Irene and Katrina and Ike

It's 3am, and I'm still awake.  Normally that means I've been having a great night out on the town, but I haven't been out socializing.

I had a lovely night.  We had dinner at Papalino's, then cupcakes at Jamie's 14k Cupcakes on Baxter.  Then Roommate and I went down to Waterfront Park and watched the post-Bats game fireworks (so much fun... and free!).  Came home and watched the brand-new Doctor Who and then watched a couple of episodes of Dexter on a Netflix DVD.

A great night by all measures.

But it's 3am, and I'm glued to Irene coverage on the interwebs.  All hail modern technology, I can watch the NBC news feed from Connecticut and see what Mama Lou would be seeing.

Six years ago, almost to the hour, Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans held a press conference and said that if people didn't evacuate New Orleans, they should be prepared to suffer and maybe even die.  It was an unprecedented expression of hyperbole, but it was enough to get us to leave.

Six years ago minus 24 hrs, Roommate and I were just arriving in Panama City Beach, FL after dodging tornadoes and road closures for hours.  The usual 5-6 hr drive from NOLA had taken us 13 hours.

Tonight, six years ago, minus 24hrs, I stayed up all night and watched on TV as Katrina rolled into my city and prepared to drown it.

Tonight... last I heard, at least, Mama Lou is asleep.  But still I am sitting vigil.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I survived Katrina superficially unscathed.  But when Ike hit Louisville, the winds toppled a 40' tree onto my house, and I lived in a hotel for 8+ months while it was being rebuilt.

Irony? And probably why this hurricane has me so stressed out.