ADRASTOS
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Dangerous Meeting
posted Saturday, 10 June 2006
I seem to live a somewhat sheltered life. Until today, I'd only met one of my NOLA blogging colleagues: Ashley Morris who is neither a mime nor a dead ringer for Che Guevara. I'd missed the last blogger soiree due to illness: no, not mental, physical. Who said that? I really shouldn't listen to the voices in my head. Damn, that was a nonsensical digression even for this adamantly digressive blog. Now where the hell was I? Oh yeah:
I met one of the best darn bloggers in Debrisville today: Dangerblond. She is definitely blond but I dunno about the dangerous bit. Dangerblond dropped by to see me at work in the Quarter. I recognized her immediately because unlike some of us shy/mysterioso/hermit-like bloggers, her picture can be seen at her web site. She's very tall, very blond and very funny. We had an interesting chat about other bloggers, bad waiters and the state of the city. The state of the city, of course, sucks as do bad waiters...
At one point during this low rent summit meeting, blogger-style, a really interesting woman came into the shop. I'll call her Ms. C. She's the only person living on her block in Lakeview. Her house is only semi-guttted so she's living in a FEMA trailer in her front yard. But mostly Ms. C is in limbo: 9 months post-K, she's not sure what she should do. She told us how spooky it is to live in the wasteland that her once pleasant block has become. She’s not sure how much longer she can take living alone in the flood zone. I didn't know what to say and neither did Dangerblond and neither of us is usually at a loss for words.
Talking to Ms. C caused my latent survivor's guilt to return. I know that Dr. A and I have relatively little to bitch about but life in Debrisville is hard for everyone. But talking to people like Ms. C really puts things in perspective. She left her 15 year old cat behind when she evacuated: like everyone else she expected to be back in a few days. After 5 days in exile, she was certain that her elderly and much loved kitty wouldn't survive but she did thanks to Ms. C's ex-boy friend. When the flood waters began to ebb, he went to her house and found the cat upstairs. But even though she knew him, kitty was too afraid to come when he called.Then, he called Ms. C, put his cell phone on the floor and had her holler as loudly as she could to the cat. It worked. Kitty finally came to him and is still very much alive. Life can kick your in the head and then turn right around and show you some mercy. As the Brits are fond of saying, it's a funny old world.
comments (4)
1. dangerblond left...
Saturday, 10 June 2006 1:55 pm
That was a very interesting and moving encounter, wasn't it? Adrastos, you
didn't mention that she had evacuated with friends and left her car behind,
"because they said to limit the number of cars on the road." My estranged
husband and I traveled together for this same reason. While Don's car was
unscathed, she lost hers under 9 feet of water. She still does not have a
car. And no longer has the boyfriend.
2. adrastos left...
Saturday, 10 June 2006 3:42 pm
Jeez, now you're taking over my blog. ;-) I figured I should leave part of
the story for you to tell because I knew you would anyway. I've even been
known to be polite on occasion and this was one of them.
3. Editor B left...
Monday, 12 June 2006 8:40 am :: http://b.rox.com/
I remember that. Not y'all's meeting, of course. I mean, I remember living
alone on the floodzone. I wasn't really alone, though, with Xy. And
Mid-City wasn't as devastated as Lakeview. We're seeing more and more
activity and new neighbors every day. Ms. C. has got a tough row to hoe.
4. Bruce King left...
Tuesday, 13 June 2006 9:54 pm
Dear Adrastos,