Posted on 09/02/2005 11:42:42 AM PDT by hinterlander
I am sitting at my desk, a thousand miles from New Orleans, watching the city destruct over a live internet feed. Like many Americans, I am cycling through various news websites, blogs and online newspapers, marveling at the damage that is unfolding. Hurricane Katrina is dinnertime conversation, and I am astonished by the dire situation that is unfolding in Louisiana. However, unlike most of the people watching this tragedy unfold, I called New Orleans home until recently, and I feel a terrible sense of helplessness as I watch my hometown descend into chaos. The images are startling, made even more so by the occasional flashes of recognition, such as the rooftop of a friend's house that I saw on the news this morning.
Over the last several years, I've thought of Richmond, Virginia, more and more as my home. I have caught myself referring to it as such when I go to New Orleans for a visit. What was once "When I go back to Richmond..." slowly changed into "When I go back home..." and I was occasionally scornful of New Orleans' elegant decay. "Back in Richmond..." I would say, highlighting something about Virginia's River City that was superior to the Crescent City. But in the face of this tragedy, I have realized that despite my geographic distance, New Orleans is my true home. I have watched the reporters from Fox, CNN, MSNBC, ABC and a thousand other acronyms wade through the waves in the French Quarter, and I have scanned the TV screen in search of landmarks, street signs, rooftops—anything familiar.
I have come to accept that the bedroom window that I once climbed out of to meet a boy is probably blown in and the magnolia tree in our front yard . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at humaneventsonline.com ...
I'll have to make an excuse to go down there....
I agree with you totally. Mardis Gras is a travesty morally and symbolically.
NO has been putting too much effort into planning for parties and not people emergencies
http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/
There was more to New Orleans than Mardi Gras. One of my dearest wishes was to visit the National D-Day Museum on Magazine Street, which opened on June 6, 2000. Sadly, it seems I will never get to see it now.
True...New Orleans has much historical stuff to offer. I hope the rebuilding will focus on this kind of stuff which is good for the city and the kids and not the Mardi Gras.
That's not to say I wouldn't have visited the museum in February and taken in MG as well! :)
Many people will go to Gay Days at Disney too. Not for me.
>>>Really, I seem see a lot of straight people having fun at Mardi Gras..>>>
No kidding. I guess it's the gay guys breasts that get beads, eh?
"The Southern Decadance Festival. Scheduled for this weekend in NO. "
Hmmmm, apparently it started early this year.
If objecting to perverted, disgusting displays of homosexuality qualifies one as a member of Stormfront.......then Freerepublic has a big problem.
Free Republic may have a problem. I simply said I was happy that the Mardi Gras float had been destroyed and my comment was banned. Go figure.
BUMP!
How about the Southern Decadence festival?
The only good thing about this storm is that the French Quarter got a good scrubbing.
Magazine street is right off Canal st. just a distance from where the st. Charles streetcar runs (between Decautur and camp st i believe), and that area the water level is farily low at this point (it never got that high anyway).
nobody should lose hope over NO.. it may be a city of "decadence" or whatever word one wants to use, and it is very corrupt politically, i never said it wasn't, but it is still America's city, almost as much as NYC, so much of our culture is wrapped up in that town..
I myself hope I get to return to visit Mater Dolorosa (where my Mamaw and Papaw got married). One of the loveliest churches in the city, next to the cathedral.
LOL!!! I think people need to have fun and loosen up.. We don't need a bunch or moralist busybodies running down to NO and have say they can't have fun.. Mardi Gras like NO will be back...
I go every year to the one in St. Louis, come on and join us. Tell Mrs KevinDavis that she will love it too. It's great and fun. And for ones who think it hurts their moral senses...they will just stay at home. Jeez....
But we are moral society.. We can't have fun.. How is the St. Louis mardi gras compared to the NO mardi gras?
I had forgotten about that. Pretty sad if it was destroyed.
Heartbreaking story.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.