A squirrels story

Well, I did it.  I got up this morning and rode in a caravan back down to New Orleans as a red sun popped up over the bayou.  We made it to the Garden District early and made our way around to check on some of the damage.  The water almost came from the uptown area to St. Charles Avenue.  As we headed more and more to the North we could see the water line get higher and higher to almost 6 feet high in some places.  The streets had abandonded boats, cars, bicycles...you name it.  Someone had left a bag of dog food in the median for strays to eat and we say a couple of dogs roaming about.

I eventually worked over to the Convention Center, which has been cleaned up considerably.  Of course, the majority of that garbage was simply moved to another location, which we found, rather than just removed so the cameras could show a nice clean convention center.  The bodies had been removed from that location, but apparently there are plenty still lying about, luckily we did not find any.  I did a welfare check on a friends apartment before we left with the assistance of some MP's, then we headed out of the city.

What can I say.  I saw so many places I recognize, I knew, I loved...damaged, but standing.  The trees were down on St. Charles and the streetcar might have a problem running, but that area of the city looked fairly good.....at least compared to areas near the levee.  I will go back, i know I will, and I will see more and more of the city as I continue to do this, and it will break my heart everytime I do.

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