Rachel Writes

I have had starfish on my mind lately. Have you ever heard the story? Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun...

This city won't ever die Just as long as our heart be strong “This City” - Steve Earle Link to song: https://youtu.be/K5dYyaQiwS0 On a long hot July weekend, my husband and I made our way along the Gulf Coast, through separate and shared memory lanes on our way to New Orleans.  Remnants of my “Air Force brat” husband’s childhood Biloxi memories mingled with post-Katrina development. My own first visit to New Orleans was in the mid 90s.  Like this visit, it was July.  July in New Orleans is hot, oppressively hot. The humidity makes the air feel thick and heavy. On that first visit, my expectations of New Orleans were shaped by stories of Mardi Gras and imagined scenes from novels.  My best girlfriend and I drove the into the city on a long 4 th of July weekend.  I was taking a quick trip away from graduate school summer classes and she was looking to be distracted from a recently ended relationship. That weekend we would wander...