Thanks Fay
Went for my bike ride this morning and it was cooler than normal because we are feeling the effects of Fay. As I rode to the Lakefront, I saw girls coming back saying it was nasty out there. When I got there the wind was whipping around like a squall and it started raining hard and riding my bike through it all was almost like a test of endurance. But there was also an underlying feeling of being out on the lake, with the water a greyish brown from the churn, and the palm trees blowing and bending almost to the ground, and the ongoing levee repair still in progress from Katrina that was eerie, thrilling, and melancholic all at the same time.
As I made my way to the point, I could see the pilings and structure for the lighthouse. The red and white lighthouse had fallen over on its side and had been there decrepit like that up until recently. The boathouses that line West End are maybe a third finished, but the rest still look like ghost houses. Even more ghostlike is to pass Al Copeland’s old boathouse – he always sponsored the cigarette boat races out there – and to think that he passed – or to see West End completely devoid of any structure, even the raggedy ones that remained after the city ruined West End with its greed and blindness. There is no bridge to Bucktown because Bucktown doesn’t exist anymore.
Thanks Fay for passing us by – we’ve had enough storms for a while – but I have faith we’ll put Humpty Dumpty back together again – we just need a break.