Tote that Barge
Today was the first day of many that will be spent in heavy cleanup mode. While the house is fine, the business in Mid-City is not. Water depth averaged three feet and it’s quite impressive to see all the various colors of mold that can erupt in the same small space. Ah, the wonders of nature.
It’s interesting to note some of the odd things that take place when a building has 3-4 feet of water in it for a couple of weeks. To start with, many things floated about and came to rest in new places. Some “waterproof” containers actually were not, while others drifted merrily from one side of the office to the other. The skanky water actually did a marvelous job of removing some greasy grunge from the lower half of the commercial smokers. One of the commercial refrigerators apparently works fine, while the other sputters on and off like some misfiring neon sign. But it’s hard to tell for sure, since I was working with a generator and not steady power.
The little Mount Trashmores continue to grow on every block. We certainly contributed our share today, dragging out bag after bag, along with a full pre-hurricane trash can we didn’t bother to even unseal. There are also three residential-type fridges that I’m simply going to seal with duct tape and kick to the curb.
We took some time at lunch and wandered down to the French Quarter, hoping Maspero’s had reopened. But it has not, so we found ourselves at the Chart House on Chartres. We were actually thrilled to see some tourists wandering about, so thank you Mr. and Mrs. Fannypack for spending your dollars in a city that really, really needs them right now.
Friends we used to greet with handshakes now get hugs. Folks we used to hug now elicit tears. We saw an elderly man on the levee in the French Quarter. He was carrying a handful of Mardi Gras beads, he said, “so’s I kin just gib ‘em to de tourists to tank ‘em fo’ bein’ here.”
God, I love this town.
Related posts:
“Friends we used to greet with handshakes now get hugs. Folks we used to hug now elicit tears.”
Yeah, you right!
Damnit!! You made me cry!!
Laurie