Coming Home -- at least for a night

Went back to town yesterday & rescued the boat from the interstate.

I brought a mower with me so I could mow at least the front yard. Got to keep up appearances, you know. And the grass was getting REALLY long.



About halfway through mowing the contractor came by to give me an estimate I can use to argue with the insurance adjuster whenever I can get him to meet me -- and no, I won't tell you the contractor's name, so you can't try to steal him -- so by the time I finished cutting grass it was dark. Bagging up can wait til morning.

It was delightful spending a night at the house. Yeah, the mold smell was pretty strong in the bedroom, and the MRE I had for dinner didn't really measure up to Bunny's cooking. But still. I like that house.

Sitting in the living room listening to The Planets on WWNO. Chatting on IM with Laura, using a GPRS edge card in my laptop. Going to sleep listening to the aquarium filter & the grandfather clock chiming off the quarter hours. Very nice.


So this morning I started cleaning up the front yard. The cell rang & while I was taking the call a van pulled into the driveway, turned around & parked in front of the neighbors house. Out climbed Mathew Ponnseti, my regular yard man. He & his helper pulled out mowers, edgers & blowers & started to work. Just amazing.

They'd both been flooded. Mathew lived in a charming area between Navarre and the RR tracks, and got 7 feet of water in his house. It'll have to be torn down & replaced.

But there they were mowing & cleaning. By the time they left the place looked almost presentable. The sidewalk was pristine & the junk was in a neat pile.

Very nice.

On the way out of town a friend gave me some Microban to spray on the mold. I detoured back to the house & sprayed it all over the place. She assures me it will eliminate the mold & the odor. We'll see next trip.

Still more progress in the neighborhood. People were cleaning out Liuzza's, so there'll be gumbo one day soon. And a woman was in Fairgrinds mopping the ceiling. (Yeah, the ceiling. I didn't ask.) The tree was gone from Cafe Degas & someone was at work cleaning up. The doors were open at Gabrielle, so there was activity there, too. A sign on the window at Lola's said they'll be open soon or later. (I don't know what that means exactly, but at least someone has been there.)

I stopped at the 3rd District Police Station to look for my shell. Hoping against hope that it'd just been out of sight when I drove by last time. Nope. There is no sign of the boat, the stand, the oars, nothing! I know the oak tree fell & there'd been heavy equipment in there picking up. Perhaps it was all crushed & they picked it up with the tree parts. I guess I'll never know. A real shame. I enjoyed rowing that thing.

I can't wait to get back. Take me home.