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It was an amazing trip. With amazing people [the frey's, erik + erin, evan + bekah, emily, scotie beth, jennifer, rodrigo]. And amazing food [beignets, chicory coffee, muffaletta, camellia grill, mr. perry's seafood].

I'm still processing through a lot of my thoughts. There's so much of the city and people that is so indescribable. Beauty and tragedy so tightly interwoven...

I listened to Jeremy Casella's new album, "Recovery" during the trip. I think the title track describes the words I can't seem to find best.

Recovery
words and music: Casella

Faith, hope - a melody with no words
Is making its way through these dark times
Echoes the sound that you heard
In the autumn of desire
In the ashes of the innocence fires

No use closing your eyes to remember
What you wear in your bruises and scars
All these memories hold a reflection
Of the distance you've traveled so far
From a boy full of dreams in Pennsylvania
To a man with his wife in Tennessee
So much more than the sum of your longings
Are the good and the bad - all this beauty and tragedy

No one told you that faith would come easy
No one promised the way would be clear
Turn the ground in the fields of your story
While you're sowing the seed of your tears
Under skies wide and blue as the ocean
Make your peace with your own history
So much more than the sum of your longings
Are the good and the bad - all this beauty and tragedy

Put your sorrows in the ground
All the broken pieces wrapped up in shadows of places and people you've known
Weeping shapes and sounds all strung together like a crown
Lead a heart out of stone with a melody making you new

---

Pictures here.