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When I got the last seat on the plane in Chicago, last stop before New Orleans, the woman I had had to climb over turned to me and said, "Where have you been? We've been waiting for you." Welcome back to New Orleans, how was your vacation, it's been way too long and we've been waiting for you.
I took a much-needed almost day off yesterday. I pulled a muscle either having too much fun on Mardi Gras or lifting too many boxes of orange juice and cambros of chicken alfredo. So instead of chopping squash and strawberries and potatoes and serving all of the above to hundreds of residents and volunteers, I spent most of the day in bed reading Soul Kitchen and most of the night taking a real shower and hanging out at Sugar Park until 1 in the morning. You need a change in scenery every once in awhile. It's not going to do anyone any good if I get burned out from hearing so many "I was there when the levees broke and I was in the Superdome for 6 days" stories. I think the breaking point was the gut I went on a few days ago. The downstairs of this man's house had already been gutted, but then the roof leaked into the upstairs bedroom where he and his wife went to escape the floodwaters when the levee broke. Had to be a major trigger for him. We threw debris, his books and clothes and magazines and carpet, out the window that he climbed out of to be rescued. He showed us how high the floodwaters were, where neighbors of his lived who didn't make it. When I needed a break pulling insulation out of the ceiling I just stood by that window and tried to imagine 125 mph winds and 14 feet of water instead of a beautiful sunny day. Fortunately, here and now the sunny days win most of the time.
I want to hear the stories, need to hear the stories because the residents here need someone to listen and to care and because people back in Maryland need to get as angry about this as I am, as invested in the future of New Orleans. But sometimes it's too many stories all at once and you need a break. Now I'm ready to get back in the game. Perfect timing because tomorrow night's red beans and rice. Of course it is, it'll be Monday in New Orleans.
So life is for living and right now life is good. It's not always easy, but I'm where I need to be.
I took a much-needed almost day off yesterday. I pulled a muscle either having too much fun on Mardi Gras or lifting too many boxes of orange juice and cambros of chicken alfredo. So instead of chopping squash and strawberries and potatoes and serving all of the above to hundreds of residents and volunteers, I spent most of the day in bed reading Soul Kitchen and most of the night taking a real shower and hanging out at Sugar Park until 1 in the morning. You need a change in scenery every once in awhile. It's not going to do anyone any good if I get burned out from hearing so many "I was there when the levees broke and I was in the Superdome for 6 days" stories. I think the breaking point was the gut I went on a few days ago. The downstairs of this man's house had already been gutted, but then the roof leaked into the upstairs bedroom where he and his wife went to escape the floodwaters when the levee broke. Had to be a major trigger for him. We threw debris, his books and clothes and magazines and carpet, out the window that he climbed out of to be rescued. He showed us how high the floodwaters were, where neighbors of his lived who didn't make it. When I needed a break pulling insulation out of the ceiling I just stood by that window and tried to imagine 125 mph winds and 14 feet of water instead of a beautiful sunny day. Fortunately, here and now the sunny days win most of the time.
I want to hear the stories, need to hear the stories because the residents here need someone to listen and to care and because people back in Maryland need to get as angry about this as I am, as invested in the future of New Orleans. But sometimes it's too many stories all at once and you need a break. Now I'm ready to get back in the game. Perfect timing because tomorrow night's red beans and rice. Of course it is, it'll be Monday in New Orleans.
So life is for living and right now life is good. It's not always easy, but I'm where I need to be.
