short trip to the city this week.
it got cold unexpectedly and i wasn't prepared.

i spent the night in the trailer with my uncle and cousin.
squeezing our butts in to pass each other. listening to each other pee through a curtain.
my feet 6 inches from uncle tommy's head while we slept.
but it was surprisingly comfortable.
woke up at 6 to make bag lunches and drive Laine to school. been so long since i've been in a highschool home.
felt pretty normal.
my brain even as numb to the city as theirs must be as we drove cross town to school.

then he took me to the new houses.
on the north shore.
a completely different element, being actually built on solid ground and whatnot.
there are pine trees. and woods. not swamps.
and the houses are really nice. a few blocks from each other just like they were in chalmette.
and their with a great view of a coolie (canal thing) and woods.
and high on a hill.
safe.
realization that for some, at least, in a years time life will be better than it was a year ago.
which is interesting, you know.

a lot of people getting an opportunity to start over and make different choices.
or just take on another mortgage.

the lake (ponchetrain) was violently choppy and glaring sun spots glowed white where the clouds opened up. the skyline was a haze at the far end of northern new orleans. you could even see the superdome from the bridge.
i am only now regretting not taking a picture of it.


when we got back he escorted me to my next architectural subject and i went back alone, opting not to stay because i was improperly dressed and on the verge of catching a throat ailment of some kind.
so i went to the art store and spent more than i have on paint, gased up (1.99!) and came home.

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT WEEK (if that's what you're doing at this blog)

-video interview of my aunt's sister who was working in a hospital during the storm, trapped without power or food for 5 days.
-biloxi and the gulf coast. (and probably a casino or two...going with my grandmother)
-a few more finished paintings (fingers crossed)


i havn't uploaded the pictures from this trip yet, so check back,
but i don't recall getting anything spectacular.
oh, but there will be a couple of malakai's awesome car costume that ali and i made!