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Hurri-cation

By Wednesday morning, camping out at the Motel 6 in Chattanooga had lost its luster.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he didn't want residents to return home until at least Thursday so the city would have time to work on clean-up. (He ended up opening the gates to the city anyway, and people started streaming back in Wednesday afternoon.)

But the thought of getting back to my apartment -- which may or may not have power/utilities/water -- and trying to make do in a city that might not have everything turned back on yet just didn't seem attractive. Add to that the fact that it'd probably take me as long -- or maybe even longer -- to drive back into the city with horrendous evacuation return traffic, and I just wanted to put off getting home a little while longer.

I remembered what one of my new law school buddies who's from southern Louisiana told me about evacuations. Most of the time, he explained, they didn't end up being much. He said, he and his friends always tried to make the best of the evacuation saga.

"We make them hurri-cations," he told me.

And so, I figured -- as the saying goes -- when life hands you lemons, you make a Lynchburg lemonade. When life hands you a hurricane, you make a hurri-cation.

My law school buddy that I evacuated to Tennessee with immediately began looking for our next destination.

Posted by Lara Richards at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)