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Had my share of Southern cooking while in Memphis and Mississippi. Everything fried of course. Fried catfish, hush puppies, french fries, fried chicken, fried okra, fried onion rings, and so on. The only thing I may have missed was fried pies and banana pudding (not fried).

One of my sister's daughters was a Katrina evacuee. She, her 3-year old daughter, husband, and four dogs were staying in a house in Mississippi. They had been back to New Orleans and had gathered all they could and trucked it back with them. They lost two houses to the storm. They will most likely not go back.

I spent most of one day helping them unload the truck. Spent part of another day helping move some of their stored furniture from my sister's place to where they were storing their retrieved items. The goal was to consolidate all of their belongings so it would be easier to load and move when they get ready to do so.

My sister's other daughter drove down from Virginia with her two kids to help out and visit. So it became a somewhat family reunion. I got to see my sister as the matriarch with all of her daughters and grandkids milling about.

What else? A lot more if I can remember everything. I visited with some buddies who I've known since grade school (first grade). That experience was quite sad. One of them has had a stroke and has only partial use of his right hand and leg. He can get around with a walker, but no longer drives. His twin brother lives with him. Their place is really rundown and in disarray. It was frustrating and sad to see them that way. They form a somewhat odd couple with the healthier brother acting like the parent and harping away at the brother with the stroke. It's one of those things where I wish I had a magic brush and could quickly change things for the better.

But, I can't and could not. I was experiencing a lot of dislocation while I was there. I kept feeling tension in my body and was unable to maintain a coherent thought process while engaged with people. I tried to let people know that I was not thinking well, but even those communications were not really clear. I spent an afternoon with my friend with the stroke. We toured around town and stopped and had a great lunch (ahi tuna salad for me--not fried). But, I was exhausted and had to head back to my sister's place. I spent another half day with him and ended up in the same state. We had BBQ sandwiches (also not fried). I ate a lot on this trip.

I talked with him some about Qigong and what it might do for him. I found a person there who teaches Qigong and left her a message to call my friend, but I don't think she's done so yet. I need to follow up.

All of the events so far cover about one half of the time I was visiting. There was a birthday celebration for one of the kids. She turned five. We did a big family night on Monday when the New Orleans Saints played. The niece from Virginia made gourmet pizzas. She's in the midst of opening a restaurant and is an excellent cook. We made numerous trips between my sister's place and the place in MS throughout these several days and I got to see a lot of the countryside and enough of Memphis to know that I wouldn't want to live in the city itself.

There's ample open space and places to stay that are out a bit and away from the hubbub and traffic. And, another option was presented--my niece from VA has a place in Baja. Since she's going to be tied up with opening the new eatery, she said I could have the use of the place in Baja. It's right on the beach and is like my dream place. I have some research to do to make such a move, but it seems like it should be a no-brainer. Am starting to use the Internet to uncover what may be involved. The photo of the place is enough to make me want to be there, but there are some considerations. More on that as the days unfold.

Back to Memphis trip. Spent the final days there visiting my sister's store (Elvis paraphernalia) and spending some time with a couple who are friends of my sister. They have this bucolic place in MS with ponds, a pool, and assorted collections of collectibles. They were older (he's nearly 80) but lively, creative, and fun. He was busy painting out a mural on the side of his shop building when we drove up. We had an amusing evening at an Outback restaurant where there was much confusion over ordering steaks and prime rib (don't try the seasoned and seared prime rib). As G said, "I'm nearly 80 years old and I've never seen a prime rib that looked like that." He had a humorous encounter with the waitress and the manager over the dish.

The next day we drove to Reelfoot lake (to eat, of course). We lunched on fried foods at a place called Boyette's that has been there forever. We also saw a live water moccasin on the nature trail and ate way too much food. I was really happy that evening to drink a yogurt smoothie and let my stomach rest. The ride up to Reelfoot was about 3 hours each way. I'm afraid I was a dull copilot. I was feeling really disassociated on the way up and back. I sat for long periods of time during the whole time I was there, as well as sitting in cars a lot, and sitting on airplanes. I don't think I should be sitting a lot anymore.

Overall, I had a good visit with my sister. We got to talk a lot and were able to share a lot about our aging and transitions. Her hospitality was unreserved and genuine.

On the day that I was returning, I realized that my daughter was in the path of hurricane Rita. She had gone into LA as a Red Cross volunteer and was in Hammond, LA, just north and west of New Orleans. I called her from the airport and realized that they didn't have the weather updates that were driving the Houston/Galveston evacuations.

I spent a nervous flight back and then began a series of telephone updates to her so she would have some idea of what might be happening. Using the weather channel, I was able to pick up advisories for the town she was in and relay them to her. Fortunately, Rita veered away from her location and they came through it all in good shape. She should be in Baton Rouge tonight and flying back tomorrow. All of this uncertainty didn't help my equilibrium.

Since I've returned I've slept a lot, ate a lot, and not done much else. I've been feeling heavy and lethargic quite a bit of the time. L and I had a massive dinner on Friday night at a new Turkish eating place. She had Lamb Shank and I had a huge piece of grilled halibut. Today we went to the beach at HMB and ate at Ketch JoAnn's--breakfast bounty.

I've not wrote out all of the details of the trip. Just some of the highlights and key points. There is more, no doubt, but it may not surface or find its way into these notes. Like the Indian couple sitting next to me on the return flight and their son Tru, which means North Star. Or the Airbourne tablet I consumed on that flight that filled my stomach with voluminous gastric disorder.

I'm starting to fade anyway. So will wrap it here for tonight. Had dreams last night (and many of the nights before), but they have been pulled back into the dreamworlds. They will return.