Shelter in Place…Again

“Attention Louisiana: please transition from your quarantine drinking to your regularly scheduled hurricane drinking. This has been a public service announcement.”

That was a message bouncing around certain quarters of Facebook yesterday evening in response to the news that Tropical Storm Laura looks set to be a major hurricane by the time she makes landfall later this week. This just as we’re all standing down from prepping for Marco, which mercifully seems to have lost interest just before coming ashore. Seriously, 2020: what else do you have in store for us? With the remnants of one storm-in-a-teacup swirling about and another, rather more serious one bringing up the rear, you have to wonder how much more “in place” we can shelter. At least with the pandemic already having kept us housebound for months, our doomsday prepper supplies are in good shape. When we heard the Laura forecast and wondered what else we should stock up on, the only thing we could think of were some matches. And extra booze, obviously. Under the circumstances, who can blame Louisianans for resorting to black humor and a drink or two? In trying times, this is what we do. Listening to Governor John Bel Edwards take time during his Monday afternoon storm briefing to advise his constituents not to respond to Laura’s approach by throwing a hurricane party (on account of the pandemic), I had to smile. How can you not love a place so used to natural disasters that its default response is to have a party? Lawd, in this year of the global pandemic, save us from ourselves. And if we can’t have a hurricane party, excuse us while we pour another gin & tonic, head for the plastic lawn chairs, and get ready to watch the chickens get blown around. When the aliens land—which I’m sure is on the cards before this year is out—they’re going to love it here.