*Quarantined*

Nikki Mayeux : Special Educator, Ex-Evangelical, Writer : New Orleans, LA

April 4-9, 2020

“2:00pm - After MANY super sad attempts, we *finally* found a good crabbing spot to go with the kids. It’s called Salt Bayou, and we got 13 crabs and a bonus perch. 4:00ish pm - I deep clean the floors. Light incense. Marc boils the crabs and teaches Eleanor how to peel them.”

I was virtually introduced to Nikki through Elese Daniel - poet, community advocate and polo player from Cincinnati and whose previous pages from years ago can be found here.

Nikki is a born and bred human from New Orleans. She writes regularly on religious trauma, joyful agnosticism, and spiritual deconstruction, which can be found on her IG and in her Patreon community and website.

Since Elese made the introduction, I figured she’d be best suited to probably introduce Nikki:

Nikki Mayeux and I have only seen each other in person twice in three years. We met through text and message, somewhere among the pitch, adorned in jumpsuits or denim, with stones and bones dangling from our earlobes and necks. We met on dance floors, in airports, and red-orange mountains iced over in shadows the sun couldn’t reach.

And, in between meeting, we’ve shared a digital space that feels as tangible as a jasmine flower, or star.

Nikki is curious and questioning. She cares for people and the stories that come with them. She’s a writer, parent, special educator, and queer ex-Evangelical, born and bred in New Orleans. Nikki is a creature of the swamp: lush and mythically complex.

She’s a trail walk deep in the woods, with an eye to the stars, and a palm, likely, clasped around an iced coffee.

Nikki is currently doing a project called “Passwords” which is a daily invitation to creativity during COVID-19 through one-word prompts posted every day on Nikki’s IG and shared under the hashtag #passwords2020. A weekly curation of submissions is hosted by Antenna.Works on their Room 220 blog. Go check it out!

Read on to find out her iced toddy recipe, the emotional toll of Pixar short films and to go catch some crabs in the Bayou: