October 4, 2021
New Orleans – unforgivingly hot and humid. It strikes me.
We are in the St. Louis Cathedral, two of maybe a dozen people mulling about. It’s cool in here, thank God (I thank God).
A man who appears slightly disturbed by something lays mumbling to himself a few pews over from me. I am sitting in the middle-back, really trying to take it all in right? The sounds of chanting play from speakers above. It’s a brightly lit space, more so than other Cathedral’s I’ve been in. I wonder why. This space, like many around this city, is sort of dirty and looks like it was once very wet. The feet of the pews have a dark line on them where they’ve been stained by water. Something about a hurricane I am sure.
A group of teenagers sit looking at their phones.
Ruben strolls around the place, really trying to take it all in right? His hands are clasped behind his back and he moves with a certain calm. There’s an audible hum from the air conditioner. It melts nicely into the chanting.
I consider lighting one of the candles and saying a prayer.
Ruben beats me to it. I wonder what he is praying about, what he’s thanking God for.
Words 
Hot