Dilettante - by Summer Burkes

Well Hello, NOLA

In The Ladies' Guide to the Apocalypse, art fags, road trip on July 6, 2009 at 10:02 pm

So I recently moved to New Orleans. Bought a gutted house in the Lower 9th Ward. Not sure what I’m doing here … but at least it’s something different.

An hour outside Moblie, on the way down the I-65 from the East Coast, the land gets a lot flatter really quickly. Swaths of stumpy ex-forests line the highway, clear-cut by hurricanes Katrina and Gustav. The trees have grown back some, maybe all for naught — maybe just to get swiped clean again.

Then, on the I-10 right before the big scary Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the roads rise above the terrain, a sure sign we’re coming to the end of the earth. “Marssshhh” is the sound of land hitting water.

Why the F am I moving here? Will any one of the rainbows I chased end in a pot of something, anything, or will I drown first? … More practically, is it wise or folly to ride out a recession in the most recessed place there is?

perhaps something to do with this being the view a few steps from my back yard

perhaps something to do with this being the view a few steps from my back yard

There is no desire or strong grasping. Ideally, anyway. There is only the hope of survival in the now-here. Safety in the eye of the storm. Farewell to the family who still do amazing stuff way far away. I’m setting up a satellite camp. The well ran dry, but the river never will.

Whether I rise to the top and float is another matter entirely.

Lovely, lovely filth. Chaos provides.

  1. Summer–enjoying your website & posts. What do you make of that Hance death-crash in New York that happened recently? Sure kids can drive you nuts but ten shots . . . ? She only had five kids in the car for godssake. I’m thinking, “hey, the vodka’s running low. Better take a short-cut.” What’s your take?

    Later–

  2. Thanks – You have a wonderful talent with the keyboard, and you’ve provided me with hours of unintentional entertainment. Keep with the pen (keyboard), as you really have something here!!!