marathoner452 | By the way, the Saints lost in the last 3 seconds.

Emergency Communities will be closing at the end of November, and effective immediately they will be closing at 6 on weekdays and will be closed on weekends. This is not because the community has rebounded to the point where they no longer need a community center and three hot meals a day. There is still very little open that I can see, with the exception of a gas station, a church or two, and the school/library. No, EC is closing because they're running out of money, and I wish I had about $5,000 to give away to keep them open through Christmas.

Maybe some of the Garden District people I saw riding around in their luxury SUVs when I was up there running on Saturday can help them out.

In any case, just so those of you outside the city know, good things ARE happening here all over the city.

Another example is Reap the Harvest Full Gospel Baptist Church not far from the Mississippi levee down in the Lower 9, where I went yesterday morning at the invite of a gentleman I talked with at EC. I was the only white person there but I was welcomed wholeheartedly with plenty of hugs and handshakes and smiles.

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I'm sorry to hear that EC is closing-- you've been talking about them with obvious respect and affection.

Keep posting about what's going on down there, please. I'm thrilled that you're down there!

so with the EC closing, what does that leave the people that still require that assistance? What plan B is available?

You know, that's a very good question. I know there's a library within walking distance where residents can use the internet.

what about food?
What about air conditioning for hot days?
What about respite?
What about job placement?
What about rebuilding lives?
What about community?!?!?

Ugh. Why is there never enough money for the things that are important? Why do people that have money to burn think their happiness is acheived by purchases and not by helping an anonymous person in need? Why aren't there more morally driven people on this planet? GGRRRR! Thanks. now I'm mad! lol

But see, Katrina was over 2 years ago so they must be okay by now. The French Quarter and the Garden District are up and running so they must not need any more help. Not.

It's so bizarre to spend an evening at EC on Saturday and spend an afternoon biking down to the Quarter on Sunday. No exaggeration, the two are 3 miles apart. Maybe 4. Or for another surreal view you can climb up on the Mississippi levee (the one that didn't break) and look across the river towards downtown. So close and yet so far away.

I have mixed feelings about the disaster tours. I think to go on one you should have to spend at least a day volunteering to pay your dues. Gawking at other people's tragedy when you're not doing something to directly alleviate the challenges they're facing does not sit well with me. I hope at least the tourists who go on them go home and share the news that New Orleans is not okay.

Hence the reason why I made my mom volunteer at EC when she drove down with me. Then I felt more comfortable driving her around, but it still felt strange to me. It's a deserted wasteland in many areas. One of the residents referred to it as "Desert Storm." He should know. He served in Vietnam and lost several houses right by where the Industrial Canal levee broke.

At least I'm making someone mad. I think that's a good thing, and if it's not I apologize.

no need to apologize. the only reason I haven't gotten there is because my maternal responsibilties are all consuming here. In the absence of motherhood, I'd be wherever a stranger needed a helping hand.

I wonder somteimes if the reason there is so little continued publicity is not because there isn't still a need, but rather it's easier for the populace as a whole to conveniently forget: it's far away, it's too big a problem for one person, it's going to take so long to rebuild the city that it doesn't matter if they have 100% support every single day, the govt. doesn't give a flip so why should the average joe... you get the idea. Life has gone back to normal for the rest of the country. Or other tragedies have occurred (albeit, smaller scale) that have detained help. It is human nature to move on.

Pardon the bleak comparison, but it is survival of the fittest at it's finest: the unaffected "fit" are surviving just fine without Katrina's aftermath slowing them down. Human nature at it's best? Or is that our worst? Perhaps, it just is what it is.

At least the religious nuts aren't still preaching that hell, fire and brimstone caused this tragedy because New Orleans is a sin-filled city. Ugh. Talk about fuel for the fire. *rolls eyes*

Part of why people "forget" is because they're convinced that it's New Orleans' fault this happened. It's a dangerous place to build a city so when it was devastated, that was bound to happen anyway so why rebuild? That argument makes people who live here not less sympathetic when other places suffer disasters, but certainly more sarcastic about them. Wildfires in California? Shouldn't have built your house there, your fault. Tornadoes in the Midwest? Well, why do you live there? (Not, but maybe the people who built their houses there should be more understanding of New Orleans.)

What those people don't understand is that it wasn't the hurricane that destroyed New Orleans, it was the failure of the levees and that's because the Army Corps of Engineers didn't build them strong enough. The hurricane destroyed the Mississippi coast, but what happened here was not a natural disaster.

The reason that the French built New Orleans in such a vulnerable position was because of location, location, location. You control the mouth of the Mississippi, you control the Mississippi river valley. Actually, other than the heat and mosquitoes and tropical diseases and swamps, it wasn't such a bad spot for a city until oil companies, etc. started destroying the wetlands. Each mile of wetlands absorbs a foot of storm surge. Without the wetlands, the levees have to be that much stronger, and the scary thing is that Katrina was only a Category 3, if that, by the time she passed over New Orleans...

Going home for Christmas is going to be surreal because life in rural Maryland and suburban Michigan is so different from life here. What is an old news story most other places is part of everyday life here. I can't step out my front door without seeing red x's everywhere, I can't go to the grocery store without driving through neighborhoods that once drowned in 20 feet of water, I can't drive or bike anywhere without wondering why? why? why?

Just as importantly, I can't go for a bike ride without noticing historic houses in every color of the rainbow or hearing music spilling out onto the streets or dodging tourists on their way to a hearty bowl of gumbo or etouffee. There is life and energy and open-mindedness and creativity everywhere I look.

All New Orleans wants is for someone to listen.

(Which you do, and you understand and get it.)

By the way, the Saints lost in the last 3 seconds.

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I wish I'd seen New Orleans before, well, you know...

Re: I wish I'd seen New Orleans before, well, you know...

Re: I wish I'd seen New Orleans before, well, you know...

Re: I wish I'd seen New Orleans before, well, you know...