It's that time of year again, without fail it has come as always and I'm not referring to the approaching holidays. We are once again in the mist of the dreaded hurricane season and already the LA coast was brutalized by one.
Chased from our homes again, filling the cars to the brim with our precious items and this time more than 3 days of clothes. Hoping against hope that we would return to an undamaged life but at the same time fully accepting as the front door closed it would be for the last time.
With three storms brewing anxiety levels are on the rise. I can no longer escape my fears while i sleep, night after exhausting night my dreams are being haunted by the memories I've tried so hard to bury. The complete and utter death of a small community, the homes, lives and dreams that washes away that day.
Empty silence filled the hollow shell of what was left of the neighborhoods; no cars, no laughter, no voices, no barking dogs, no chirping singing birds only the occasional knock and scrape of the mutilated shed roof as it flowed lifelessly in the wind.
The nauseating stench of the remaining water and swamp mud that rode in on the tide but failed to leave, the slim invaded every crack and crevice imaginable and even some that weren't. Now dried rock solid and unmoving, everything that lay within it's path has now been marked, claimed by the vengeance of the storm and lost forever.
The putrid smell of rot, decay and death; The dry, powdery contaminated air that clung to clothes and filled the lungs; the burn of bleach on skin scrubbing and scrubbing trying desperately to wash away the filth. To those from the southern parishes that dared to venture back to what remained will never forget the sights, smells and overwhelming emotion felt during that first drive through the streets of their beloved city.
Wading through homes, climbing over furniture, each step cautiously taken. Dropping to hands and knees rummaging, desperately searching for something anything which remained intact. Only to pull destroyed keepsake, after destroyed keepsake from the depths of the destruction.
Stinging tear filled eyes, shaking unsteady hands, the mind clouded in a sea of helplessness and a broken heart.
Time heals all wounds, the tears have stopped flowing, the mind has refocused and the understanding that my memories can never be taken because they live forever with in me.
