Tuesday, July 25, 2006

New Orleans/ Biloxi Revisited

      

 

I was trying to download multiple pics  to no avail (again!!!). So I summoned my inner Zen to corral the aggressive energy directed towards my AOL software. (Breathe, ohm, breathe).
 
The pic above is one of the many we have taken during our mini-vacation in New Orleans, LA and Biloxi, MS sometime in May this year. It took my son sometime to forward them to me. (I used his camera to take the pics because I forgot mine). 
 
The French Quarter in New Orleans was business as usual and seem to have withstood Katrina's fury. The downtown area was bustling with tourists and hundreds of people partied at night on Bourbon Street. The familiar smells of Cafe du Monde's exhilarating coffee and sweet yeasty beignets and Chez Pierre's spicy gumbo and briny blackened seafood still permeate the air.   The taste of the food was even better than I remember. I devoured a whole bag of warm and buttery kettle corn while shopping at the French Market. I ate my fill of oh-so-tasty-I-could-cry cajun food. The Garden district was intact save for a few homes that look like they were being renovated. The drive around the Garden district made me happy because the ancient stately homes were there and the cozy little neighborhood bistros were doing brisk business.     
 
The surrounding areas, especially those subdivisions near the levee, were a different story. I cried the whole time we were viewing the affected neighborhoods because I can not seem to look at the devastation without feeling bad for the owners of the destroyed homes.  I could not stop thinking of how they must have felt to come back to a ruined home and how scary it must have been to lose your home, your job, your community and some loved ones.
 
Biloxi, MS and the surrounding vicinities did not fare well either. It was heartbreaking to drive through familiar places and find that landmarks were swept in the ocean. I loved the little Welcome Center in the middle of all the high rise casinos but it was not there anymore. I loved looking at the southern grand dames of homes: the massive Tudor with a well tended lawn, the haughty Victorian with its intricate gingerbread details, the proud Federal with sculpted trees... I could go on forever describing these magnificent homes because there's no architecture like the decadent old architecture. I remember one with flying buttresses too. Most of these homes are gone forever. How I wished I took pictures of each and one of them so I can show my grandchildren how beautiful Biloxi used to be.
 
My heart breaks for the Louisiana and Mississippi people. Our trip to those areas made me realize that even though the media stopped reporting about the Katrina victims because there are more recent natural disasters around the US and the world, these people's sufferings are far from over. 
 
Please count your blessings and remember the Katrina victims if you have the time or funds to spare.          

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I CAN NOT IMAGINE THE HORROR THOSE POOR PEOPLE HAD TO GO THROUGH AND THEN MANY LOSING THEIR HOMEA AND THEIR HOMELAND TOO...HAVING TO BE UPROOTED AND TRANSPLANTED IN FORIEGN SOIL...
GOD BLESS THEM,
CARLENE

Anonymous said...

sure sounds like they have come a ways but have more to do. and must keep tredging forward. I think it was better when we did it ourselves though. I came from Alaska and when the whole town flooded we did not get help from out side other than the air force handing out rations for us to live meagerly with food. the air port let us live n cars and vans there. which I got the oppsies one of those times!!!!!!!! and red cross did hand out some clothing very used clothing. It was us and us alone who dried out furniture out and appliances in our yards and retrieved what we could. And you know what we were so busy getting our stuff done we had almost no vandalizm. becuase we helped each other we were not sitting around wiating for someone to come to our aid. Our fellowship sent a huge trailor that a family took down there adn they came back and reported the same. They said those that were getting on doing and working not waiting ........ were the most caring kind ones. the ones who were sitting around on streets not helping others or themselves were the worst to deal with. in alaska we had earth quakes a natural reaction to the spring thawas and flooding right after and they devastated many more buildings but we kept on. we did that four times before we left in 68!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Eerily reminiscent of beauty taken away.  My thoughts are still with those who suffered mother nature's wrath nearly a year ago.  This reminder, via the memories and pic you've shared here, may give us all pause to say a silent prayer or send our hopes that all will soon be righted and life will again be thriving in the southern regions.  

Tammy
http://lifeliveitormissout.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Even though we watched this tragedy from the TV perspective I cannot fathom the fears these folks went through.  A friend works for the Corps and was there, talked about how they were shooting at their helicopters and the filth.

Anonymous said...

i watch Anderson Cooper 360 every night and he has kept New Orleans on his show weekly and often shows the true devestation and the truth that the politicians want to hide. Thanks for sharing!
lisa jo

Anonymous said...

The knot that revists my stomach everytime I see pictures of Katrina's fury, the world trade centers, a fallen soldiers photo and flag.....sometimes when life touches your heart......it hurts, life is precious.