Sunshine

The sun is shining here for the first time in...um...fifteen days. Yes, you read that right. Fifteen. It has rained every single day during the month of October up until today. What? That sounds gloomy and depressing you say? Why yes, yes it is. And has been. And I suppose will continue to be as the weather forecasts predicts more rain this weekend.

I feel like I'm starting to harp on the weather and I really don't mean to but in my defense, that has been one of the biggest adjustments I've had to make since moving here. Unless you've been here I just don't think I can convey or you can appreciate the ridiculously unbearable death-heat, or the incessant thunderstorms that take place on a daily basis. In fact, I've developed a theory about NOLA and its weather that I'd like to share with you.

By now I think we're all aware that the crime rate here is kinda out of control. (And by kinda I mean extremely). You know what I think? I think the weather down here is so darn crappy that it's adding to the crime problem. Think about it. How do you feel when its dark and rainy outside? Gloomy...sad...mopey etc. Furthermore, think how irritable you get when you're hot and sweaty and uncomfortable. Now imagine how you'd feel if you were hot and sweaty and uncomfortable basically all the time. You see my point. After surviving just half of one summer down here I sometimes feel like I'm ready to snap. The heat here is something you can't get away from, even in the evenings once the sun has set; its oppressive and unrelenting and at times, down right maddening. The only other time I've felt kind of like this was when I had kidney stones and the pain literally made me want to run my head through a wall. I'm not joking. I think I even threatened to at one point. Not that the heat here compares to kidney stones on the meter-o-pain, but that feeling of "Oh my gosh I'm going to lose my mind if I can't get away from this," is similar.

So there it is in all its unscientific glory. My theory on NOLA, the weather and the crime. The despair and sense of hopelessness here is the result of an entire population that rarely sees the sun shine and the crime is due (at least in part) to the unrelenting uncomfortable conditions that people are forced to live in every day.

I'm pretty sure this is brilliant.