San Diego

Natural Disasters, or not so natural (such as 9/11). I think that when you go through something like that, you just take . . . things . . . in . . . stride.

I am a bit (just a bit) beside myself because of one or two or three or four people I know in the area. They all tell me there are safe. I will believe them. What else can I do?

I do wonder what my folks thought back in the the summer of 88 when I was backpacking/canoing in Yellowstone . I don't ever remember having a conversation about it. I was on a guided backpacking trip where we would hike for a week in various national parks, stock up on supplies on the weekends, and then go back out. Climbed the Grand Tetons, even. It was a great easy introduction to backpacking and, for someone in the deep south, a great way to meet people from other parts of the country. Now that I think about it, one of those pivotal moments in how you interact/view the word. Viscerally, I've never seen so many stars in my life, I've never been routinely so hungry, so thirsty, so full of pain (you should have seen my feet afterwards), so content and full and peaceful and in awe of the physical feats we accomplished and the mental feats it took to persevere. They called me the Little Tank. Howinever, we were out in the middle of the Yellowstone fire of 88. I remember watching the cloud of smoke approach us over a couple or three days (we were camping on an island in the middle of the park, with moose and other fauna wandering nearby) and then one day, we canoed our way out (with rumors and eventually sightings of helicopters). Not to mention in the narrows the firemen and the trees exploding, and the covering of our faces with bandannas as we canoed on out of there. very calmly as i remember. i don't remember panic. fear, yes. concern. a bit of what the fuck. but trust in the leaders and not panic.

in 2002, i was teaching a sociology class and this kid, this wonderful, intelligent and glorious kid decided he would tell his story of 9/11. He had been a participant in NOLS when that shit went down. If I remember correctly, he had been in the back country for about 3 months, and their leaders thought they shouldn't tell them about it. I mean, I guess, what could they DO about it anyway? They were so far removed .. . . So, these kids emerged from their otherworldly, life changing experience into a brand new American landscape. I dunno. As I am drunk and rambling, it just seemed poignant. I hadn't thought about him or his story in a while. He was a such a good kid. I got to write him a letter of recommendation. Early on in your career, it is such a pleasure and honor; and such fun.


They are comparing S.D. to Katrina now.