born in Louisiana.

She lived briefly in Chicago, moving to New Orleans after her husband's death in 1948. She and her mother owned a four-plex on Laurel Street close to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. They lived in one apartment and rented out the other three for income, said Audrey Pierce, a longtime friend of Mrs. Rousseaux.

Mrs. Rousseaux volunteered at the church rectory, helping with housekeeping. She was the oldest parishioner of the Josephites in Louisiana.

Well into her 90s, Mrs. Rousseaux did her own cooking. She once sent Pierce on a mission to find fresh rabbit for her to prepare. She was also a talented baker.

"Her cakes would rise so high and I would say, �How do you do that?' " Pierce said. "She didn't believe in cake mixes at all."

Mrs. Rousseaux grew more tired as the years passed, but her mind remained sharp, Pierce said. She sometimes talked about her advanced age, one time noting, "I know I'm 103, but I don't really think I'm that old."

"Even as she got older, 110, 111, 112, we'd take her to church and then out to eat breakfast and for drives to Audubon Park," Pierce said.

In the final few months of her life, Mrs. Rousseaux told friends she was tired and that she missed her mother, who died in 1981. She began asking for her strong morning coffee in bed. She would have turned 114 on Feb. 18, but she told Pierce she could not attend a party her church was organizing.

On the night Mrs. Rousseaux died, Pierce heard her speaking aloud in her bed.

"She kept saying, �What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?' " Pierce said. "She was ready. She was absolutely ready."

She was a member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary Court No. 47, for whom she had been a volunteer cook.

A Mass will be said today at 10 a.m. at Blessed Sacrament Church, 5018 Constance St. Burial will be in St. Vincent No. 2 Cemetery. Louisiana Undertaking Co. is in charge of arrangements.

Amazing.