Christmas in the ruins

Last night I went to a Christmas Eve party at the Mid-City home of the couple who stayed in my house while I was gone. Their house was beautiful and they were so happy to be back in it and have it full of people. It was so good to be at a house party in New Orleans. But outside there were blocks and blocks and blocks of darkness and piles of debris.

You can exist in an illusion of semi-normalcy in the "sliver by the river." But beyond that the destruction is so endless and overwhelming, it's hard to see how this city is going to get back on its feet again. And why bother trying when the next hurricane season is going to knock it back down again?

Yet I love it more than ever.

But now I temporarily leave behind the drama of life in post-Katrina New Orleans for the semi-tragic saga of Mr. M and Miss H. I am leaving for the frozen tundra of the upper Midwest this afternoon.