Day 700: Things Are Gonna Change

Things are gonna change / This is the morning after
When reality bites / The morality kicks in
To those damaged limitations

This is the morning after
All that went before / All of the song and laughter
The morning after, gets up from the floor / To do it all again

… This is the morning after
You will learn / The barrier we cross
Is somewhere between Heaven and Hell
Ah, but the world will never change
So we must dig inside, and crawl outside ourselves
I will, I bloody well will / Things are gonna change

— Things Are Gonna Change by Ray Davies in Other People’s Lives (2006)

Things are gonna change. It’s been seven hundred days since August 29, 2005. This is the morning after. Ray Davies Shooting Case Dropped and “Random Acts” Of Violence Around New Orleans This Weekend. To do it all again. Isn’t it ironic, Ray, that you wrote the soundtrack for all of us who live in New Orleans today, and that you are a small part of this story?

But for my friends here, Carnival glorious Carnival, the weather that my body is perfectly suited for, my really cool job and the smell of magnolias and jasmine that bloom in the night, I’d be on that plane back to Wisconsin. Chasing down runaway cattle is a lot more titillating than calling the police to report drug deals in front of your house, hearing gunshots in the night and wanting to throttle every member of your criminal justice system.