Day in the Life of the COVID Quarter - Part 3

4/5/2020

FQJ's Hunkering Down blog

Historian/author Frank Perez on his third floor balcony.

Third in the series of daily diary entries by French Quarter writer/historian Frank Perez, this piece considers the comforts of the ordinary.

- by Frank Perez

Saturday, April 4, 2020
4:50am

Balcony check. All is dark and quiet. Well, almost. There is a large light in the 800 block of St. Ann to illuminate the construction area. There are no workers, but I suppose there may be equipment. Thieves, like the coyotes in the CBD, are not subject to the lockdown.

Across the street, the parking garage of the Place d’ Arms Hotel is gated shut. The site of this parking garage was a coffin making factory in the 19th Century—a time when epidemics were much more common.

6:25 am

Like a canopy heralding the arrival of dawn, cirrus clouds fill the blue-gray sky. They seem to radiate from the building across the street—nimbus and crowning. The still air perfumed by the sweet scent of jasmine.

7:45 am

Supplies run. I’ve dropped the daily run to Rouse’s down to two or three times a week, and if possible I try to go early, shortly after they’ve opened, before a lot of people get there. I assume they clean and sanitize the store before they open. Now they’ve added markers on the floor at intervals of six feet. It’s usually difficult to socially distance in the Quarter Rouses, but it can be done, especially with few people in the store. I know what I need before I get there, and I don’t linger.

8:45 am

Working on the Stewart Butler biography. Reading through old LAGPAC (Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus) brochures. Stewart was heavily involved in this group. Rupee is still asleep. Writing.

11:30 pm

Phone interview with a long-time friend of Stewart’s. Some good anecdotes about bar-hopping in the Quarter in the 1970s; specifically Lafitte’s (still dere) and Wanda’s (not dere no mo). Writing.

4:56 pm

Contemplating dinner when the cathedral bells start ringing. I go outside to survey my corner of the Quarter. A lone cyclist rides by on Royal as a street cleaner in a bright orange shirt and white mask sprays and wipes down a city trash receptacle, the ones with the handles. I wonder how much COVID those things have spread.

Rupee, snoozing while Frank writes.

5:15 pm

Tired of writing. Strongly resisting the urge to binge-watch Dallas on Amazon Prime.

5:37 pm

Dinner is flank steak smothered in caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms with a side of grilled asparagus and scalloped potatoes - all of which is sprinkled with few grates of Parmesan cheese. After greasing the sauté pan with butter, I lay the potato rounds down and then cover them with yellow American cheese and a layer of chopped onions. This will be accented with chives later. When the flanks are ready, I top them with a dollop of butter and watch the sea salt dissolve as the melted butter oozes over the steak. Oh, mais ça ces bon!

Check out more stories on FQJ's Home page or our Hunkering Down blog.

Frank Perez serves as President of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana and has authored four books on New Orleans history and teaches part-time at Loyola University. He is also a licensed tour-guide. He and his partner live in the French Quarter.

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