Bits and Pieces

I haven't been in one place long enough to paste together the drafts I've been writing over the past month. May is always full of momentous occasions. A long-time friend from New Orleans was married with great fanfare this past week and it is one wedding we made great pains not to miss! In addition to the big event it was the first time I've really allowed myself a proper road trip in the tradition of my youth in many years. After we left NOLA I spent most every night with another family member or college friend. It was just lovely and if I had another week it wouldn't have been enough and there would still be friends and family I missed.

My aunt Nona continues the quilting tradition in my family. She was making this one for her church and it is being raffled off to raise money for a construction project. Tickets were only one dollar apiece! I bought six and wish I had more cash on me.

The rental car I wound up with had sirius radio on it and I realized that if I spent a lot of time in an automobile it is something I would be willing to pay for. It was great... driving through the south listening to the BBC and French radio! It was the closest I've come in a long time to living a life that comes close to what I know... contradiction and paradox, sublime hell and divine injustice; the sacred and the profane - all rolled up into one metal box on wheels. sigh.

When I turned in the rental the guy exclaimed 2400 miles!!! I reminded him that these days the gallons add up a lot quicker than the miles. Gas climbed about 12 cents a gallon while I was away.

And just when you thought the tears would stop...

Thursday night I had a flashback. It was 1982. It was a time when music and art were the things we were fighting for... and living for...all to a New Orleans backbeat. I remembered the names and faces of the people who were part of my circle of cohorts as well as the nameless faces of those who inspired me to be better...to do more... to be more p r e s e n t. It was very healing.

I felt inspired to email one of these cohorts over the weekend and check in with him. His family escaped Katrina with their car and the clothes on their back. He is still working to rebuild Pass Christian, MS while is wife and children live in Alabama... waiting for what? The Pass (as the locals call it) will not be the place he wanted to raise his children ever again - but if it ever recovers it will take until his kids are in college or have children of their own. It must be tough for people down there to shed anymore tears - even for those who lost loved ones on 9/11/01 - when they are still mourning the loss of family, friends and homes.

Its all just too much. Our youngest cat Flannery jumped on the bed (a rare thing since this is not her domain). She curls up next to me as I remember that morning five years ago... I was numb... and then my mourning for New Orleans and the gulfcoast one year ago. Today I am inspired by how those who have lived those experiences first hand have the stregth and the faith to work rebuilding their lives.

Mixed with this inspiration is the sense of shame I feel everytime I think of the lies and deceptions broadcast by our goverment. Perhaps I am more sensitive to this because I've spent so much time as an expatriot. Its not easy. Click on the link above for a small sample of the things that some across my desktop... it is just pathetic.