All bad things must come to an end.
Tag Archives: gustav
The Gustav Evacuation, Part 3: The Wait, by Ryan Sparks
October 12, 2009 – 8:20 am
We know what we smell like, okay? Hours and hours under the sun or smothered by night heat have us sweating coffee, sweating Red Bull. The clench of old cigarette smoke. Fast food and soda breath. We are covered in pet hair or the sticky evidence of children’s fingerprints. We ceased to smell like travelers [...]
The Gustav Evacuation, Part 2: The Drive, by Ryan Sparks
October 8, 2009 – 8:18 am
Cue the music. We’re going for a ride. It’s hot as Labor Day weekend should be, summer’s last holiday, last chance to boil. We have our windows down and the music is passing between cars and mixing in the space between, pidgin notes and lyrics. The few radio stations not on a constant bulletin loop, [...]
The Gustav Evacuation, Part 1: Preparations, by Ryan Sparks
October 5, 2009 – 8:04 am
As Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf states in August of 2008, memories of the Katrina disaster triggered the largest evacuation in US history. Three million fled the oncoming hurricane. Most of the refugees were from the Louisiana south coast. Author, New Orleans resident, and Katrina veteran Ryan Sparks was among them. The following [...]