My heart goes out to the good people of Louisiana and Texas.

[XNASA]

Many of you know, I'm a Midwest boy. But for 6 years, between 1995 and 2001, I was a resident of the Texas Gulf Coast.

Now I enjoyed needling my Texas neighbors when I lived there. We would trade barbs, always in good nature. I know that Texans have the reputation of being swaggering loudmouths. But nothing could be further from the truth actually. Texans, real Texans, are humble, honest people. They don't generally open their mouths unless they have something worth saying. Having spent most of my life in Chicago, I can say without reservation, that Chicagoans are much more bombastic and conceited.

It's not even close.

I also got the chance to spend quite a bit of time in Louisiana while I lived near the Gulf, of Guff, as the locals say. I remember one particular week-long that my family and I spent in southern Louisiana near the towns of St. Martinsville and Houma. I've traveled all over the US, but I've never been made to feel more at home, than I was in southern Louisiana. Quite simply, the people there are the most genuinely courteous, friendly, open....folk I've ever been around. I still remember the smiles of the people I met in the streets and in the cafes. When they said, "You have a good day.", you could tell they really meant it. There was no doubt about it.

When I watch the news, and see the streams of cars heading north on I-45 and know that I have dozens of very close friends in those cars, and that just 4 years ago, my family and I would have been with them.......my heart just sinks. To think that they're loading their vehicles with just a few of their most cherished possessions and leaving their homes, not knowing what will happen....it must really be a horrible, daunting thing. I just can't imagine.

To all my friends and old neighbors in the Clear Lake area of Texas, and to all the wonderful people I met in southern Louisiana, New Orleans and all along the Gulf Coast, my thoughts are with you. Good luck to you all. As soon as all this passes, I'm comin' down. We'll eat mudbugs, and have a couple of Dixies, and watch the night herons glide through the pin oaks and pecan trees.

I can't wait.