• always envy the dead

    Mother of an Apple Picker

    The first tour I took out after Hurricane Ida hit was a memorable one, to say the least. At that point it had been three weeks since that windy motherfucker had come and gone and the French Quarter, like the rest of the city, was still reeling. Most of the power had returned by now, but there was still the odd streetlight, cornerstore, or even entire half-block that remained dark. And these powerless blemishes peppered the quarter, creating a sort of patchwork quilt of dark and light that gave off the impression of a night full of danger.    There was also the disturbing chest-high stack of storm debris and black…

  • always envy the dead,  Non-Fiction,  patreon

    The Second Line and the Storm

    I can’t be sure (this was a couple years ago after all) but I don’t think this took place on a weekend night. I think it was on some random Tuesday or Wednesday. The quarter was hardly busy at all, anyway, that much I know for sure. Even Bourbon Street was rather barren, all things considered. I was just about halfway through a ghost tour, with a decent sized group of twenty two. It was a fine group. Not too wild, but with enough enthusiasm to make sure things wouldn’t get too boring for me. Of course, as I’ve said before, I had no clue how generous the group would…