Life Post-Canadian Rejection

Two events have influenced broadly our experience over the past few weeks: our rejection at the Canadian border and our planned finale in Cincinnati, OH. The former bumped us ahead of schedule by about a week, erasing time we’d planned to spend in Banff and Edmonton. And we’re locked into our weekend finale the weekend before Halloween due to our friends’ schedules. For better and for worse, this has meant we’ve had more time on our hands to cross through TX, New Orleans, up to Memphis, IL, and finally on to Cincinnati.

In response I’ve called on about all friends I could think of for entertainment and to pursue the possibility of visiting. Saw a bunch of people in Austin: Greg Topscher, a high school friend, Matt and Kristine Kilanski, my college and DC friends, as well as Jackie DiBiasie, another college amiga. By visiting with old friends, not only are you able to catch up but you also get a great glimpse into other people’s lives. For example, I enjoyed hanging out with Matt and Kristine and their dogs. On a deeper level, though, I achieved some more perspective on my life through learning about theirs. It’s helpful to witness the paths my peers have chosen, like Matt and Kristine who are newlyweds and have things like a home and concrete goals. By injecting myself into their lives for a day or two, I can reflect on questions such as “What are my friends doing that I wish to incorporate into my life, now that I’ve wiped the slate clean?”

We caught up with the ever-pleasant Riley Barnes in College Station. My Texan advisors were correct that there’s not a whole lot to the college town, which feels as if it’s popped out of the fields over the past decade. Ingeniously, Riley has sidestepped this factor by finding a delightful garage apartment in the country. Driving out there took me back to Lexington, to the house parties at the Dojo, his old country house just outside town. I was pleased to hear he’s leaning toward coming to DC after graduation. More East Coast friends!

One more stop separated us from New Orleans: Houston. No surprises there. The city was as expansive as expected, good and hot with the first signs of humidity I’d felt in a long time. Spent plenty of time on the interstate, first heading into town to check it out, then back west to Katy, where we stayed with a friend of my DC friend David. The friend, Jake, lives in a brand new subdivision on the outskirts in Katy. We had a very pleasant stay in his nice, new home.

New Orleans provided a welcome change of pace. We headed down the highway, over channels and through swamplands and bayous, eventually getting to the lake and downtown. For the next three nights, we made a downtown Wal-Mart parking lot our motel. This Wal-Mart made for a handy home base due to its close proximity to the good stuff: the French Quarter, downtown, the Garden District, Audubon Park, and Tulane’s campus.

With Matt’s GPS in hand we navigated on foot into the French Quarter, down St. Charles Ave. across Canal St. eventually to Bourbon St. Being a Saturday night, things were hopping. Dressy groups of thirty-somethings strolled down the street with gleeful expressions and grenade cocktails in hand. Packs of college students mingled in the bars and on balconies chucking beads and taking test tube shooters. Music streamed out of the bars, where bands were at work entertaining all the partygoers who had one thing in common: a hunger for FUN. We grabbed to-go drinks and pizza slices and hopped from place to place before getting separated. Eventually I ran out of energy and disposable cash and cabbed it back to Wal-Mart and went to sleep. Matt had a lengthier evening which he can tell you about if he wants, haha.

We explored for two more days, trying some of the famous cuisine like gumbo, jambalaya, gator and crawfish sandwiches. Beyond the French Quarter, Audubon Park was another highlight. Along with lots of residents and college students we ran around the path and hung out. I took a great walk through Garden District homes and admired the historic architecture so well preserved. New Orleans came off as an energetic city, with a lot to offer any visitor or resident. Rounding out our cultural experience there, we sat through two sessions of traditional, completely acoustic jazz at the Preservation Hall. Sure, the tickets were expensive and the hall looked a little overly “distressed” to be entirely authentic, but the music was good and the old players put on a fine show.

That day, out of curiosity, I drove through the Ninth Ward to gauge its progress in recovering from Katrina. We found some chilling scenes of vacant homes with rescuers’ scrawl still on the sides. Plenty of other old homes looked to be in decent shape, but these abandoned homes still sit on many blocks. Not knowing the condition of the neighborhood prior to Katrina, I am not one to judge its recovery status. Let’s hope residents, government, private groups, etc. are continuing to pay the city’s neighborhoods the attention they deserve so the residents can rebuild their lives.

During this period, as we were moving along and crossing plans off the list, a troubling feeling began to seep into my days. Fairly often we began finding ourselves with an excess of time on our hands. I found myself daydreaming about the past and the future while letting the present slip by. Doubt and worry crept in and maintained a burdensome presence on my mind. I suppose this is a trend that began at Burning Man, where I spent a lot of time reflecting on my experiences. Five months in I’ve begun to feel a little bit of burn-out, plus a longing to be in a more permanent home closer to more friends and family. So I’ve resolved simply to enjoy our stops for the remainder of the trip, until we get to that final weekend in Cincinnati. Time will move us forward.