Not that I fool myself into thinking anyone might still read this....
So, I'm sitting high and dry in Denver right now - a trip I planned over a month ago, but one that is turning out to be a fortuitous and prescient decision. I have been speaking with many people in New Orleans, and most people have left, headed to Memphis and Austin and Covington and Shreveport and Mississippi. My roommate is still in our apartment along with Steve, my cat. He is planning on making a decision about whether or not to leave very soon, and if he does he's leaving lots of food and water out for her.KDHL is staying in the city. She is holing up at the house of the woman she works for, a sturdy house in a neighborhood that didn't flood in Katrina. They have lots of food and water, as well as a generator. Plus, KDHL has read The Zombie Survival Guide several times, so she should be fine.
I'm nervous for New Orleans. Another major flood could be the end of that wondrous and seemingly doomed city. I can't even begin to imagine the strength it took for people to come back after Katrina, but I don't know that anyone is strong enough to do it twice. To see the grim determination in spite of dampened spirits of all those thousands affected three years ago has been one of the most inspiring things I've ever witnessed - but the threadbare courage in the face of a city government determined to make less affluent leave and a state and federal government indifferent (at best) to their struggles can only last for so long.
As for me? My house is in a low-lying area that used to be right next to a marsh, so if there's any flooding it will almost certainly get water. I live on the second floor, so the apartment itself should be fine. Getting to the apartment, however, could be another issue. If it gets bad down there, I will go back and help - if anyone is interested in helping this time around. I like to think there will be.
For now, I will try to distract myself and not think about the two most important women in my life, toughing it out down there.
"The most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway
Is that it's you, and that you're standing in the doorway.
And you smile as you ease the gun from my hand,
And I'm frozen with joy right where I stand."
- "Going To Georgia" by The Mountain Goats
posted by Werd @ 6:24 PM
3 geriatrics ran up a hill
