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As you kiss the abstract
And pray it's everything you'd hoped for
- "Half Life", 10 Years

Wake up and thankfully I kept the air conditioner on because when I walk out of the guest room I’m punched in the glass jaw by the weather and I go down for the count drenched in sweat simply walking around. Look around and in the fridge and wonder what it is that I want to eat but find nothing of desire so text Kim and Brian and ask for directions in walking to the nearest food place. Kim calls and gives me directions and Brian texts so I grab my mp3 player and walk to a small area and rock out to the melodies of Earshot and start to wonder if everything these past two weeks have been real or am I maybe dreaming because nothing can go wrong it seems and I’m having the perfect time in the world and I get to a small deli which has Po-Boys behind the counter so I order one with sausage and fries and I go grab a gallon jug of Milo’s Iced Tea and some New Orleans Ice Cream and I buy it all with a Hawaiian Punch and drink the punch instant quick on the walk back where I gather my edible treasure around me and set up my laptop to watch movies in the living room. Call Rain and her phone isn’t answering or allowing messages so ignore it and take a bite of the sandwich and it is the best thing I’ve ever had in my life and I’m amazed and greedily devour much of it to Evil Dead playing in the background. Down the iced tea and finish the sandwich and feel happily bloated with food and start watching another movie and Kim comes home as does Brian shortly after and we all debate what to eat for dinner and decide on something more Cajun than anything and end up at a fairly expensive restaurant in the French Quarter with a waiting period of over an hour but the hostess asks if we’d like to leave our number and Brian gives his and she exclaims in shock that he’s local so we go off to a bar to have a drink and it’s Abita Amber again and within 30 minutes the lady calls us and tells us the table is ready so we bring our plastic cups of beer into the classy establishment and up the stairs and to our table which is situated next to a rather celebratory group of middle aged relatives who are loud and rambunctious and I’d swear they were doing drop shots and keg stands but I don’t notice this. The menu is expensive and limited and I tell Kim and Brian that I’m paying for dinner because I really want to show a sad and monetary based thank you towards them for the superb hospitality and tolerance of me and my friends and my vacation but Kim refuses my offer quite vehemently so I drop it and we order buffalo frogs legs and turtle soup before the main meals but the frog legs are covered in blindingly hot sauce and resemble small turkey legs but are tasty as is the turtle soup which the waiter pours brandy into at my reluctant acceptance of his tradition which makes it taste less bitter but still makes me laugh because the table cloth is paper and has recipes on it for the animals we’re eating and they all look so happy in a cartoon realm. Brian and I shared orders and I think the waiter traded my rare for his medium-rare but he doesn’t seem to care so I don’t either when the blackened steaks arrive and they’re very good but I’m already full from our tasty amphibian friends and the weird molasses rolls that came with the right to sit down and tasted like something awful wormed its way into bread. Eat enough to remember the flavor and have the rest wrapped up but part of our meals included desert so I choose the peanut butter chocolate cake while Kim and Brian get chocolate rice pudding and all the portions are huge so we eat small and wrap it all up and leave the restaurant which sounds as loud as a club now and walk outside and to the car and drive back after having a great time at dinner. Get a text message from Kimberly who I met that very first night apologizing for being out of town but thanking me for the sporadic invitations to various events and perhaps we can get in touch when I get back and I let her know that hers was the most polite text message I’ve ever seen and sure why not talk to you then. Kim and Brian pop open a bottle of champagne and I have 3 glasses to add to my total while we drag out random CDs that we’ve acquired in the recent past and listen to them all and decide that most of them are OK but the Eminem song on Mean’s CD is rather good so we listen to that a few times and then it is the end of the night and I could keep drinking and going but I have a somewhat early flight in the morning so I say my goodnights and go to sleep my last sleep in the states.

[A beautiful day over the Mississippi]