Houma and beyond

On Monday I woke up super early. The sounds of the hotel garage woke me up. It was a hazy morning. So hazy that it appeared to be a deceiving chilly morning but as soon as I opened up the balcony doors a warm hug encircled me. The air was thick and wet. The night and all of her activities had come to a hault but the dense air of her perfume lingered until morning. I sat in my bed and wrote out some of the thoughts that had been swimming in my mind. Thought remorsefully about the camera I had lost and how I would not be able to take any more photographs for the rest of the trip. Thought about the home visits that we were soon going to go on and got ready for the new days adventure.

Soon enough I got a call from Eddie and they were downstairs on Dauphine sitting in the van waiting. I walked out of my room, through the corridor, and down the elevator. Went through the front lobby and jumped into the van. I felt super bad but I asked Eddie if we could switch seats because I get super car sick, not realizing how cramped the next seat behind me was for Eddie. We set out of the French Quarter south bound towards Houma. The freeways in New Orleans are surrounded by green. The color green is in every square inch of this state. From sage, to bright Kelly, forest, moss, jade, army, and every other hue in between. Louisiana is a wet state.

As we drove we came across town after town. Each so very unique. Each offering its special restaurants and one of a kind this or that. I was overwhelmed by the amount of trees. Huge live oak everywhere. I haven't a clue to the age of Live Oaks, but the trunks of these trees were amply wide. If the trees could talk, they would have so much to say. That day they just swayed from the wind, but as I passed each tree, you couldn't help to be haunted by the thought of what they must have looked like or had to withstand in the last hurricanes. They seemed more proud and upright. There was a sense to be happy just too still are standing as so many of their neighbors had fallen to the side. The roots of the Live Oak are deep and fat and when uprooted they're almost triple the circumference of the trunk alone.

As we drove down the road John and Eddie pointed out all the historic spots along the road. In fact, they were excellent tour guides. They never once got lost and always had a funny story to share. There wasn't one event that they weren't quite entertaining and funny. Laura T hadn't been out in this area either and she enjoyed the tour as well. Steve didn't seem as interested in the journey, or perhaps the book he was reading was just a bit more interesting. I sat in the passenger seat of the big van and just stared out of the window and tried to mentally memorize all the photos I wish I had taken to only realize that it was much too many to ever memorize. After this realization I began to strategize my next journey out here.

Our first stop was at Eddie Expositos great aunts home. She's Cajun and in her 80's. She has a lovely home and it had minor damage from the last storm. When we arrived there was a state representative taking a look at her home and checking it all out, especially the roof. Any little damage to the roof could be a compromise for the next storm. She was taking care of business at the same time that she was be entertaining and social towards us.