Some journeys that the author and his colleagues take are by choice and others are forced upon them. Some they take because their hearts, minds, and spirits are drawn to the "rightness" of what lies ahead. Others are done out of obligation and still others rest in their compliance to the demands of others. This article is actually about two journeys, one that almost every American took and one that is restricted to teachers and their students. These two journeys lie side-by-side because they are truly metaphors for each other. The first journey is one that most of them took vicariously as they viewed images of the southern United States overwhelmed by hurricanes. The second one is familiar to most readers of "Voices from the Middle" as their practices and research agendas are forced from places of reflection, comfort, and knowledge by political and economic agendas (for example, the No Child Left Behind Act) that do not seem to be serving their children as they should. In this article, the author juxtaposes those post-hurricane images from the South with ideas and feelings that many of them are having about their lives as literacy researchers and teachers.