Animals, untamed and wild, are dying in the streets; begging is everywhere. Filth - vomit, sewage, swill, and swamp water seep up from the roller-coaster sidewalks. Housing substandard finally turns better now that we are on our second apartment in six weeks.
Insect infestations, and landlords who "employ" their tenants plantation-style; leglessness, toothlessness and hillbilly drunkenness abound.
Multiple murders - what finally got us out of the last apartment. Returning home from the French Quarter, drinks in hand we find across the street from our apartment - twelve police cruisers, three ambulances, and channel something news - cameras in hand. Three people shot dead at the car wash. Neighbors everywhere. Rumor has it the murder rate jumped forty percent this summer and they are thinking of calling out the National Guard. The gangs are overwhelming the police and taking over the city!
Then, of course, there are the vicious queens, the torrential rain storms, the flooded streets and humidity.
We are contemplating returning home. I need order. Sterling and I both need a good night's sleep.
