A storm is due in tonight, right about the time Ivette arrives from Puerto Rico. The next few days are jammed with things to do, people to see, and time to prepare for T’s departure on Monday morning. All of it seems to have already gone by in a blur. Ivette will be here for a little over a week so there is more time to savor her visit. But the rest seems caught up on a fast track of artificiality – meet with these friends, go meet those friends, take a morning together, afternoon with friends, night of going to this artist exhibit, that one, dinner for two, and another morning then the Mardi Gras Indians finally come back to the bayou this Sunday and a parade and poof, before you know, my month long separation from T begins in earnest and so do the days of counting the days. Rather than freak out – which is what I feel like doing right about now – I’m sitting in my office, it’s 87 degrees, and I’m watching the fan whirl and trying to reach sources. Slow it down, I keep telling myself, slow it down.