Saturday, August 30, 2008, Lake Charles, LA~

Dear Journal~

Trinity Caillier here.  Remember me?  If not, I was the one who wrote the journal entries during LeCajun, when we went last weekend.

We had a marvelous time:  saw, met a lot of my favorite Cajun music stars, including my favorite, Belton Richard, as well as "Beausoleil", Hunter Hayes (drool!!), and Walter Mouton.  Also saw some great up-and-coming Cajun bands/acts (Kristy Guillory, "Fricassee'", "Cajun Spice" avec Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, etc.), and danced my fool legs off.  (They're still sore!)

Now, LeCajun is over for another year, and we've since returned home here to Lake Charles.  Feels great to be back in our own digs again; however, we can't relax, no, not just yet.

Y'see, we may have to evacuate.  There's an ugly hurricane churnin' in the Gulf, Hurricane Gustav, and it may strike this area.  Right now he's a two, and is mor'n likely to strengthen.  Shades of Katrina from three years ago all over again; people along the Gulf Coast are on heightened alert.

We've been boardin' up our windows, stockin' up on supplies, got our van and truck filled up to the gills with fuel, taking the necessary pre-storm precautions.  Everyone is in a serious mood, quite unlike the happy, carefree moods we had last weekend during LeCajun.  Nobody's laughin', smilin', listening to Cajun music now.  All we can think about is that g.d. hurricane.

If we get smacked around by Gustav, we may end up movin', especially if we lose everything.  That's our biggest fear.  We've been in enough hurricanes to know what kind of devastation they can cause, and how they can disrupt lives just like that, with very little warning.

Now, we did get some wind, heavy rain from Katrina, also Rita, that same year; however, we didn't get the devastation that N'Awlins did.  N'Awlins might as well have been wiped slap off the face of the Earth:  she took a direct hit from Katrina, and over 1,000 people were killed--and more than that reported missing.

N'Awlins still tryin' to rebuild; it's going to take years for her to return to her former shinin' glory; it's no overnight job.  Many people are still without homes, shelter; it's madness, I tell ya, sheer madness!

My little brothers keep askin' me if we're gon' get another hurricane; I just tell them to hush up, and tell them that we're going to be just fine.  I see the news reports, and I know otherwise:  I'm not so sure. 

I will write in here again in a day or so, let you know what's goin' down with Gustav; you may not hear from me in a while, dependin' on what course he decides to take, and/or if we sustain any damage.  I hope and pray you understand if I don't write in here for a while.  Just keep us in your prayers as we get through this stormy period in our lives!

Bye for now!

~Trinity Caillier. :(

Damn fool hurricane....