The Pandemic: You Gotta Have Heart

April 5, 2020

As far back as The Plague of 1348, art was created in some form or another to counter grim reality.  Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron, with ten stories that ranged from witty to bawdy,during the plague in Italy. Any way to keep the plague at bay. Today we're emailing friends, long lost or near and dear. It's diversion, but more important, it's gathering our friends around a figurative communal campfire.

In the Art vs Virus department, my neighbors are putting up a fight. As the song goes, "You Gotta Have Heart."

They're displaying teddy bears and rainbows in their windows. We need to be amused, consoled, but more than anything, feel a sense of community.  Just the search for something to display made me feel good...ended up hanging Mardi Gras beads on my front porch and displaying a goofy puppet of Santa Claus in the front window. I was in my '"we're all in this together" mode.

Taking a page from Boston's Sidewalk Sam of yore, my neighbor ordered a bucket of chalk and drew radiant rainbow hearts on every section. Aside from a trip to the grocery or drug store, a walk around the neighborhood is one of our only options in the Stay Home reality. That sidewalk was the show for several days. It took two days of rain to erase the chalk. The joy I felt after seeing of those knockout colors and the memory of watching her create the mini masterpiece with her son? It's still there.

Break out the chalk...

   

With a little help from her son...

   

and teaching moments..."I need the yellow chalk now, can you find a piece?"
 

my neighbor lights up the sidewalk...

Use what makes you feel good...for me, Mardi Gras beads I've collected from numerous Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans and Lafayette and a "throw" from (Krewe de Vieux) 2019 Mardi Gras parade on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans; and a goofy puppet of Santa Claus!

Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.

Comments

[Bernard Ussher]

These are great!

[Ann Baker]

Thanks. It made me smile…….

[Paul A Tamburello Jr aka pt at large]

That was the idea!

[K B Jones]

I feel joy in reading it. I feel joy in reading it.
Great and timely.

[C C Raymond]

Just, exactly JUST what I needed to hear today.

[Paul A Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large]

Witnessing it gave me a chance to see something bright amongst the shadows.

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large]

Witnessing it was one of those moments you just want to preserve in amber.

[Nona Bock]

Love it! — It’s happening here too.

[Bambi Good]

bravo... got to sing and got to be jealous of people with sidewalks which our street barely has, and it has even less street because it's all patches (the sidewalks are either gravel or asphalt... BUT I'll send to my daughter who leaves her chalk marks where she goes..
I loved seeing your neighborhood.. We think we have a great neighborhood but nothing is happening here to show its spunk.. .I'm planning to do a sing when we get a prediction for good weather at 5:30 some evening.. I think I'll send them "You Gotta Have Heart" to learn for the sing.. probably haven't heard it since I was a kid so "Thanks for the Memories"...

[Paul A. Tamburello Jr. aka pt at large]

Bambi, neighbors in JP https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/16/metro/their-porches-song-emerges/
and Boston are into it
https://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/boston-guy-croons-social-distancing-version-sweet-caroline

My neighbors are planning some pot banging on Friday to salute a nurse who lives in the 'hood.

[Sarah Cross Mills]

Just might "steal" that sidewalk art - gather a group from our 110 unit building and chalk up the sidewalk in front, as a gift to all those who come to the Eastern Promenade to walk above the bay.

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

Yes! As a former colleague, you remember that we teachers used to ‘steal’ ideas from each other all the time, tweaked them to match our own style and grade level and they became our own! Would love to hear if you do it!

[Mark E. Engelberg]

This is a "heart-warmer". Thanks, Paulie.

[Carole Blossom]

Love your Mardi Gras beads, string of lights and Santa Claus puppet! You Gotta Have Heart is so true....

Take care and be well, Carole Blossom🌼

[Paul A Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large]

Thank you, Carole!
I’ve collected Mardi Gras beads from just about every Mardi Gras in NOLA and so many cities and towns in SW Louisiana.
They hang on chair arms, door knobs, stair newell posts…I smile every time i walk by them.
Certainly a good way for me to keep on havin’ heart!

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

Mark, I looked out my window, saw the scene right from the start, went outside, kept my distance and documented it. If the way I was feeling was any barometer, knew I wanted to share it.
When I began writing about the heart warming story i thought of the Gotta Have Heart song and found the perfect one to link to the post. I play that clip to cheer me up at least once a day.

[Gerard McMahon]

Nice!! Easy to loose sight of the small things during this time in History!!

[Chantelle Trahan]

Thank you for sharing 'what makes you feel good' through the Mardi Gras beads you've acquired from Louisiana, the world-wide anticipation of Santa Claus, and the colorful messages of hope written in chalk from your front yard to everyone else's! Yes, the message in the song rings true on a daily basis......."You Gotta Have Heart." If you have that, I believe you have it all!

My draft began on Monday, April 13th, and got interrupted three times until now. It's been an interesting week. Not bad, just a bit unorganized. This may be our new normal. We're taking it one day at a time. Like the song above says, "There's nothing to it, but to do it!"

Thanks again for your writings. They are informative, inspirational, and all-inclusive! Continue to do what makes you feel good.....with heart!