It rained non-stop for the better part of the morning. Then off and on during the afternoon. A good break in the early evening. And now it’s consistent downpour.
There was a flood warning for my neighborhood during the afternoon, but I charged around in Cher’s rain boots anyway (I had to go sign paperwork on a new job at Community Coffee House!). I need to get my own rain boots and a slicker.
I know a few concerned friends and family members have been thinking about it. And I’m told by many people at work that I need to start thinking about it. So sometimes I think about “it.” The big “IT.”
I have to create an “evacuation plan.” Everyone says so.
It’s just not “me.” I know I have the tendency to be pessimistic and over-worrisome… BUT I’m not preoccupied with the concepts of natural disaster. My sister was issued that segment of DNA inherited from both of our parents. I, on the other hand, seem naturally attracted to extreme nature. For instance, I love (I mean, love so hard it turns me on) thunderstorms. Maybe I’m immune to natural disaster/ extreme weather panic. I DID want to be a storm chaser when I was a child (also an astronaut, but that dream was destroyed when I realized I sucked at math so hard).
People here keep warning me about possible flooding in the streets. When they talk to me about these thigns (flooding/storms/hurricanes) there’s a hanging expectation that I should be…. Frantic, overwhelmed, distraught by the horrible inconvenience and danger. I think people are disappointed when I nod at them, shrug and say, “Ok.”
OK!
Honestly, sometimes it’s like I’ve disappointed co-workers when I’m not afraid of what they have to say about storms and worse.
I didn’t move here without thinking about these things. Rain falls, storms blow, hurricanes whip the world like fitful gods, and man-made structures fail. I’m not simple. I’m not stupid. I’m not a wailing, wilting woman who came here in complete ignorance. I spent my last semester in school crash coursing (and passing excellently) in Environmental Geography. I realize that our planets behavior breathes in rhythms and in reaction. I understand that living next to a meandering river mouth by a gulf is dangerous. I realize that the centuries of manipulation of the same river has caused major problems in the realm of physics.
I’m in the Garden District. I’m in the area where water jogs feverishly during a storm… until it turns a large corner to a deadly sprint towards the Ninth Ward. I’m not surprised by this information. Actually, after having learned all the science behind it, I was utterly crestfallen that those in charge of my country didn’t “see it coming.” But that’s not a case for me to argue, because I’m new here.
That said, I’m a little tired of people trying to scare me with the news that I’ve moved into a water logged land.
Get out! NO! I did?! Shut up!
My evacuation plan is going to be seriously complicated by the fact that I plan on moving Tifty, Mu and Alia down here. Evacuating with three pets when you don’t own a car? I’m still not sure how that is going to work out. Either I think of something to get all of us out together or I won’t evacuate. I’m not going to budge on that point. Tifty is a spaz and wouldn’t make it day in the street. Alia is a big baby and would lose if a rat tried to face off with her. And Mu? Well, he’s my boo.
And don’t even get me started on the idea of someone telling me to leave town without my library.I don't even know how I'm going to begin to negotiate with myself on how that's going to go down. If ever!
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