Flying to New Orleans, hard to stay, hard to go. My mind is free floating, Calm and optimistic, anxious and lost, sad and distraught, loved and hopeful. Sometimes I feel like a sail boat without a place to dock.
I am here to spend some time with my brother, before I head off to work in Mississippi. As some of you may remember, I was here 5 weeks ago, I was ripping out carpet after Michael's house flooded. It was a freak rain storm, and a malfunctioning pump. It was a horrific combination of events. My mind could barely comprehend it. Today we sat , got mad, laughed , bandaged a wounded cat and remembered Katrina.
Wow, Katrina, the aftermath looked like a nuclear war had taken place. The end of city, a military state. My kids had to go away to school, Orlando worked in another. I turned the house into a shelter. There was no fresh fruit or vegetables, not even ice burg lettuce. Military trucks drove into the neighborhood handing out MRE'S and flats of water. This was not America, it was no
man's land. 12 years later, there are many differences. Some lost neighborhoods and eateries. New life abounds, a rebirth of young artists, musicians and restauranteurs. It is New Orleans, dark, light awesome.
A regular day in a regular city. The experience was traumatic, exhausting and it grew my heart.
