a new season

Last night I walked out of my apartment and it felt like as hot and humid as a summer night. I was sticky within a block and thankful for the air conditioning when I sat down at one of my local hangouts just a block after that. I was restless and didn't stay long; I haven't been drinking much and hanging out at the wrong bar when you aren't with the right people or aren't really interested in drinking for the sake of it, it isn't very much fun.

Jenny, the bartender is a friend of mine; we'd gone to dinner earlier that evening and had often used each others shoulder when things were going awry. She was watching out for a friend at the end of the bar who was being hit on by two drunk men and flirting with a guy at the other end that she's taken an interest in. Sitting in the middle of it all, sipping a second rate absinthe that wasn't appealing to me wasn't very much fun, so I decided to go after paying my tab and leaving the half full glass on the bar.

I walked back outside and the humidity was gone completely and it had cooled down dramatically. It was almost hard to believe it was the same night as when I'd left the house. I had a moment of feeling that I'd stepped into a different day, a different time entirely. I wandered down to Flanagan's and felt immediately more comfortable. I always try Jenny's bar first, out of loyalty to her as a friend, but as soon as I walked in, I wished I'd been there all night.

Erin came in to see Huggy (the bartender) and ended up sitting with me when she saw that I was there. We talked for a long time about all the usual sorts of things; laughed about the ridiculousness that seemed to plague the lives of friends as well as our own. We left the bar together, which is always reason for talk in a small city

Erin and I parted ways back in front of Jenny's bar; she went inside and I went home. I walked into the night, enjoying what felt like fall and was home and in bed in no time at all.

I woke this morning to the feeling that it was cooler outside than inside, so I opened the french doors that lead out onto my balcony and found it to be true. It's a beautiful morning;fall having finally arrived in New Orleans, so I'm laying in bed, typing out my disjointed thoughts from the night before on my laptop. I'm not a morning person, not a breakfast person, but I'm thinking of going to get banana's foster french toast at Stanley; something I've been meaning to do for a while. I have an appetite early this morning, as though somehow I know i'll need my strength today, need the nourishment for some sort of change that the fall will bring.

Today I'll take my laptop out into the world and I'll work from wherever I can find a seat. I'll use fall as my inspiration and change scenery often, moving about through the french quarter and enjoy the weather, but I think i'll allow myself to linger here in bed and enjoy the cool air blowing in, at least for a moment longer....