New Toulouse

As the sun was setting Tuesday evening, the Big Cheese emerged from City Hall to deliver another Carnival proclamation. It clapped its hands twice, and a pig came out, floating in the air via some sort of extraordinary, dangerous-looking device. The flying pig emitted a series of squeals before accompanying the Big Cheese back into the building. As to the meaning of this proclamation, it is left as an exercise for the reader.

Jack Mondieu is right now hankering for some ham.

At this time of the year, I always get an urge to discover spooky things. And this morning I hit the jackpot. The first thing I spotted was a mysterious corpse in the pigpen at Pazzo’s old Spanish stable. And the pigs looked fat. I wonder if we ever will see him again.

At Lin Laundry at the south end of Shotgun Row, the Halloween pumpkin was a kitty!

Next to the laundry is Missedabracket Salvage, where a nice Cthulhu was hanging on display. When I went to visit him, I swear someone threw pumpkins at me!

I ran for my life to hide in the Maison Rose, and then I saw that a new business, the Mud Bowl, had moved in there. The dead fish looked nice.

Quite calmed by the friendly skeletal fish, I strolled down the road and found a pair of cute, tiny skeletons hanging in the food stall at Carousel Park.

This made me hungry, so I went to Bijou Impromptu, where my spirit fed upon the short Frankenstein movie playing there. That put me in a romantic mood, so I went for a quick visit to the bayou to roll in the catnip, and at the Cloche du Chat, I found the cutest pumpkins I have ever seen.

Suddenly longing for the rooftop party that the Krewe of Bast (my krewe!) are throwing this weekend, I took my tubcopter to Gloryville and got myself a preview of the goodies.

Keep it spooky!

The Ghost of Liza Veliz fell in love with New Toulouse at first sight. She publishes books by various authors; find them at her reading cafe on Shotgun Row. She also operates a bookstore and tattoo parlor in Gloryville, at the corner of Royale and Rossignol.

As the rain begins to fall and the skies thicken, Cavalco, the farrier, jockey, and factotum of the Old Spanish Stable, waits patiently while the pig family takes the last bites of the weeds behind the stable. The padrone of the stable and sheriff of New Toulouse, Pazzo Pestana, hoped his pigs would help abate the weed problem. (Photo credit: Pazzo Pestana.)

The grand opening of Gamaliel’s Vintage Toys & Dolls is delayed by troubling weather, which didn’t stop Mr. Gamaliel from composing verse. (Photo credit: Nikita Weymann.)