Sunday, August 31, 2008

Staying & Going

Mid-City New Orleans is pretty quiet about now, with curfew officially beginning in about 3 hours. Early this morning Therese, Kalypso, Gilgamesh, and our dog Kochise got in the Highlander and drove to a friend's house in Baton Rouge. I decided to stay here. I can't find a very good reason to explain why I needed to stay, except that I'm awfully stubborn and I was so profoundly impacted by the events that took place 3 years ago that I'm now addicted to that chaos. I imagine it must be like being addicted to heroine. You know it isn't good for you and it is hard on your loved ones, but you keep making that destructive decision. In any event, this storm does not seem to be anywhere near as powerful as Katrina, and it keeps veering west, despite Mayor Nagin's apocalyptic predictions. So me and Mosey are here on S. Alexander Street, along with my neighbors Mike and Steve, and we're hoping for the best. With our generator, stockpiles of water and canned goods, even in the worst case scenario I'm set for several weeks. But I think come this time tomorrow, as the storm winds finally begin settling down, I think New Orleans is going to be just fine.

I find myself listening to the song "Like a Hurricane" by Neil Young.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope everything goes well for you. We'll be thinking of you.
Mara and family

Leigh C. said...

Michael, by God, please be well. We'll be praying for everybody from our perch in OKC.

Sue said...

Therese needs to smack you upside the head! That said...stay safe. Will be thinking of you!

Anonymous said...

Strangely, your chaos addiction seems utterly understandable to me. Hopefully, we'll all get together soon in a dry, safe and usable city. Looking better every hour.