Louisiana's Stars

I heard a u-haul moving a family next door to me yesterday, and I wasn't looking forward to it, because you never know what type of people your new neighbors will be.

They could end up being enemies or friends for a lifetime, it’s just the luck of the draw, and whenever my cards were dealt for this deal, I was day-dreaming somewhere because I don't remember the occasion.

By the way, the image above is not a picture of my new neighbors, although the man may resemble the father; I didn’t meet the rest of the clan. I would have taken a picture of the Dad moving his furniture out of the U-haul as he yelled, “Hey, what do you do?” Although, I said; "I'm a photojournalist at the local paper” (Since I was taking pictures of my cat Simon) and I thought if I said the local paper it would discourage him, but he didn’t respond.

This guy looked like the kind of person who moved as slow as a worm most of time, but had the energy of a grasshopper when it came to a greenback dollar. Although his disposition leaned more toward Mr. opportunity than Mr. industrious as far as I was concerned.

In any event, the more I watched him the more horrified I was by the idea of him moving in next door. I know it sounds self-absorbed and snobby, but why me? Or… why right next door?

Now that my son is grown I have a smaller nest (hence logo) or a one size fits all apartment, so I’m used to having people come and go, although I guess I’ve been lucky.

Or like I said, I 'm not exactly observant about people in my apartments, so I may have not noticed my neighbors in the past. Because, I mainly keep to myself writing, writing, saying hello, good-bye, and blah, blah, blah…

In fact, normally I would have blown Mr Opportunity off when he knocked on my door at 2 AM later that night, but the front doors to our apartments are barely a foot away and I thought I heard him fall down the stairs out front.

Therefore, I looked through the peephole to make sure he was o.k., and in just the nick of time, because otherwise, I would've missed my opportunity to see him spit tobacco an inch away from my door.

At least his spit looked a half an inch from my door, it was hard to see through the peep hole, but I could see him trying to smear it into my doormat before knocking on my door- “Hel-lo, anybody home?” I could smell his breath from the sound of his voice, and taste the liquor that swirled over his tongue turning his syllables into jumbled up slurs...

I wished I had a fake barking beast dog with anatomically correct teeth, like one of those anatomically correct women.

I would have done anything to get out of this situation. It’s funny, because what I had imagined would be terrible experiences didn’t seem so bad anymore…for example, a jump from a riverboat into the mighty Mississippi, walking on nails, listening to my faucet drip all night, etc… any of those options would have been better, but unfortunately they weren’t available.

And he kept knocking…then started talking through the peep hole, and I knew he knew I was on the other side of the door…"Heloo? Is you the lady I seen earlier, the blowd hare lady ?"

Now, the whiskey on his breath really was seeping through the peep hole. My heart pounded, and I knew if I opened the door, the humid night air would stick to my lungs and attach them to my paralyzed rib cage- I was petrified.

Then, as if he couldn’t think of a better time, my cat Simon decided to Meow and let the stranger know that he was threatening him behind the door, so now, without the fake dog, I thought we might as well surrender.

Although instead, I held my breath and watched the stranger through the peephole, as he looked at his boots move back and forth across the doormat.

He mumbled something about how he was sorry for making so much noise… that all he needed was his car so he could “get hisself home" because he was probably already"in hot water with the wife”

I know I should have been worried about how this man drove in his condition, and I did, but I was so relieved he wasn’t going to be my neighbor that I felt total freedom.

The kind of freedom you would feel if you dove in a deep spring of water, then turned and swam toward the Louisiana stars; with your arms stretched forward as you burst from the water as confident as a golden eagle sailing through a clear night sky.

He said he put his car behind the U-Haul earlier and now it was in front of my car, and he should have gone home with the rest of the guys, but he wanted to visit his sister, (supposedly) and would I mind moving my car.

"So, were you working or moving for someone else?" I asked, from behind my barrier of protection.

“Well, yessip, what did you think I was going to do move my family in an apartment down here?" He said as he laughed .

I opened the door and called his sister to come and pick him up, which she did along with the entire family- his wife drove their car home.

Then, the whole family drove out of my complex at 4 a clock in the morning, hoping to get home in time to feed a household of 12 before seven in the morning.

As I watched them drive away, I realized why the birds in my empty nest(logo metaphor) keep telling me to get lost; because birds of a feather like to be together...and all nests are not the built the same.

And I finally knew what had been "flying around" in my head lately...I guess it was the Blue jays testing my tolerance, much like people do- it's how we react to others behavior that determines our character, not the other way around. I thought about this as I watched the family drive home under the Louisiana stars and I was glad it was under a clear night sky ...

Then, I'm not sure if I fainted or fell asleep~