Hurrication

I think I'm going to make a New Orleanian dictionary.

ex:
what to do: (verb) meaning "What are we supposed to do?"
mom: term of endearment young people use to address people they like (I haven't figured out yet if it's age-relevant)
baby, boo: terms of endearment used by everyone from the custodial staff to the grocery store clerk to the grizzly-haired teller at the bank
hurrication: what we're all doing this weekend.

Hurricane Gustav is approaching- and although the chances that it would make direct landfall here are still estimated around only 25%, that's enough to be uncomfortable. If the storm continues in the way it's going, contra-flow will begin on Saturday (meaning, all freeways would be leading out of the city). Hurricane's are (the guys on TV say) notoriously unpredictable- so it really could go any which way... but just to be safe, Ashlee and I are heading to Memphis. We'll be dry there- and closer to Graceland.

I am packing tonight... it is strange to pack for a potential evacuation. My house is in one of the higher areas of New Orleans (the mountainous neighborhood of Algiers... we're probably something like 8 feet above sealevel. A high-rise compared to the mid-city negative numbers). But since you never know- I am picking special framed photographs, journals, cameras... the quilt made by my aunt Chris, the sweater my Grandpa gave to my Grandma decades ago that is so classic it's still in style, and a couple tote bags of work materials, and piling them into the back of a car, and heading to Tennessee.

Love and crossed fingers for friendly skies.