Leaving New Orleans, part the final

The morning I flew out was strange. My flight left incredibly early, which meant I and my host got up at 4 a.m. or so to get ready to make the drive out to the airport. Instead of taking the highway, which wasn't entirely reliable due to night construction, we ghosted through neighborhood after neighborhood. Some were eerily quiet. Others, from all indications, were completely abandoned. There was mist across the road in a lot of places, especially near the park.

After I finished being unnerved, I found it a completely appropriate environment for my exit from the city. New Orleans would haunt me, much as that morning's ride did. I am amazingly thankful that I got a chance to go, and took it.

Once aloft, I could see the city below quite clearly as we were banking:

Thanks to the wonder that is the satellite view on Google Maps, I managed to precisely identify what I was seeing. Metairie Cemetery is the one arranged in an oval above the golf course. Greenwood Cemetery is across the Ponchartrain Expressway from it to the right and St. Patrick's Cemetery is just below, more across from the golf course. Note the cluster of blue tarps in the lower right (click through the picture if you can't see them well enough: you can also click "All Sizes" above the picture on that page to enlarge it).

A line of sunlight appeared over the city as we left it:


And a new day dawned for New Orleans as I left it behind.

Take that as a metaphor, if you will.