Chapter 10 - Welcome to River House Every once in a while, more by chance than design, we human beings get something right. And as I sit back in the tub I can’t help but feel that this is one of those times as I experience for the first time the sounds of the Marigny: the bucolic chorale of birds, the quiet clacking of railroad cars behind the floodwall, the harmonica-like foghorn bursts of vessels bound for the sea. At the same time, all of my troubles and cares, not to mention my neck and shoulder pain, seem to be absorbed almost instantly by the water roiling around me—which with the push of a button has begun to churn like a witch’s cauldron, causing what’s left of the foam (minus the sequins and hair, scooped out with a leaf) to become one with my watery world, with everything that is good and right about this mortal life of ours. Listen to excerpt read by author. Back