Steamy Days on the Delta

Ah, the pleasure of a dinner shift! After a couple of weeks of early morning obligations with work, I'm finally schedule for an evening shift, and have been enjoying a morning of coffee and contemplation while catching up on unread email and other communications. Those of you who know me personally know that I am not a morning person, and successive days of rising at 4:15 in the morning to make it to work have taken a toll. In a city like New Orleans, it's very difficult to enjoy the revelry and decadence when you have to rise before the sun comes up...

So we're in the middle of October, and it is still hot and sticky in the Crescent City. I am accustomed to the humidity of Florida, which arrives unannounced one day in April and departs just as quickly sometime around late September. We have had an inordinate amount of rain in the past few days, and the heat does not want to dissipate, making any outdoor activity a sticky, sweaty affair. While we were treated to a couple of autumnal days a couple of weeks ago, the forecast calls for more rain and hot temperatures for the rest of the week.

As I mentioned in my last post, I attended my 20th high school reunion this past weekend in North Carolina. The trip was a surgical strike that provided me with the appropriate amount of time to spend with my family and to see how the people I grew up have fared since I left the state in 1989. Overall the reunion was a pleasant experience--no huge revelations or shenanigans. More than half of the class attended (about 80 out of 135 graduates) and I learned that about a dozen of us left the state in our adult lives. In fact, most of the alumni continue to reside in and around Clayton, which is a testament to the hold small town living has for some many people. I did not win any of the awards that were presented, so I'm not the one who's changed the most or the least, lives the farthest away or had the most children--only in Johnston County can someone get a certificate for their ability to breed...

Hope that everyone is enjoying October, and preparing for a festive Halloween. My gracious host and I decided to set out as the Beals of Grey Gardens this year, but it appears that both of us will be working Halloween night, so I will probably just go out to see what the masses present for costumes. It's not like the citizens here need an official day to get dressed up and take to the streets, but my understanding is that Halloween is another big party in the land that lives for Laissez les bons temps rouler.