leopards - pt. 4 (get off your horse, get on this train)

"welcome to the real world"

i said "welcome to the real world"

are we rushing like the wind?

naked out and naked in

"welcome to the free world"

i said "welcome to the me world"

are we rushing like the wind?*

Lirette contemplates meaning...

so i left you at the events told of my sons after their return from Katrina exile. but i failed to mention my own story of the storm. short and sweet, i weathered the storm at my parents home in Covington, LA. they packed up the car and headed north with Brigitte, my brother, Matt's daughter. eventually, they ended up in Little Rock. Matt and I battened down the hatches on Magnolia and waited for her to strike.

we watched the weather on every station. everyone prayed that the monster would move east or west and spare us the destruction that was sure to come with a CAT 5 storm like this. my memories of the devastation that Camille wrought many years ago fueled speculation that New Orleans was in deep trouble. an old friend that lived in Manassas, VA, used to tell me that the "perfect storm" would dump the lake and the river together, right on top of the Crescent City. Katrina basically did something just as bad.

the morning of the strike came and we sat drinking coffee and watching the television with hope. unfortunately, there was none to be had, as she was barreling down on the southeast coast of Louisiana and throwing her worst at the Mississippi Gulf Coast. that's how big this bitch was.

the winds were rising by the minute, as we stood on the front porch and watched the squall lines come through. the eerie sound of tree branches cracking. no birds or wildlife were to be found, 'cept one brave little hummingbird, who hovered around the feeder on the back porch. he finally became so exhausted that he perched on the wire suspending the feeder and rode out the storm. ignoring Matt and I as we came in and out the back door, it was an amazing thing to see.

for the most part, the Covington home was the victim of only slight damage. there was more damage to the trees and utility lines than anything else. don't misunderstand me. you could not walk to the street gate without the aid of a chain saw. all done, it looked like a bomb had gone off...

as soon as the winds died down enough to venture out safely, we did what anyone else in the same situation would have done. we cranked up the generator. since we had wired in an "essential appliance" list to plug into the juice when we had lost it all. so that left only one thing. run a coax cable next door to the empty house and hook it in to the existing, aimed and unused satellite dish. then return to the living room and switch on DirecTV to see what's going on.

with the generator gassed up and generating, the refrigerator chuffed into life, and the television found it's groove when the DTV downloading screen and logo came on. we had come through the storm and were about to see the news. anticipating another close call for New Orleans, we grabbed snacks and drinks to survey the area. we hit WWL first. no signal on air. as it was with the remainder of the local stations. a trip up to the CNN and Fox News organizations showed us why the local stations were off the air. and it was enough to hit your disbelief switch and put you into shock.

the city was in various stages of complete flooding and devastation. the ninth ward was inundated with water that came from a breach in the navigation canal. the 17th street canal had broken through the levee near the Old Hammond highway bridge at the Orleans/Jefferson line. it was pouring millions of gallons of brackish water into Lakeview, destroying everything in its path. New Orleans East was the same thing. There wasn't a place that the overhead cameras could find that had not been touched by the fury of this storm.

there was no electricity and no phones. even the cell phones were down because the relay towers had their power eliminated with the same crap. some could text, but that was spotty. i remembered my house in Abita Springs. Wife B had not been in contact yet, but she eventually came up the walk to say that it was demolished by pine trees falling. when we eventually got out there, she was correct. it was pretty much messed up and would never see it's current layout again. it needed major repairs. the roof, interior ceilings and walls, the floors and carpet... all ruined. not to mention the furniture and personal belongings.

a tree had fallen and broken off at the half point, sending the top half on an almost perfect drop to the roofline where the main house structure met the studio/office. this neatly clipped the entire studio roof off and sent it down and back with only the large entertainment center to keep it from crashing to the floor. it also, tragically, acted as a funnel to send a torrent of rain water down the split and soaking the contents of the entertainment center and everything else in the entire office area.

my books and magazines; years of unreplaceable paintball magazines and classic books that i had collected over the years. DVD after DVD were found soaked with the inserts stuck to the disc and rendered unuseable. what little that could be salvaged was taken to my parents. it was more depression and stress that i ever thought would surface. thank God that Gunfighter survived with nary a scratch.

lawyer, FEMA, IHOP and relief check were as repeated as Red Cross Master Card. days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. relationships ended and lives changed for the better or the worse. Entrenched at my parents home, it was comfortable and secure. But at almost fifty years old, i needed to have an air of independence. i needed... oh, shit. who am i kidding? i was snug as a bug in my own room at Magnolia and just happy to be there.

years of paintball in a soaked down mess on the floor...

IT'S COMING! I SWEAR IT IS!

*Tears for Fears - Elemental