b.rox

We went out to my parents’ house for an early Thanksgiving meal. I got a chance to see my sister and her family for the first time in years.

The air raid sirens woke us up and alerted us to the fact that Monroe County is under a tornado warning. A fine how-do-you do at 3:30 in the morning.
This house has no basement. The only room without windows is the bathroom. I guess we could hunker down in the bathtub, but I tend to [...]

We went to see the Edgeweed High School production of Rebel Without a Cause. Xy’s godmother, Sally, is the drama coach there.
A weird thing about that theater is how high the stage is. Or maybe the seats are low. You can’t quite see over the lip of the stage, so the actors’ feet are invisible.
It [...]

…just play it off like it ain’t no thing.

Of all the places we could have taken refuge, I’m glad we landed in Bloomington. This is a wonderful place, a place I’ve always loved, a place I never wanted to leave in the first place.
Bloomington’s just enough of a city to be a city, to have that thrum of urban excitement, but it’s also [...]

Xy & went out to Griffy Lake for a picnic today. It was fun. Warm weather for this time of year.

This is an e-mail sent by Sharon Worthy, who I believe was press secretary for Michael Brown of FEMA, on September 4, 2005:

From: Worthy, Sharon < e-mail redacted >
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 10:17 AM
To: michael.d.brown < e-mail redacted >
Subject: Your shirt
Please roll up the sleeves of your shirt…all shirts. Even the president rolled up [...]

FEMA just called to ask if we need a trailer to live in. Because I was in the shower, Xy fielded the call. She told them, “No, we don’t need a trailer.” Then, after she hung up, she told me. Then she asked if she’d done the right thing.
I didn’t want to crush her spirits, [...]

Shortly after the storm, my father-in-law observed that our lives would forever be divided into pre-Katrina and post-Katrina.
How very true. Katrina interrupted so many lives. Families have been displaced, perhaps permanently. Plans have been put on hold, perhaps forever.
For example:
This summer Xy and I had some heart-to-heart talks about having a child together. Ultimately we [...]