Up to the Mountain - Patty Griffin

Up to the Mountain - Patty Griffin



I went up to the mountain
Because you asked me to
Up over the clouds
To where the sky was blue
I could see all around me
Everywhere
I could see all around me
Everywhere

Sometimes I feel like
I've never been nothing but tired
And I'll be walking
Till the day I expire
Sometimes I lay down
No more can I do
But then I go on again
Because you ask me to

Some days I look down
Afraid I will fall
And though the sun shines
I see nothing at all
Then I hear your sweet voice, oh
Oh, come and then go, come and then go
Telling me softly
You love me so

The peaceful valley
Just over the mountain
The peaceful valley
Few come to know
I may never get there
Ever in this lifetime
But sooner or later
It's there I will go
Sooner or later
It's there I will go

Katrina Memory #2*

It’s around August 30th or 31st, although I have no idea of which—we’re at my sister’s house in Atlanta and we have no earthly clue of what’s going on in Bay St. Louis, other than the aerial shots taken by news crews flying over the area, which leave us fearing the worst. Kenny has made it to Bay St. Louis and has made contact with his mother, stepfather, and grandmother. He’s made it to Mom and Nick’s neighborhood and calls us from the direct connect feature on our phones (miraculously, that walkie-talkie function worked, even when 500 miles separated us and all of the cell phone towers were down). He’s at the end of their street—he can see down the road but can’t walk or drive there, as the mud is knee-deep. He says that Mom and Nick’s house is still standing, but that he thinks the roof may be gone. My mother hears this and her knees buckle as she begins to wail. My sister and I hold her up. To this day, I still don’t know with certainty whether her cries were from relief that the house was still standing or in despair over what it would mean (to the rest of the house and to all of their belongings) if the roof was gone. I imagine it was both.

*Sorry--the approaching five-year anniversary, combined with the never-ending oil spill, makes me a bit maudlin at times.

Katrina Memory #1

In December of 2005, right after Emmeline and I had just moved back into the city (Kenny had been back and forth for work the whole time and living back in New Orleans for about a month), my husband and I got a much-needed, child-free night out on the town. Needless to say, it was a very stressful time in our lives. The city was in shambles. Most of our relatives were still living in other states and/or in FEMA trailers. We were living in the apartment Kenny had found for us, paying $500 more a month than the same apartment would’ve cost just five months earlier, before the storm. And we had a flooded-out house and were agonizing over what to do with it. Should we fix it up and sell it? Fix it up and rent it? Fix it up and move into it? Walk away from it altogether? Set it on fire and hope the insurance company wouldn’t figure it out? (Kidding, Allstate- -love you! Mean it!)

Google Search of the Month

I am happy to report that this month's top search on the google was for "FU BP." I have nothing to add to that, except that I seem to be getting vastly better visitors via the google these days. Oh, and FUBP. I mean really, who names their yacht Bob?

Dear Blogger.com:

It would be helpful if you could re-program your spell check function to recognize the word "blogger."

Sincerely, ALM

BP Fatigue

Just go read Athenae at First Draft. That is all.

The Terrorists Bombed the Gulf

I hope this isn't offensive to any New Orleans bloggers, but it's been in my head for days now. Ashley Morris, I salute you.

THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF. THE TERRORISTS BOMBED THE GULF.

There. We’ve played your game. Now will you help us?

My City of Ruins

There's a blood red circle
On the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church door's thrown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins

Horror and Heartbreak

The horror continues here on the Gulf Coast, as each day news of the oil spill becomes more and more dismal. Each day, another attempt to staunch the flow of oil fails. Each day, more coastline is covered in oil—more than 140 miles thus far. Each day, more “protective” booms fail. The heartbreak continues, as each day, more wildlife dies. Each day, the estimate of the amount of oil gushing forth into the Gulf seems to rise. I am so angry that I begin and end each day with a pit in my stomach and a lump in my throat. How can they do this to our coast? How can they do this to our wildlife? Why won’t anyone step in to say enough is enough?

So far, we don’t know whether the latest attempt to “cut and cap” the spill will work. Although the cap is in place, oil continues to spew. The Coast Guard now estimates that the amount of oil escaping is somewhere between 500,000 and one million gallons of crude per day. And here we are, on Day 46.

FU/BP, or How to Handle PR After an Environmental Catastrophe, Hayward Style

A BP primer in public relations:

Step 1: Underestimate the amount of oil being released into the Gulf. Rinse and repeat, over and over and over again.

Step 2: Defend your company's safety record leading up to the disaster, despite the fact that your company has been charged with the highest number of "egregious and willful" safety violations during the past five years--a total of 760 violations. Definitely do not point out that that the second-highest number of violations during that time period was eight. That's right--760 violations by BP. Eight by Sunoco and Conoco-Phillips.