Por Mi Camino

9/11 scarred a lot of people and, in particular, a lot of people I know from the New York metropolitan area, including myself. I knew the agony of waiting to hear if friends made it out that day, but, for the life of me, I can't imagine what it would it would have been like to have been in there. My friend Donna does know; she walked down 71 floors in Tower 1 with her blind co-worker and his dog in tow after the first plane hit that morning. She walked away with him as Tower 2 collapsed behind them. Donna also survived the Trade Center bombing in 1993, and has survived more than her share of medical challenges to give birth to a baby boy today. If ever I were going to find religion, it's at moments like this. So tonight, wishing I were a bit closer to home and to her, I put on the Iguanas, who Donna and I saw live at Cafe Brasil in New Orleans in 1991 (thier self-titled first cd was released soon after and the album art was shot in and around Cafe Brasil, making it a sentimental favorite for me). We were in NOLA visiting my friend Bill during Jazz Fest, possibly my favorite musical trip ever...an amazing ten days spent between Bill's French Quarter apartment and non-stop music at the muddy fairgrounds, with the best company a girl could hope for. Bill is facing his own challenges right now, along with my friends Paul, Kit, Travis, and Lauren and her family, all New Orleans residents. Thinking about everyone, I added some Sonny Landreth, Wayne Toups, and New Orleans Kelzmer All-Stars into the mix, grateful that Bill and Paul introduced me to so much fabulous music, grateful that Donna and I can still reminisce about this trip, and awestruck by their collective ability to overcome.

Asi camino siempre cantando
Las cosas bellas que van passando
Siempre miro que voy pa casa
Por mi camino Por mi camino

So I walk, always singing
The beautiful things I see pass by
Always looking on my way home
Along my way

-From Por Mi Camino, The Iguanas