It is more than a little strange to be back in New Orleans on the first cool-ish night of autumn after the summer that would never end. That mustard gas death smell that pervades my Bywater neighborhood is backing off a bit now that the relentless heat and humidity has eased down to a low simmer. Garbage, parts of houses and lots of jetsam are piled high in the streets and dead refrigerators are multiplying on the sidewalks like tribbles. And we are the lucky on...