Star light, headlights bright.

I took a different route home last night, one that took me through a different section of New Orleans, where power has not yet been restored. Driving through the completely dark city reminded me of a conversation I had a long time ago with Sam Yen (a lifelong city boy before he came to Cornell). He came & stayed with me at my old house out in Medford, NJ, which is in a fairly rural area. His comment, made on a dark drive through the Pine Barrens, was, "I never understood why cars had headlights until coming out here." This comment makes (a little bit of) sense if all of one's driving experience has taken place under city street lights.

But I was driving through the city streets with not only my headlights but my high beams on. The city is inky black when the moon is not out. Lots of street signs are still missing, so I had to stop at one point to get my bearings. I was at a fairly major intersection (North Carollton & Canal).

And when I glanced up at the sky, I could see stars. Constellations, even.

A truly strange experience in the middle of a city.