The morning routine at mi casa goes something like this: after the coffee is brewed, after the mail is collected, when the blinds are opened, I sit in my favorite chair with my cuppa and greet my day.
I check the weather forecast online for Chicago then I always go and check the weather forecast for my most favorite of American cities, New Orleans.
Everyday, every morning, I would go wander around its streets in my mind and picture myself as part of the landscape replaying the many, many happy visits I’ve made to the Cresent City over the years. Every day, I fantasize about moving there, being a neighbor to its warm and friendly people, me living in a shotgun cottge, growing old in one of the nation’s oldest cities.
Words really fail me now.
The Images coming out of the damage area tell the tale much better than I but what they show makes my brain shut down and my heart break, helplessly, quietly.
As the city empties out, as it continues to be filled with standing water with no where to go, as the survivors are evacuated to far away places, it is so painfully obvious that our world has changed forever. Nothing has ever been so gone in my life before.
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Bonne, I commend you for being one of the first knitting bloggers to address this topic. We all need to pull together for this city (and the others, such as Biloxi, Gulfport, Mobile, Slidell) that were equally ravaged.
As a person who lived through two of the Florida hurricanes last year, I can say that without the help of the Red Cross, my family would have been without food or water for more than two weeks. Now is the time to give back. I have memories of my time in the Crescent City at the New Orleans Jazz and Blues Fest back in ’97. The friendly people. The delicious food. The glorious sites. Let’s all pull together to do what we can to help bring it back.
Thanks again for your post.
We will bring it back. I have the same dream you do, BM, and we can still have it. New Orleans is an old city for a reason, and it will survive. It won’t be easy, but it will happen. Maybe someday we can be neighbors!
Well said. I morn for the architecture, the culture, the gardens, the wrought iron, the spirit of New Orleans. Also morn for my spring vacation as I would have been there in Feb ’06. Nothing there will ever be the same, and the devastation of LA, AL and MS is unbelievable. To think that Katrina drifted over me here in S.FL. the headed elsewhere to do that. I am humbled, I am sad, I worried for those people..
How tragic that looters and violent behaviour have resulted in suspension of rescue operations. I have sent $$ to the Canadian Red Cross Katrina Fund…but it won’t get to those who need help till those who are perpetrating crimes either stop or kill each other off….
I spent 4 glorious years living in Uptown New Orleans, and always felt that I would return to live someday. The city will remain. Much of the architecture will remain and it will rise up again, I promise. I was fortunate that the friends I left behind and my in-laws in the area weathered the storm with relatively little damage. But now, I turn my focus to those who weren’t as fortunate and I feel sadness, guilt, and today anger.
I am so glad to see that your blog has discussed the disaster. I also share your love of N.O. & I was just there this spring. It’s hard to believe that the cute little yarn store I discovered is flooded. I hope that the lovely women who ran the shop (and recomended a great little “local only” restaurant) are safe . The whole situation is unacceptable. It was one thing to have a hurricane, natural disasters are unavaoidable,but the situation with the levee was avoidable. The officials knew that it was a disaster waiting to happen and when it did they were totally unprepared. I can’t believe that it’s taken until Friday to start getting some significant assistance into N.O. and the rest of the coast. I am so angry, sad, horrified and outraged. This is the United States for Pete’s Sake!!! Sorry for venting on your site. Thanks for posting the link to the Red Cross. My prayers & donation go out to the brave people who are still living a nightmare.
“…so angry, sad, horrified and outraged…”
I so echo your sentiments, Allison – I am so heart broken about this disaster on so many levels it makes my head burst!
I am ceaselessly praying for the thousands still suffering. I have incredible faith in the goodness of mankind – if the government fails, the rest of us are going to have to carry our brothers and sisters. I know we will…
Bonne Marie,
You echo my sentiments exactly. I visited New Orleans for the first time, three years ago this September. I was taken with it’s poetic nature and beauty. I too dreamt of moving there after that visit, so I could ride the St. Charles Streetcar daily, and live in a shotgun cottage. My husband and I made a point of not just visiting the French Quarter, but wandering through the poorer neighbourhoods, where we felt safe and marvelled in the beautiful yet run-down homes. Antique shopping in these neighbourhoods was wonderful. Shopkeepers where so talkative and friendly and their wares were full of history.
The people of New Orleans are in my prayers and I know that ‘piece of heaven’ will rise again. It must!