Tuesday, September 26, 2006

After the Flood All the Colors Came Out

Yesterday was truly a beautiful day. It's Fall, and the weather was crisp and perfect. In class my students and I discussed my favorite story, the Epic of Gilgamesh. Then I biked to downtown where I heard Cowboy Mouth. There I met my friend Mark who had lost his job at Xavier after Katrina. He had just learned that Xavier is rehiring him to the faculty. So my favorite colleague is coming back, which alone would have made the day one of the best. Then the Superdome reopened, Mark and I went inside, stood in long lines for beer and andouille sausages, and watched Green Day and U2 perform. Then Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint sang the most beautiful rendition of the national anthem that I've ever heard. The Superdome was incredibly loud, filled with people who desperately needed something for which to cheer. Ninety seconds into the game, the Saints blocked a punt and recovered it in the endzone. At that moment, the Superdome was full of so much energy, it was like nothing that I've ever experienced. Then the Saints did something I have never seen them do: they played 4 quarters of mistake free football, and they beat the favored Falcons on Monday Night Football by a score of 23-3. Biking home at midnight smiling strangers I met wanted to talk about the game. Others just shouted "Three and O, Baby!" I'm so thankful to have experienced such a great day.
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's great news about Mark/Howie.

Anonymous said...

It's great to hear that we're starting to rehire, that Xavier is calling back the people that worked there before. This is very heartening.

Anonymous said...

You lucky bastard! That's great. I sent you an email about going to the Tulane game.

David Bryan

Ann said...

Trolling around for the lyrics to "The Saints are Coming," I stumbled on your web page. You're GIL's dad! Gil and my son Mark were at Bolden together for a year. Is he in first or 2nd grade now?

Welcome to my bookmarks...

Michael Homan said...

Gilgamesh is in Kindergarten now.