How to make groceries in a pirogue

Well, this is it. It has been a year since all of our lives have been turned upside down and we all learned the true meaning of what it is to miss New Orleans. I, luckily, don’t miss it anymore because I’m back home, and I’ve trained myself to look at potential rather than loss. I’m not sure if it’s denial or optimism, but I can look at flooded out houses at this point and think, “Isn’t that cute, I would fix this and that, get a porch lantern and put up the cutest white picket fence.” I think it’s certainly better than driving around in touch with the fact that a lot of the city still looks like Hiroshima.

There are certain things the storm has taught me: Show Up; Pay Attention to lessons that have heart and meaning; Speak the truth without blame or judgement; Be open to outcome but not attached to outcome; family and friends are the only things that matter in the end; looking to the future is endlessly more hopeful than lamenting the past; my husband and I can make it through anything; don’t take one moment for granted-you don’t know when life can turn on a dime; and I love New Orleans more than I ever realized.

I’ve got both jobs to go to today, but against better judgement I’m planning on going to see Rebirth Brass Band at the Maple Leaf tonight. I’m not going to feel good at work tomorrow, but that’s o.k. I’m young. Besides, I can’t think of a better way to reflect on the past and look to the future than dancing the night away while Rebirth blasts out jazz that you can feel through your whole body. It’s really, really good to be home.

Next week New Orleans will experience its one year post-Katrina anniversary. There will be a special mass, some ceremonies at the multiple breach sites, and a special second-line. I’ll be commemorating the day by working at my two jobs, but it is probably good to stay busy.

Last night I went out for drinks with a friend, and we talked about how important it was for us to be there for our friends who have lost everything. She lamented that she actually offended someone at work for suggesting that Katrina be a day of thanksgiving for our friends and family and mentioning that she and her mother were planning on exchanging presents. I’m not sure what is offensive in that, but I suggested we say innappropriate things all the time, and this was in no way one of those instances and she shouldn’t worry about her uber sensitive co-worker.

Which brings me to some funny and offensive things that had me cracking up over breakfast this morning. Chris and I went out for crab cakes benedict at Rickabono’s, a fabulous Uptown breakfast hot-spot, and I picked up “The New Orleans Levee” a comedic pseudo news journal whose catch phrase is “We don’t hold anything back”. It had an article in it poking fun at the mayor’s initial anniversary plan which included having a comedy show and fireworks display until he came under fire for planning events unbefitting of our tragedy. Well, “The New Orleans Levee” jests that it is exposing other anniversary plans the mayor had made that didn’t make the news. These included: An Army Corps of Engineers sponsored reflooding of the city to create a “Ninth Ward Dunk Tank.” A disaster themed carnival with rides including the Gulf Coast Scrambler and the FEMA sponsored Tilt-a-Whirl; A spirited “Chop Your Way Out of the Attic” contest; Free Coast Guard helicopter basket rides; A storm-themed, city sponsored character to be known as Katrina the Clown.

I laughed all through breakfast. Hey, our innapropriate sense of humor is part of what makes us New Orleanians, and this is no time to lose our sense of humor. Another article quips “FEMA has ear-marked its second-largetst grant ever to help finance mental health counseling for people it has helped drive out of their minds.”

As a side note, everything here is going fine. Chris has been down for a while now and we are staying with our fabulous friend Stephanie and are quite comfortable. The FEMA trailer I mentioned in my last entry is still as of yet not hooked up with utilities so Maya the cat remains in Alabama. We don’t have the key to the FEMA trailer yet either, but that’s not a big deal because we’ve learned that most of the trailers use the same key so we should be able to just copy a friend’ key–I laugh, but Jesus Christ what’s wrong with the feds? Bush actually has the nerve to show his face down here as part of the anniversary festivities and I’m hoping our folks don’t give him the satisfaction that silly Rocky Vacarella did with his mock FEMA trailer and praise, and meet him with the protests he deserves.

Well, I’ll have to sign off as I am joining friends at Marconi meadows who belong to a bar sponsored kick-ball team to watch their game. Bar sponsored kick-ball teams are just one more hillarious reason that I love this town!! I love this town.

In case anyone is having a hard time getting a hold of me, my phone is doing crazy things. I don’t know if it’s being in New Orleans, or if it’s some kind of problem with Verizon. Also, I did start a second job on M,T, W nights that keeps me off the radar from about 7am ’til 11pm on those days. I’m not saying I’m back on the radar after 11pm, though, as I come home and sleep. I apologize if I’ve been out of touch, I’m fabulously busy though. No more time for needle crafts–and guess what? I don’t miss them. I love being around my friends again, I love being back home. I love having a wealth of things to do. I love New Orleans.

I thought I would just blog a quick entry to let everyone know I’m doing well. It’s feels so natural to be home, but strange at the same time. Katrina is on the tip of everyones tongue and still a major topic of conversation. Hurricane season starts June 1st, and as my friend Jananne says, “There is a palpable, underlying level of terror.” To address this, by the way, she thinks we should change the name of hurricane season to “Weather Fest” and have a slogan “Let the good times contraflow”. She’s hysterical!! In fact, her and I are planning on starting a knitting gang. We read about a group of women who call themselves the “Knittas” and are tagging statues in there community with scarves and such. They have given themselves nicknames like “P-knitty” and “Loop-Dog”. We thought if we started doing that, it might do something to raise morale, at least put a smile on passers-by faces. I’m having dinner at my friends house tonight who is a chef, so I best not let the food get cold. I’ll keep posting- I didn’t pack my camera, so it might be a while before a picture entry.

I am moving tomorrow…I am moving tomorrow…Somehow, I know it will happen, but I can’t quite visualize it. Oh, scary scary hurricanes. Hopefully, they’ll stay away. It’s kind of crazy how life just picks back up. I got someone cooking me dinner on Saturday when I get in town. I’m babysitting Sunday. Sunday evening someone is cooking for me… this is maybe why I got fat in New Orleans. At this point I’ll take fat and happy any day over skinny and stressed to the gills. Have I told y’all I’m pretty much skinny again? Who knew, it wasn’t about exercizing and eating spinach, it was about staying so stressed that your stomach is in knots and you can’t imagine putting food in it?

And of course, I can’t be pleased. I am so excited to be going back home, but so sad to be leaving the area. Cheryl and Adam are two and a half hours away, it’s been great getting to spend this time with my in-laws, and I dare say I won’t have any Klan rallys to protest. There are some drawbacks, obviously, to New Orleans right now. Still, I told Chris from here on out we’re going to be like those crazy Cajuns on Grande Isle and just rebuild year after year after year. Hurricanes are one of your kinder disasters if you have the means to evacuate. They say they aren’t going to keep us out of the parishes any more, like with Katrina when we had to wonder about our home for a month before we got to see it with our own two eyes and then leave it indefinately.

Well, I’ll leave you with a link that I think is interesting, it goes through the timeline of just how exactly New Orleans and it’s surrounding areas flooded. Check it out.

Guess who I met…Guess…Ray Nagin!! He was at Jazz Fest and came right up to talk with my friend Molly and I. I wish I would have thought to take a picture with him, but I didn’t. I don’t know why I didn’t because I took a picture of him walking in the crowd:
Here are a few other pictures of the fest. New Orleans children got to make their own houses and put them on a map of the city:
Here is a picture of the crowd, watching Bruce Springstein: I have had the biggest smile on my face ever since I found out we were moving back. I start my new job in New Orleans on May 22nd. Chris is planning on coming down by June. It’s all coming together. I feel like I’ve been in some kind of weird hibernation and my life is finally starting again.

Chris came to me the other night and said it’s time to go back home. The home he speaks of is New Orleans. So, we’re going back. Those of you who know where my heart has been know this is no small victory for me. Chris has apparently given this a lot of thought, but hadn’t told me he was considering it so as to avoid getting my hopes up. He said that it is sad when even a flooded out, destroyed and corrupt city is better than Alabama. I know what he means, but the truth is, there is something about New Orleans that gets under your skin and seeps into your soul. It’s like no place on earth, so flooded out or not, I’m heading back down…in time for hurricane season of course. I’ve got work all lined up and a place to stay. I figure I’ll be back down in about 3 weeks. Chris has said it would be about 3 months for him, but that estimate shrinks by about a month every day.

I have been saying I would post my pictures of the lower Ninth Ward since I visited the area at the end of January, and am just now getting around to doing it. The devastation there was like nothing I had seen before, and I thought I had seen some destruction. I could have taken a thousand different pictures like the ones I have posted because the devastation was everywhere. Half the roads were unnavigable due to the presence of houses in the middle of them. I tried to go see some houses that belonged to friends and clients and was unable to even recognize if I was on the correct street. I guess the best place to start would be the barge the came over the industrial canal (which is still there, by the way):

This picture is the blocks adjacent to where the barge came over and it must be stated, because you cannot tell, but there were houses lining theses blocks:

The unexplainable- black Jesus makes it through the storm still standing though none of the houses around him are:

Here is an example of one of the many houses in the road:

A picture is worth a thousand words on a few of these:

Mother Nature’s power is truly awe inspiring. Chris Rose, a local New Orleans columnist, shared a story in his column in which his son while riding through New Orleans unaffectedly said, “Upside down purple car.” Chris rose felt is was a great metaphor. New Orleans is an upside down purple car.

Well, I have pictures that I will eventually put on my blog, but even those won’t really do it justice. The destruction here is unreal. I saw home video of a friend’s trip to St. Bernard parish yesterday that is indescribable. 80% of the New Orleans flooded. All of St. Bernard did. Everyone’s ceilings are sitting on the floor of their houses after falling from being waterlogged for so long. Boats are on top of roofs from when the flood subsided. Cars are standing on end.

Trash barriers on the sides of the roads grow every day. The smell in some places makes you wretch. Mail comes spurratically to Jefferson Parish. In Orleans, we stop by the post office because there is no mail yet. Garbage men are truly the unsung heroes of the world, and we cheer them whenever we see them.

Every intersection is a four way stop, and in some places you have to swirve to avoid a boat or perhaps a power line or tree limb. Traffic is returning now and getting bottlenecked at strange times, probably because they close down some roads periodically for work being done.

Life is starting to return and at first felt hopeful, but it weighs on me a little more everyday. A friend who has been working for FEMA said you get used to it after a while.

The bar and restaurant industry are the first to return. There is a swath of Orleans along the river that didn’t flood, and every bar or restaurant that has the staff to reopen is hopping. However, gas stations and grocery stores close about 7 or 8. So do stores like Wal-mart and Target.

Some areas of Orleans that don’t have power yet are as dark as the country at night. It’s pretty scary and has kept me from going out much in the city after dark. When I have gone out, I don’t stay out long because it just feels like I’m doing something dangerous.

I’m not sure yet when I’ll head back to Alabama.

Well, Rita may change the plan, but currently here’s where I stand. If I can, I’m going to roll up my sleeves and head back down to New Orleans to work next week. I’ll just be there temporarily while I’m waiting to hear back about the resumes I’ve sent out. Chris will stay up here and see if he can find some temporary work. He thinks I’m pretty insane for heading back down there, but I need to be able to look myself in the mirror and I won’t be able to do that until I’ve helped create some semblance of normalcy for my clients.

To be honest, I don’t care how bad it is, I just want to be home. I can’t wait to sit across a table, looking at friends faces, having a glass of wine and sharing our stories. Our west bank location is already up and running. Our New orleans location, where my office is, was untouched but still doesn’t have power and water. Our Kenner location is decimated as the roof caved it. We were able to salvage one hard drive from the entire Kenner agency.

I’ll let everyone know that I’m going before I head down, and figure out a way I can be contacted. If Rita doesn’t do too much damage, I’m thinking Tuesday next week.