I have moved 18 times since Katrina, now I'm in Bayou St John, it's not over yet

It's a gnome's home with a bowl of cherries and cherry tomatoes, a gnome's tiny dog named Lulu, a gnome's tortoise-shell cat named Sabrina, a gnome's lamp made of an ultramarine colander and measuring spoons, a small gnome's bed that becomes a small gnome's couch, and a gnarly tree out the window that grows teensy pears for the gang of wild parrots to yak over all day.

My dream, it was wild and emotional. They want me to "do the weather" on the news. I have zero training so refuse. The tall old man refuses my refusal. I am not swayed. How absurd! Not only do I not know how to operate their high-tech gizmos but I don't want to. Chaos ensues. I stand mesmerized in front of an aquarium full of breathtaking beauty, dark cobalt water and silvery fluid fish; it can't be made to be this beautiful - it can only happen. I'm lucky enough to witness it.

Walking down Decateur Street from the coffee shop to the boutique, people who don't know me act like they do - all I care about are the aesthetics (is the necklace lined up to its best advantage? Are the shelves clean? Does the window display work from across the street?). A man holds my hand but of course he's been unfaithful, he flashes a seductive grin at one of the island beauties dancing by and then shrugs when he sees me seeing him. I act like I care, mildly, but I don't, not even mildly. I follow the marching band and dancers, I lust after a workman's red pickup truck with shiny steel chests in the bed for tools. It feels exquisitely good to be in this flow.

Comments

[MIVan]

a hearty sexy Russian woman in a gnome's tiny abode. Now that's intriguing.

[Speller]

You're a soldier who has great dreams. Why aren't my dreams like that?

[Indy 500]

I can't believe how tiny the house and everything really is. I thought it was just prose.

[EAU]

Nothing & everything is just prose. Gnomes are deep.

[Detroit Shite]

THis whole gnome fetish you're courting is freaking me out like totally. What up? Are you going to grow your hair to your ass again and wear hotpant jumpsuits while flying over Morocco strapped to a jetpack?

[Ellie.]

No. But I am going to chew on the moon while floating down a gentle river made of rainbow colored cellophane while I cobble away at my Commie Pinko combat boots with a tiny hammer made of stone. Viva la Revolucion!

[D.Shit]

An anarchist gnome, you've become an anarchist gnome. That's just great Eli, what's next? You gonna get your hair straightened, wax your everything and marry a doctor?

[EAU]

Oh no baby, I'm from the outside I'll stay on the outside - I have no desire to become middle America. But an anarchist gnome, hellzuh yeahzuh.

[PetalsAndRice]

Aren't you tired of moving? You must be. Any end in sight?

[Ellie.]

I am getting very tired of moving and at the same time it all has been so necessary. So much has changed, I have changed so much since Kartrina & that's not ending anytime soon. The opportunities for humility, forgiveness, acceptance, and action are bountiful. I move and move and move and it is what it is. I am lucky, I am back home. I will be settling down somewhat in 2 weeks - will be taking a sublet through November and I am truly excited. It is a clean solid quiet house and I can really use the clarity I know a solid place, however precarious (it is the gulf South), will give me. Time to sort out some things, you know? Get my affairs in better order. Short answer: yes and no and yes.