The Story of the Van

Here is an open letter I've been passing around. In my next blog, which I'll be publishing soon, I'll tell why I think this is an important event that has a larger impact than just my friends ability to get his van back. I'm trying to dissemenate this letter as far as possible, so if you know of anyone who may find this concerning, please send it their way. Thanks!

To whom it may concern,
I live in Baton Rouge. As of today, the third day after Gus, 85% of the city is still out of power (roughly 350,000 people). The city seems to be at a standstill, but that is not totally out of the ordinary, given the circumstances. What does seem to be out of the ordinary are the stories that we are hearing, or rather, the stories we are not hearing. The local radio stations are asking people to call in for their stories and almost everyone is identical. Everyone is either having power issues or wondering where the nearest FEMA help center is. Not that these aren’t problems that need to be addressed, but surely someone else must have something interesting to say? I know I do, but when I called the radio station, they told me that my story was not the type of story people needed to hear. I’m wondering if that’s really the case, or if something else is going on. Here is my story:My friends evacuated New Orleans and have been staying with us. City officials have been begging citizens to not drive anywhere so that emergency vehicles have easier access to the city, so we decided to walk to a place downtown that we heard was open and serving breakfast. When we returned we noticed that our friends van was no longer in front of our house. Asking around, we learned from our neighbors that the police came by in the hour that we were gone and towed any cars parked on the street. The van was legally parked and we were given no warning or notification. There was not even a note left for us as to who towed it, or why. Eventually we found out that the reason the car was towed was to make way for George Bush and Bobby Jindal’s motorcade. We called the local police but they said they didn’t know anything about cars being towed. We called the city, state, and capitol police, and none of them knew anything either. Finally, we phoned towing companies until we found the one that had towed the van. They told us that the city police had ordered it towed and that we would have to pay $180 to get it back. Additionally, because the car was borrowed from another friend, they said that the owner of the car would have to show valid identification. The owner, however, also evacuated and is currently in Dallas. When we called the city police, they told us to pay the fine and then we might be able to get reimbursed, but seeing how when we had initially called them they had said that they didn’t know anything about the car being towed, we aren’t really sure that we will get reimbursed. I know that my story isn’t getting out. Yesterday evening I watched someone on the news talking about power outages. As he was in the middle of saying that he just saw a bunch of Entergy employees sitting around without working, he was cut off and the channel switched to commercial. I’m not sure what to do. When I finally got through to some friends of mine out of state, their response was “I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I was under the impression that everything there was fine.” Sure, it could be worse, but it is definitely not fine, and there’s no one here that will listen.

what the crap is going on?

So, I just found a way into Coates Hall on the LSU campus. Sarah needed to use the internet to work and we heard that the campus had power. Coates didn't, but there was an open door, so we used it to get in nonetheless. I checked the NOLA.com website and found a link to the power outages by number/percentage. Looks like roughly 90% of East Baton Rouge Parish is out of power. Cell phones seem to be all on the fritz. I haven't received any calls but apparently I have voice mail that I can't get to. Otherwise we're fine. Now time for a funny hurricane story:

Andy and Star drove up here from New Orleans in their friends van. They parked this van, legally, in front of my house. This morning as we went out to scrounge for food, Baton Rouge police towed their van. They did not inform us to move it, by sign or anything. There were police on our street as we left the house, but they said nothing as we passed. When we got back, the car was gone. Asking around, we come to find that the car was towed in order to make way for Bush's motorcade who was passing through the area to asess the damage. I guess he can add "cars unnecessarilly towed" to the list of things that residents here are pissed off about.

So, once we figure this all out, we call the local police. They don't know who towed the car. We call the capitol polise and then the state police and no one knows. Finally, we get one of our neighbors to tell us the name of the towing company. We call them to find out that it'll be $180 to get the car back. Hold on a sec, I'll just head to the ATM. The one with electricity. Let me know if you know where that is. In addition, they say that they can't release the car to us because none of us own the car. It can only be released to the owner. He evacuated NO to Dallas. He's not here. They want to go back home, but they can't. The situation sucks. We're thinking about filing a claim with the city to say that our car was stolen. We'll see if that works.

storm

posting from my phone. powerlines exploded so we're out of power for now. there are now 7 ppl and 5 cats staying w/us. soon our friend holley will be joining us. we have water, batteries and beer, so we should be good for a bit. BR police ordered a curfew 2night from 8pm-6am. that's all i got for now. spirits are good!

Just down the road

as the rain begins to fall the feeling of anticipation reaches a new level. the hurricane has been on its way for days. there were various perspectives about when it would hit and how big it would be. we talked a lot about what we were going to do once it hit, and what it might be like. we bought supplies, cleaned the house, stored water in the freezer, and made sure that we had everything we would need if power went out for a few days. We were waiting, but not quite sure what we were waiting for. Some projections had it hitting New Orleans as a category four, but most were saying it would be a category three. Even now, as I look at the various weather outlets, and as the hurricane is supposed to have already hit land, no one seems to be sure what the size is. I guess that means that no one is sure the extent of the possible damage. No one wants to underestimate its strength in case it does end up being totally detrimental, but now it seems like people might be raising fears too much. It’s hard to say. Either way, even now that it has supposedly hit, no one is sure what is going on...

It was raining a little bit last night, but stopped after about an hour. We went over to our friends house and played apples to apples and had a few beers before coming home a little after midnight. The walk home was nice and cool. The first time since we’ve been here that it wasn’t too hot. It reminded me of the evenings in California, with just enough of a breeze to be cool, but not need a sweater.

At about 5:30 in the morning Sarah got up and went outside. The rain still hadn’t started back up yet, but she watched as the clouds raced closer to us. About twenty minutes later both the wind and the rain began to hit our house, but not yet what I would consider badly. It is now just about noon. I still don’t know what to expect. We still have power, though I have heard that the outlying areas of Baton Rouge have begun to lose theirs. Every now and then it feels like the wind is going to sustain itself at a much higher speed, but then it drops down and the rain falls at only a drizzle. It’s like the storm is pulsing towards us. Like the big bad wolf breathing in, over and over and over again until he has enough breath to try to blow our house down. However, being here in Baton Rouge and knowing that we still have a few hours before the brunt of the storm hits us, and the fact that we still have power and the internets are still working, leads me to hope that we wont get hit too hard. There’s a lot to anticipate, but at this point, as throughout the last few days, nothing is certain, and there really is no way to know.

Gus is coming!!!

I was gonna write a post to let people know what's going on, but Sarah already wrote one that pretty much explains everything in better detail than I could, so check it out:
http://somethingaboutkudzu.blogspot.com/2008/08/gustav.html

Also, check out some pics of our new place. with any luck it'll still be here next week...
http://somethingaboutkudzu.blogspot.com/2008/08/pictures-of-awesomeness.html

Now I'm going to go duck and cover (that works for hurricanes as well, right?)

soporiphic ruminations: my next door neighbor

she is old. i have seen her on three occasions.
1. sarah needed a place to lock her scooter up. we live in a lovely area but around these parts, lovely does not entail safe. our landlord, a wonderful woman, warned us to keep any flammable objects off our front porch and gave us specific instructions as to how to unlock the various chains and padlocks that lead in and out of our back porch. this was our introduction to our neighborhood, spanish town. i’ve been meaning to post pictures, but i haven’t has the inclination to drive to a place that will develop them, yet. anywho, the place is really lovely but not very safe, but in comparison to the area across the street, it’s like we live in a medieval fortress town. still, sarah needed to tie up her scooter.
the fence next to our driveway is actually the property of our next door neighbor. our landlord suggested that we go over, introduce ourselves, and ask if we could lock the scooter to the fence post. we went around to the back of her house to find the door slightly ajar. we rang the bell and after a few moments a slight older woman in a nightgown and coke bottle glasses answered the door, with a huge smile on her face. we skipped right to the introductions by briefly telling her our names and that we had just moved in next door. before we could say anything else, she immediately began to relate stories of all of the previous tenants of our place and how they all seemed to stay for just two or three years. she seemed awfully puzzled by this. we told her that they were most likely graduate students and were primarily here for the education. she smiled at us. then she began in on a story about how she used to live in the house on the other side of her. the house she currently lives in once belonged to a woman who was older than her and during this woman’s declining years, our neighbor cared for her on a regular basis. when the woman finally passed away, our neighbor inherited the house and all that was in it. which included a plethora of antiques. she invited us in to take a look at them but we politely refused and asked for a rain check. we were on our way out and had just stopped by to introduce ourselves and to ask a question. before we could ask, however, she told us that ever since her husband passed away (he was a driver of a concrete truck, and a very good one at that. one day, as he swerved to avoid someone that had stopped illegally in the middle of the street, he hit a huge pothole and his truck flipped. he lived for about another year but was in pain the whole time. he would have killed the person in the car in front of him, but managed to avoid it and in so doing, killed himself. she never said that he was a hero, but in her eyes we knew he was) she had made a living selling the antiques that she had inherited. we told her we would simply have to take a rain check, and proceeded to ask our question.
she said that that would be fine, and then walked into the yard with us. it was a sunny day. she remarked that her daughter told her that she wasn’t aloud to go in the sun because of her medication. we could tell that this bothered her. she led us around to the side of the fence and pointed to the place that would be best for us to keep the scooter. in that time she also informed us that her daughter stayed with her roughly three to four days a week. just to visit. and to take care of her.
2. it was a cloudy day. i saw her in profile. she was staring into the highway that runs parallel to our street. she stood for a minute before she turned and went inside.
3. it was overcast. our neighbor and her daughter were salting for slugs. they seemed to be meticulous about the lawn. it is nice. the house which it encircles is grayish with years of dirt and dust from off the highway and cracked. but the yard is immaculate. i watched as they leaned down close to my car which was on my driveway. i tried not to stare, but i was worried that i had parked too close to the lawn, possibly on it, and that they would be mad. after they went back inside, i went to inspect my car to find that it was a good foot from the edge. i was relieved. i went back inside...
a day or so later, sarah went to get on her scooter. we’ve been biking most places and avoiding motorized transportation unless necessary, for the most part. she came back inside with an exasperated look about her. she looked more hurt than angry, but there was definitely anger there. she said that her scooter had trouble starting...and that the key had trouble turning...and that when she pulled the key out of the ignition, she found salt on it.
had we offended our neighbor? surely not. unless...unless something she said to her daughter made the daughter feel the need to take some sort of revenge on us. but for what? what had we done? maybe they were both really religious, and the fact that we were living in sin made it so that they felt they should meet out some sort of punishment on us. maybe the old woman told her daughter that she had taken us outside to show us where to tie up the scooter. the daughter, realizing that we had taken her poor mother out of the house when it was sunny out, decided that we should pay for endangering her mother and decided to pour the salt then. or maybe something else happened. but that was the last time i saw her. sarah tried to knock on her door. the windows were open. it was a sunny day. her daughters car was in their driveway. no one answered.

The Long Road Home Part 2

I begin this blog by sending thanks to the ever wise and beautiful Paul Boshears who reached deep into my last blog and pulled out what I was truly trying to say. A few things that I left out of my last blog that Paul pointed out are that the heart is not a finite thing, but rather an entity (though that is so not the right word) that is at once tangible and fleeting, controllable and chaotic. It is, as Paul suggests, something more fluid. His analogy of a heart as belonging to the "vast ocean of humanity" points to the depth and the complexity of our emotions, and does a good job at framing where I sit today, or rather, where I swim. For the last few weeks I've been treading water through a new river. I haven't been fighting the current, but I haven't been allowing it to take me with it either.

If it is indeed a river that I find myself in, moving and mingling, constantly on my way to something new, and always connected to this great life force, the term "river teeth" comes to mind. One of my favorite authors, David James Duncan, has a collection of short stories titled "RiverTeeth," and in it he explains that river teeth are the fallen debris that litter the bottom of rivers. This debris then lets some of the river sediment through, all the while capturing more debris until the pressure of the water finally breaks through and frees that which was once stuck.

And maybe that is another analogy for broken hearts. Maybe the debris that is first taken by the river teeth only to become river teeth, might contain some of those who are weighed down and venture too close to the bottom, to the murkiness... those that have trouble enjoying the the flow. After all, the river teeth are constantly struggling against the flow. But I feel that I am taking this too far and have too many other fish to fry at the moment. But again, that might wait for another entry. For now I have just finished my first week of classes. My hopes and fears, for the most part, have all been proven to be well founded. I came here prepared and was not disappointed. I look out my living room window and watch the sky, split into various shades of pink and gray and blue. They tell us that a storm is coming and to be prepared. Tomorrow I'll go stock up on some bottled water.