Words cannot describe

The Women's March in New Orleans yesterday. Crowd estimates from the NOPD were 10,000 to 15,000 - I personally think there were more. It looked like 10,000 were assembled in Washington Square Park, where the parade began, but there were hundreds and hundreds more people outside the fences, standing on the neutral ground at Elysian Fields, and thronging on Frenchman Street.

Pre-parade gathering.

I went with a friend, Jennifer, from my neighborhood. We stopped off at another woman's house for some pre-parade socializing. When we arrived at the Park, it was about 1:45 pm, with the parade set to start around 2:00.

I must confess that I did not feel comfortable with the set-up - the Park is surrounded by high iron fences, with only narrow gates at the four corners. I did not feel comfortable going in there with that many people inside. So Jennifer said, "Screw this, let's go find a bar on Decatur Street and let the parade come to us."

We headed down to The Abbey, a dive bar on Decatur between Ursulines and Governor Nicholls, where Curtis, the bartender, told us the story of how he broke his arm. Within a few minutes, we could hear the drums of the parade approaching, and went outside with our go-cups.

The parade stretched on. There were people filling the street from curb to curb, but also people rushing down the sidewalks, watching from the many bars and storefronts, and also from the balconies overhanging the street. 

I will let the photos and videos tell the rest of the story. I will simply say that it took 1 hour and 15 minutes for the entire assembly to pass us.

Thank you, ladies and all, for sending a message to Washington. Movement? I'll give you a movement, Mr. Trump. THIS is a movement.