the wind left us with memories

The weekend's events held mixed emotions. Atlanta was simultaneously presented with the best and worst of things, which each have a habit of revealing what's really underneath.

It started fine with beautiful weather and the arrival of Counter Culture's guests James and Annette for a weekend of talks, drinks, and food. Their presence attracted coffee people from across the lands, including the Rue's du Volta from way down south. We all gathered for an evening of debauchery and throwdowns when Atlanta was struck by natural disaster and suddenly the city fell apart. Octane survived, our house survived, my friends and family are fine, too, but we certainly felt the grip of death as the sun rose to reveal our misfortunes.



above: my roommate's car



above: a local landmark, both before the damage and after

of course, while this was going down (pun intended), so was this:



Both events seem to pull us together in different ways. The James Hoffmann event gave a chance for coffee people to gather and converse, yet it was impossible to ignore the presence of the storm across the days after (including now). It takes almost twice as long to get to work now that my main route has been quickly snipped in the middle as I used to drive just by the CNN center... Even driving from Dave's, which is just behind CNN and the Dome and significantly closer to Octane, leaves me driving strange routes and double-backing when the roads I found open in the morning are closed by nightfall.

You can even see the holes in the Westin panes from Octane. Erie, to say the least.