Lucky Beans!

Since I missed yesterday's post, this shot is a catch up from yesterday.  CJ and Carolyn have a donation pot on their St. Joseph's Altar for anyone who would like to make a donation.  The funds raised are sent to the charities depicted on the table.  After reflecting on the altar's complexity, beauty, significance, etc., visitors are invited to take a lucky bean home.  These fava beans from CJ and Carolyn's house have been creatively painted.  Green, red and white are the colors of Sicily (from which the St. Joseph Altars are supposed to have originated), and the gold ones are likely to honor the New Orleans Saints football team.  The plain ones in the middle are what fava beans look like.  They have been blessed by a Catholic priest.  You add it to your coin purse or piggy bank and it is supposed to ensure that you always have wealth in those locations.  This particular altar also has religious items (that have been blessed) that you can take home with you if you want to.  What you don't see here are the cookies -- you leave a St. Joseph Altar with a lucky bean and cookies or a piece of bread so that you never go hungry through the year.  Wealth and food, and the blessings from God for having prayed at a St. Joseph Altar are the treasures you take away with you.  Don't forget to share the love!

St. Joseph Altar March 2010

This is CJ and Carolyn's St. Joseph Altar from March 2010.  The abundance of specially shaped breads, candles, flowers, and religious imagry is a hallmark of this celebration.  The celebration is a giant thank you to God held on St. Joseph's day for the blessings and protection provided to the family throughout the year.  A meal is served to all who come to admire the altar.  It is a way for friends and family to come together and an excuse to get a little religion into the friends and family who come to reflect on God's blessings and the family's devotion to God.  St. Joseph is the patron saint of the household as he was the stepfather who helped raise Jesus.  As a stepmom who was blessed with two beautiful children to raise, I've got a soft spot for St. Joseph's Day. 

Post-Katrina Neglect

I have to admit it.  This is my backyard in July after I returned from a 6 week trip teaching abroad.  The vines had taken over my backyard.  It was so lush and green and reminded me of the breaks in the rain forest in Costa Rica from my childhood, so I allowed it to stay overgrown.  I have no neighbors to the north, none to the west (the direction this shot is taken in) adjacent to this, and none to the east so no one but me can be annoyed by the overgrowth...and it doesn't annoy me.  I like that the vines covered over the piles of problems that I have to deal with now that winter has arrived and the vines have died.  Except now it is prime raw oyster season so I would rather be in the Quarter ordering oysters than cleaning the backyard.  And this is how neglect gets started.

Cottbus, Germany June 2010

Cottbus, Germany is a town in eastern Germany between Poland and Berlin.  This town was bombed by the Allied forces at the end of World War II.  The town was determined to rebuild its bombed out city center duplicating the same structures that were there prior to the bombing.  Here is the result.  A very old looking town center (1600-1700s is look of oldest building according to my students -- but the town was established in the early middle ages) but the reality is that these structures are maximum 50 years old.  Tons of outdoor cafes populate the square.  It is a lovely place to hang out!