Mountain time

As of Wednesday last week, James and I decided it was best to get to the woods. We weren't especially pleasant - due to all of life's uncertainties- and we couldn't stop watching the Weather Channel and Intellicast and NOLA.com and CNN and Tulane's emergency website + anything else we could find. We knew we couldn't return to NOLA for a few days at least because of electrical outages and water and sewage issues and so forth.

We escaped to the first mountains we could find - Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. It wasn't our intention to stop as soon as we encountered a little nature, but we saw the Ocoee River and a sign that said Cabin Rentals and immediately pulled over. The forest ranger didn't know about the cabins, but he did point us to the Chilowhee campground. We went to check it out and promptly parked in a spot and didn't leave for three days. With no cell phone access, we were able to spend time resting and walking and looking and remembering what the easy life is like. We cooked over campfires and took countless walks in the woods. Our only contact human interaction was with each other and the campground host who pointed us to the groceries and ice that we needed. She granted us 30 days free camping due to our evacuee status; which was an unneccessary kindness, but greatly appreciated.

Today we are in Birmingham again, where we will gather our things and head back to New Orleans. School will start for both us tomorrow - hopefully, we will be able to return to some state of normalcy. We'll be really relieved to see the end of hurricane season this year.