Storm Surge

Storms anywhere make me crazy. I woke up at 6:16 this morning, and realized that New Orleans could be under water, again, by lunch. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I just gave in and got up.

It might as well have been happening right outside my front door.

I’m a little psycho like that.

So was my daddy.

Neither of us could sleep if a storm came up and we were still awake. Mama, though, she can sleep through a tornado. She told me about one that hit not too far away when she was a teenager. It sounded like a freight train. She says she’ll either get up or not get up if another one bears down, but she ain’t losing any sleep over it.

Me and Daddy were and are the exact opposite. I can’t count the number of nights we spent sitting up late and listening to the winds howl, watching the picture window in the living room bulging with every gust.

I always expected it to give in at some point. That window wasn’t too strong to start with, and the wind it took amazes me.

It’s been replaced since then, not because it broke, but because it wasn’t double-paned. It was a giant hole in the wall that sucked cool out in the summer and heat in the winter.

Still, I miss that window. It never gave way. We watched and waited. Just me and Daddy.

Coming in from running errands tonight, I heard a coyote. We live in the heart of the city, but we're right next to a creek that either floods downstream or serves as a conduit for wild animals to make their way to our back yard when it isn't.

Our cats like to have run of the place. Nothing new about that, as far as cats go. They all think they own the world, and that it will spin the way they want if they twitch their whiskers just right.

And we've had bad news about Shannon's sister-in-law and another of his close friends. They both have cancer, and neither is doing real well from what I can tell.

I always knew that if the window blew out in Mama's living room, we'd have time to get everyone up an into the hall. But with cancer, I'm at a loss.

I don't know what to do or not do.

Tonight, we have a bunch of storms hitting, and only a few involve wind and rain and windows threatening to give in. I would like nothing better than to call Daddy up and get his take on the story.

Just hear his voice and the calmness he brought to those long nights of us sitting up together.

Maybe it’s not that window I miss so much.