I just watched the Sun set on another day this evening. For a Fey creature such as myself, this is my time of the Wheel of the Year. Darkness comes early and the owls take flight. There’s that little nip in the air that reminds one of the delights of hearth, home and family and friends. After a short excursion out to the Quarter, the bed with all it’s blankets and pillows beckons one to crawl in and curl up for a nice sleep. Even in post-Deluge New Orleans none of this has changed for me.
Maybe it’s because I don’t see the destruction as clearly, but I do “see” the moldering piles that used to be homes, people shivering to try to get to a warm place, and the pall that still lingers over our city. Even the gentle night cannot remove those things from the sight of my soul. It’s the second Season of Lights after the Federal Flooding of New Orleans.
So many folks are still not home. I see families trying to rebuild their communities in any way possible. The family living in the shotgun across the fence has now extended itself to the other part of our double shotgun. I watch them cook between the two places, ferrying food down the sidewalk, children flowing without effort behind, in front and almost everywhere around our little place. I hear their voices, a shade of what used to be, but at least it sounds familiar.
Whilst these things are comforting, I’m distressed: How the Hell can we pull off Orphan’s T-Day and Xmas dinners? As far as space goes in this little shotgun, I don’t have room for twenty guests. We are still fighting the electrical breaker battle as we use the kitchen appliances to make meals in lieu of having an actual stove. Cold storage is at a premium, and yet I yearn to have friends and neighbors over to share food, drink, and life. We have two turkeys that I wish to be ravished by the hungry hordes of the Season’s highlights.
I’ve pretty much given up on being in our real home for the Holidays. The place will be empty again this year. Getting contractors to give bids and start dates has ground to a halt. This totally, like “gag me with a spoon” sucks. I so want to round up our friends, many who live alone, and open the house for many to share together with each other in a warm, inviting place. Now I’ll have to stack the cats up and try to move around the tools and such so that we can have at least five folks over at once. (Well, it’s better than trying to do this in my FEMA trailer. *rolls eyes*)
I’m not really bitching about our situation that is presented, but knowing the fact that Betts and I have barely created a semblance of our old lives, there are many not even as close to putting it together for their circles of family and friends as we are. Many still are NOT HOME. This is NOT acceptable.
Many of us are Blessed as the Season begins, but so many others aren’t. During these cold Winter months please remember those who haven’t been healed yet. Keep up the good fight to get the rebuilding of the city sped up and have places for folks to return to. Maybe some of us (you know who you are…) could put together a feast for many folks to come to during this time.
In days of old, Midwinter was a scary affair: vegetation was dying, the Sun didn’t hang out as much as before, the cold was everywhere, and to top it off, the food stocks from the Harvest were running low and spoiling. What could these people do? They shared…
This is a basis behind the celebration of Yule: the Longest Night of the Year. No one was to be left out of the sharing. The community pulled together to get through this very trying time. There was revellry cause one always can use a laugh or a dance. There were prayers, and there was story-telling of the people and their lives. Children played together and the adults did their things. It was, and still is, a celebration of Living, and a belief in a better tomorrow.
New Orleans and Her people need something like this now. Any volunteers?
Aside- Yes I know that I have melded together many cultural beliefs and mores together on this one. It’s my Blog and I can do that. *stomps foot*