Good luck, Orange

Every summer and most every winter of my life I spent several weeks visiting my grandmother and great grandmother in Orange, TX. When I started college and moved to Austin, I added in an additional fall and spring visit just because I could. I love that place. There is nothing particularly delightful about the Golden Triangle. It's an incredibly poor, ugly, refining area. There's great food, but that seems to be the case anywhere there is a high concentration of poverty. Mostly I associate that part of the country with everything that I think is good about me as a person. My Granny and Grandma, Ginger and Sandy, and the rest of my relatives down there showed me how to be a good, caring person. I'm not sure I would have been interested in policy, particularly poverty alleviation if it weren't for the time I spent in Orange. I was disturbed today to get an email from my Aunt telling me that the Golden Triangle; Orange, Port Arthur, and Beaumont; is the most at risk location for a hurricane. Virginia and Sandy actually evacuated. My dad doesn't think he ever evacuated for a hurricane. When my relatives start evacuating, it becomes something to worry about. I'm just hoping that this incredibly poor, predominantly African-American part of the country can be spared what's happened in other parts of the gulf.