The Big Watery

I’m so sad about New Orleans. And yes, also sad for all the people and places devastated by Hurricane Katrina all along the Gulf Coast. (And 800 Shiite pilgrims killed in Baghdad? Good grief, what news today.) I focus on New Orleans because I’ve been there and it saddens me to think of that beautiful and utterly unique city swamped and ruined. Though not unexpectedly. I remember reading quite awhile back (or was it a PBS program I watched?) about the impending disaster of a strong enough storm hitting the city, and it appears much of this is coming to pass.

I spent 10 days in New Orleans a dozen years or so ago, almost enough time to change your life if you’ve grown up in Puritan New England. My first impression, stepping around bums sleeping on the street right outside my hotel and being shaded by young pickpockets on Bourbon Street, was that it was dirty and dangerous. That impression didn’t leave so much as get superimposed by the city’s potent charms. Wandering the streets of the French Quarter at night in the soupy humidity – it was early June – gazing up at the wrought iron balconies, peering down doorways into verdant courtyards, lazing in cafes with French doors flung open to the street, and hearing jazz and blues music always somewhere in the air. An overpoweringly hot, sticky trip out one day by street car to gawk at the majestic Victorian mansions in the Garden District. Standing in a doorway to avoid a drenching downpour that did nothing to relieve the humidity. Wistfully riding the street car back from a night of joyous zydeco at the Maple Leaf bar late the last night in town.

After 10 days in New Orleans, I flew directly to Colorado Springs for a work conference and when I opened my suitcase steam came out. New Orleans travels with you.

May the good times roll back into New Orleans some day. You gotta wonder if it's even possible.

Comments

[Lorianne]

Today's newspaper is sitting on my couch: I haven't yet had the heart to read it, the random headlines I'm getting online being enough sadness.

I've never been to New Orleans, and that's part of why the news is so sad. I've always *wanted* to see New Orleans, and now it feels like it will never be the same again.

I always wonder what it's like to be God hearing all the wails of suffering people here on earth. Surely it's deafening?

[Dave]

*After 10 days in New Orleans, I flew directly to Colorado Springs for a work conference and when I opened my suitcase steam came out.*
Wow! I must admit I've been avoiding the tidal surge of Katrina blogposts, but I'm glad I made an exception for this one. What a great image!

My niece Eva used to be a huge Richard Scarrey fan around the age of 4 and 5. She was always bugging her daddy to take her to Busytown; she was certain it existed. Then, on their first visit to N'awlins to visit a cousin of my father's, Mark had a brainstorm. As they stood in the French Quarter watching the crowds swirl around them, he solemnly announced: "Eva, THIS is Busytown." "Oh, thank you, Daddy!" she cried, and hugged his legs. They all had a wonderful time.

At this point, one has to wonder how much of the old city they'll be able to salvage.

[leslee]

Lorianne: I've been telling people for at least a year now to go to New Orleans before it sinks. I'm sorry you didn't get there. I'm sure they'll rebuild eventually. In the meantime, might I suggest... Savannah??

And yes, the wails some days must be deafening.

Dave: Yeah, it was an unforgettable sight! I don't know how much they'll salvage - I hear the French Quarter and other nicer areas are a bit higher and may be salvageable. It's the poor folks who lived in the lower lands that got the worst of it. The fear for the French Quarter, though, is that it'll be restored as a theme park instead of the gritty real place it was.

[patry Francis]

I was in New Orleans--and at the Maple Leaf--last October. Thanks for bringing some of the grit and sizzle back with your vivid post. It is certainly a time of mourning for all of us who love the old city--one truly unique place in an increasingly homogenized landscape.

[Jean]

Thanks for this. Yes, New Orleans is somewhere I've always wanted, and intended, to visit too. It's not a bigger tragedy when it's somewhere beautiful and interesting, but it is something that helps to bring home the enormity to people far away, I think.

[leslee]

Patry: Grit(s) and sizzle sounds about right! I'm glad you got to visit there recently. Isn't the Maple Leaf fun? I wonder if it's even there anymore. Gads.

Jean: I think it's that in addition to the awful human suffering, it is an added tragedy to lose a piece of history, a unique culture and place. It's like if Venice sunk (and why they continue to work to protect that city from the sea).