a southern gal in the north

Link: WWLTV.com | News for New Orleans, Louisiana.

Go there for the latest news at the local level and from the folks who are experiencing it.  CNN has been doing a pretty good job but this is the REAL news, folks.

I am still plugging along unpacking and back at work and living in a very bizarre world – not only has my home changed but my childhood home has too – i feel as if i am standing in quicksand and every day its a struggle to stay upright and not let the sand pull me under .

pray, send money, write your congressman.

to say that this has been a very bizarre week is a massive
understatement.   last thursday i started a four day marathon of
packing up my 15 years in my little one bedroom apt in park slope,
brooklyn to move to a six room apartment in a river city up the Hudson
River.   during the weekend Katrina made her appearance and as of 1 pm
on monday when the tv was packed i was tuned in and watching the
developments. 

the move went from 7 am to 11 pm on monday in 85+ and 100%
humidity.  one of the longest days and most uncomfortable ones of my
life.  and of course i was shanghaied by the moving company and the
total was $1000 more than the "guaranteed estimate"  (yeah guaranteed
right).  but as i was without tv or radio as all was packed and
exhausted – i fell on the sofa and slept.

tuesday morning i discovered that all my "first day after move"
boxes were of course misplaced and i had none of the little things –
like my toothbrush, tea, a mug, hot water pot or even a pot.  well,
then i heard from my sister who lives where i have moved about the
flooding in New Orleans.    i was without phone or internet until late
tuesday and when i went online i couldnt believe the destruction and
the horror of it all.

i am one of five girls and one of us lives(d) in New Orleans and her
house is directly in the path of the 17th Street levee breach.  we now
have confirmed that the house is totally submerged under 15-20 feet of
water and so she and her artist husband and their three year old son
have lost everything. 

the fates were good to them in one aspect – they were up here in the
northeast and so my nephew was spared the trauma of the evacuation and
all that.  they are also fortunate in that they are visiting family
members on an island in Maine with no television … and so they are
being spared the barrage of media coverage.

we are rallying as best we can for my sister and her family – they
had planned to move out of New Orleans to raise my nephew in the
northeast anyway and this trip was the beginning stages of that plan
but all of their possessions were still in the house.   

i grew up in Baton Rouge but spent much time in New Orleans (its an
hour drive) – that was were the "good" musicians went to play and the
New Orleans Opera company is there, the MET used to tour there when
they toured.  and it was a gorgeous gracious city, which i have many
fond memories of. 

we spent our summers in pass christian until camille destroyed it
and then we moved to santa rosa island.  with Ivan last august and now
Katrina, i feel as if all of my childhood is being destroyed.

i find a very bizarre ironic juxtaposition of the new start of my
move with the destruction of katrina.  i loved new orleans and was
considering moving there at some point – the only thing keeping me back
is the weather – even though i was born and raised in South Louisiana,
i dont do humidity very well.  the weather in south louisiana is humid
4/5 of the year.

so i sit amid all my wordly goods – many many boxes and am slowing
recovering from the monstrous four day push and then the move.  as i
slowly empty these boxes and sort thru and arrange and organize my life
into a new home, my heart and soul are weeping for all of new orleans
and the gulf coast. 

yes we/they will endure but it will be a damn hard road to recovery.

Link: craigslist | Katrina 2005.

to say that this has been a very bizarre week is a massive understatement.   last thursday i started a four day marathon of packing up my 15 years in my little one bedroom apt in park slope, brooklyn to move to a six room apartment in a river city up the Hudson River.   during the weekend Katrina made her appearance and as of 1 pm on monday when the tv was packed i was tuned in and watching the developments. 

the move went from 7 am to 11 pm on monday in 85+ and 100% humidity.  one of the longest days and most uncomfortable ones of my life.  and of course i was shanghaied by the moving company and the total was $1000 more than the "guaranteed estimate"  (yeah guaranteed right).  but as i was without tv or radio as all was packed and exhausted – i fell on the sofa and slept.

tuesday morning i discovered that all my "first day after move" boxes were of course misplaced and i had none of the little things – like my toothbrush, tea, a mug, hot water pot or even a pot.  well, then i heard from my sister who lives where i have moved about the flooding in New Orleans.    i was without phone or internet until late tuesday and when i went online i couldnt believe the destruction and the horror of it all.

i am one of five girls and one of us lives(d) in New Orleans and her house is directly in the path of the 17th Street levee breach.  we now have confirmed that the house is totally submerged under 15-20 feet of water and so she and her artist husband and their three year old son have lost everything. 

the fates were good to them in one aspect – they were up here in the northeast and so my nephew was spared the trauma of the evacuation and all that.  they are also fortunate in that they are visiting family members on an island in Maine with no television … and so they are being spared the barrage of media coverage.

we are rallying as best we can for my sister and her family – they had planned to move out of New Orleans to raise my nephew in the northeast anyway and this trip was the beginning stages of that plan but all of their possessions were still in the house.   

i grew up in Baton Rouge but spent much time in New Orleans (its an hour drive) – that was were the "good" musicians went to play and the New Orleans Opera company is there, the MET used to tour there when they toured.  and it was a gorgeous gracious city, which i have many fond memories of. 

we spent our summers in pass christian until camille destroyed it and then we moved to santa rosa island.  with Ivan last august and now Katrina, i feel as if all of my childhood is being destroyed.

i find a very bizarre ironic juxtaposition of the new start of my move with the destruction of katrina.  i loved new orleans and was considering moving there at some point – the only thing keeping me back is the weather – even though i was born and raised in South Louisiana, i dont do humidity very well.  the weather in south louisiana is humid 4/5 of the year.

so i sit amid all my wordly goods – many many boxes and am slowing recovering from the monstrous four day push and then the move.  as i slowly empty these boxes and sort thru and arrange and organize my life into a new home, my heart and soul are weeping for all of new orleans and the gulf coast. 

yes we/they will endure but it will be a damn hard road to recovery.

its official – i am moving out of nyc at the end of the month.  in
all the excitement of finding the apartment in a little village up the
hudson river, i missed realizing that i am actually now leaving this
city.  funny i spent the first two decades of my life dreaming of
living here and plotting to get here and now after a decade+ im moving
out  – and with very few regrets.  which says something about the
quality of life in this city now and the expense required to maintain
it.

anyway, i am in the throes of all that is involved with moving – for
the last two weeks i have been in a complete state of shock – so much
of this move is going so well that i am surprised.  its been a long
long time since i have had Lady Fortune bestow her favors on me and i
am thoroughly enjoying it.

the latest good fortune is that my landlord is letting me out of my
lease early (its till december) because he has decided to redo the
kitchen (not surprised as its the original 1950 conversion kitchen and
with the original applicances too – do you know what a 1940
refrigerator is like?) 

anyway, i am daily saying gratitude prayers to any and all higher power beings for all that is happening. 

and so posts over the next few weeks (move date is either 28 or 29 August) will be very few and far between.

here are some of the good things i will be getting:

• a music room
• a baby grand piano (a friend is selling me)
• a car (same friend is selling his second car)
• a front porch! (good for sitting and knitting)
• a patio in the back (good for sitting and knitting)
• a big backyard i can redo into a gorgeous garden (cant wait to plan)
• four rooms and a kitchen and a bath
• one room for studio/office and storage for my stash
• basement storage (more stash!!!)
• a big kitchen
• a good sized bathroom
• a great landlord (who is thrilled i am moving in – we signed the lease at the local bistro over wine/tea for me)
• painless commute to Grand Central and quick bus to work
• a floor through apartment with lots of breezes
• much less rent than my teeeeny park slope apartment
• my nephew in the same village and five mins by car
• permission to decorate as i want from my landlord

ok  these are the things i am thinking of as i immerse myself into packing etc….

onward!

its official – i am moving out of nyc at the end of the month. 

in all the excitement of finding the apartment in a little village up the hudson river, i missed realizing that i am actually now leaving this city.  funny i spent the first two decades of my life dreaming of living here and plotting to get here and now after a decade+ im moving out  – and with very few regrets.  which says something about the quality of life in this city now and the expense required to maintain it.

anyway, i am in the throes of all that is involved with moving – for the last two weeks i have been in a complete state of shock – so much of this move is going so well that i am surprised.  its been a long long time since i have had Lady Fortune bestow her favors on me and i am thoroughly enjoying it.

the latest good fortune is that my landlord is letting me out of my lease early (its till december) because he has decided to redo the kitchen (not surprised as its the original 1950 conversion kitchen and with the original applicances too – do you know what a 1940 refrigerator is like?) 

anyway, i am daily saying gratitude prayers to any and all higher power beings for all that is happening. 

and so posts over the next few weeks (move date is either 28 or 29 August) will be very few and far between.

here are some of the good things i will be getting:

• a music room
• a baby grand piano (a friend is selling me)
• a car (same friend is selling his second car)
• a front porch!
• a patio in the back
• a big backyard i can redo into a gorgeous garden (cant wait to plan)
• four rooms and a kitchen and a bath
• a big kitchen
• a good sized bathroom
• a great landlord (who is thrilled i am moving in – we signed the lease at the local bistro over wine/tea for me)
• painless commute to Grand Central and quick bus to work
• a floor through apartment with lots of breezes
• much less rent than my teeeeny park slope apartment
• my nephew in the same village and five mins by car
• permission to decorate as i want from my landlord

ok  these are the things i am thinking of as i immerse myself into packing etc….

onward!

well, i am still pinching myself – and it feels as if its a dream come true.  i saw the apartment on wednesday and gave the deposit check… as soon as i have the lease it will be official.    i have been making lists all evening in a little notebook – all the things i need to do, what will go into each room, the things i need to buy (furniture, appliances, etc), all the address changes that need to be done, colors schemes to figure out for decorating…. oi vey, but so much fun!!   thank goodness i have been frugal for quite a while and so can afford to do some things.   and the rent is a bit lower than what i am currently paying (well, pretty much any rent is outside of my current neighborhood, park slope, brooklyn).

packing starts saturday – its going to be a long month – but just think one month from today i will be settled in !!!
oh dear oh dear oh dear.   time to pinch again (at this rate im going to be quite black and blue).