I had been sitting in the little coffee house on Magazine St. in New Orleans for a while trying to write and enjoying the music of Louis Armstrong and Billie Holliday and the ceiling fans turning slowly overhead in this old building. The sound of the coffee beans and the steamer and the smell of the coffee dripping and people talking with the music in the background was a perfect accessory to the hundred year old architecture and surroundings. New Orleans. The Caribbean city in North America. I love the city so. It is a labyrinth of sight, sound, flavor, and experience that always takes you deeper into history and mystery. Every house has a story, as does every neighborhood. You can't know anything real about New Orleans as a tourist. You just can't. New Orleans is not the French Quarter - not really. I mean, it was once, and in a sense, it still is in the same way that the tip of an iceberg is the part of the iceberg that everyone sees. But, the real New Orleans is what happens everywhere else every day and a tourist can't see it. It takes time to see, just like a good Red Beans & Rice takes hours to cook correctly. You don't really see New Orleans until you sit it in for a while and let it slowly wrap around you. New Orleans has to be meditated on and sipped slowly and that takes longer than a day or three or even years. When you spend time in this place, you are changed by it in unique ways.
I was in this coffee shop on a Friday in New Orleans in early Spring waiting for Rod Dreher, the New York Times bestselling author of The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, and conservative journalist. I have been reading Rod's writing for a couple of years and enjoy his take on culture, politics, faith, good food, travel, family, and a host of other things. Rod writes in a confessional style, bearing his soul for his reader and inviting them to join him in his journey of discovery. His classic line when he posts a quote from another article is, "you really should read the whole thing." And, Rod makes you want to read the whole thing. Or eat the food or travel to the place or pray the prayer. That is the mark of a good writer and Rod is definitely a great writer. So, when he sent me an advance copy of his new book, How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life Changing Wisdom of History's Greatest Poem, I was excited to dive in. Then, knowing I'd be spending some time in Louisiana, I asked Rod if he'd like to meet. He lives north of Baton Rouge, but said he'd be in the city on Friday, so we set it up. Great!
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