Good-bye for now.

Some important things happened in New Orleans while we were here:

--The Superdome's exterior repairs and dome covering were finished-and wow does it look great.
--Paul Tagliabue visited to make sure the Dome was on track for NFL season.
--Barak Obama and John Kerry made stealth visits to NO that were barely reported
--NOPD got a raise (much to the irritation of NOFD--who did not get a raise)
--Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne visited Bayou Savage and Chalmette Battlefield...

I found out, from a very nice park ranger at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park Visitor Center in the French Quarter, that the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery were under six feet of water for a very, very long time. The cemetery had...issues, as do many cemeteries to this day, in St. Bernard Parish. I understand that Chalmette no longer exists. And I mean Chalmette the city. Currently, there is no visitor center at the battlefield, and no place for rangers to actually live when the park reopens later this year, let alone get lunch. Chalmette Battlefield is where Andrew Jackson fought the English in the Battle of New Orleans (this is one of my favorite stories from American history). Apparently, the Park Service archaeologists had to go out to the park after the water subsided and make sure that artifacts and burials that were disinterred by the storm got taken care of properly, surveyed, and reburied. Our very nice ranger also told us that the Civil War burials had the most trouble. The large trees that surrounded the battlefield were uprooted in the storm, and after the soil was under water for so long, many trees just fell over, disinterring even more bodies.

After discussing the future of Chalmette Battlefield for a bit, we all decided that there should be an additional marker added to the obelisk that stands there now in memory of Jackson's victory...a Katrina Memorial of some kind. The more we talked about it, the less likely it seemed that a single obelisk could really convey what happened here last year. But there was no doubt that New Orleans is now engaged in another battle, one to simply survive economically, let alone rebuild. There are so many issues that this city will have to overcome to crawl back into the light. Ultimately, the people will rally again and come to the defense of the city, just like in 1815. And it will be a rag-tag bunch, just like in 1815.

Katrina was one of the worst disasters in American history. Perhaps one day when the Park Service has a good budget they can plan for a huge Katrina museum somewhere. There is a really small display up at the French Quarter visitor center that could be so much bigger and more...well, neato. And informative. But you will have some contention, even among Park Service people, about how to go about telling the story, and what people should read and know about what happened. Right now, all the Park Service has are laminated clippings from the Times-Picayune taped up to a wall. They are good, but so much more is needed. At least something is there...

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So, in less than an hour, we are leaving New Orleans, again. I'm tired. We worked hard while we here. We took exacty three days off in full. We were here from July 10 until July 28. We played at night if we weren't totally wiped out from hauling concrete bits down three stories in five gallon buckets during the day. We aren't completely finished with the job we came to do, either. So it looks like, if things go as planned in at least three different scenarios for our immediate future, New Orleans will be a destination for us again. The third time we come, if our property sells in Utah, it will be for a few months. I like it here. I write quite a bit here if I'm so inspired, and over the course of this trip I have been inspired almost every day. We did go down to the French Quarter for our last night, wander the quiet back streets, look at weird store windows, and I drank a "big ass beer" as we made one last walk down Bourbon Street.

Rain & Coffee & Dirt & Mormons

Last Sunday afternoon it rained. RAINED! A particularly violent little thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere. We just finished a long walk around the neighborhood waiting for the mud on the sheetrock to dry, and as soon as we came in the door this little storm began its thunder and lightning show! It was quite violent. A hard gust started blowing and broke a branch off of one of the huge Oak trees across the street. My how the lightning flashed--it was like a freaky strobe light.

Then, another storm popped up the next day that actually chased us. It's true. We were out on Magazine Street getting a tire fixed since it picked up a roofing nail (big surprise around here these days) and this huge, gray cloud wall began to approach from the east, along with a distinct drop in temperature. Suddenly, the violence and volume of the downpour was upon us as we were heading north away from the service station. It was just in the nick of time that we finished and drove away.

As we drove down a street with a small median in its center, a flowering tree lashed out toward us in a violent spasm that accompanied a gust front within the storm. Its outstretched branches lashed the car on the driver's side, scaring the hell out of my husband. Many bolts of lightning struck RIGHT OVER us as we drove--we could tell because the thunder was simultaneous with the bolts. It rained so hard that pools began to form on the roadsides. Volunteer waterfalls sprung into life off of roofs and gutters swollen to overflowing. When we returned to the building, the power was out as a huge bolt had just hit in the immediate area. CRAZY. It really was like the storm was chasing us...then it was over.

I'm telling you these storms are just what my friend Carolyn and I would have cooked up as kids. We have known each other since we were five, so we have many childhood memories together, and many of them were watching thunderstorms out of the bedroom window at night when she would spend the night at my house. Strange, but it seemed like it always rained when she came over. We have thought since then that just by being together, we can bring on the rain. There is no doubt that Carolyn is front and center in my mind here, since New Orleans is so...her. She's with me in spirit, in every old house, every stained glass window, the cemeteries, and every antique shop that I see in my daily excursions around the neighborhood to walk the dog or to Magazine Street.

I'm so glad to be here. It's a relief, actually. People are so nice. Even in the pouring rain, in heavy traffic, in bummed out neighborhoods, people are so nice. So nice. I love being here. I don't know about moving here. I wouldn't be against the idea, and maybe for a few months as a place to sort of land and get some things sorted out until we decide where we'd like to live next, since our time in Utah is coming to an end (we hope soon). It has been an interesting six years there in the desert. I'm not particularly excited about going back, either. *sigh* As of this writing, we have ten days left in the Big Easy. Most of it will be spent working...with too few hours left to enjoy the town itself.

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I'll never be clean again. Ripping out this crummy wall and cement crap leaves a dust cloud that, in humid climates, just...hangs. And you walk through, and your hair is coated, and begins to feel like straw and it's crunchy, and your sweaty skin retains the fine, gray powder, as if you just laid down and rolled around in a big pile of flour and dirt. Well, it's actually not true, that never being clean part. I bathe every night, but the dirt is so intense. Ugh. I thought I got dirty camping and hiking. That was nothing dirt. Play dirt. Nothing compares to construction dirt. My god. But construction dirt is pay dirt. At least you get paid to do the dirty work.


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I saw Mormon missionaries at Cafe du Monde this morning. I saw them right after I had ranted about how living in Utah had scarred us for life. Missionaries at Cafe Du Monde. It made me smile. I'm SURE that they were just ordering milk. Right after that I went and stood in the Mississippi River. It was warm. And big.

Congratulations! We're expecting...

My fellow Americans...get ready for a new city. New Orleans is being reborn right now. From the death and destruction, in the rebuilding, in the cleaning, and in the help of people from everywhere, a new place is coming into being. It will be the love child of the original citizens that came home, and the adventurers that came to make something out of the city, and out of their lives. It will be born again out of the funky old and the visionary new, and I predict it will be a happy baby. There might be some growing pains along the way, and of course the surly teen-age years, but all in all it will be a well-adjusted member of the society of American cities.

It is an odd courtship that brought this baby into the world, and the old cliche about opposites attracting will never be as evident as it is for New Orleans in 2006. The big contractor pick-ups from every other state in the union and the brand new Porches and BMWs all seem to dance around the city. It is a place of dichotomies, where a pile of trash can exist peacefully next door to a lovely garden. Campers live in the front yards of houses for blocks and blocks. The brand new residents of the city find their way around--and listen quietly to the survivor's stories of last summer. The old and the new are working together, and something is clicking. The old gumbo pot is on the stove, but there are new ingredients, and the recipe is good. Sexy good.

It was a shotgun wedding, you know. The City of New Orleans was in a delicate condition, shall we say, and the suitors showed up in droves to assist the grand damsel in her time of distress. New Orleans has always been a place for visitors, the hedonists port of call; now, some of the visitors have decided to commit to her and make her their new home. It isn't an exclusive club. All comers are welcome. Just be respectful, and, like any good husband, just be there to listen. That's what most of the survivors that will tell you their story really want...someone to listen...someone to look at the pictures of their slimy, mud and mold covered old house with the refrigerator from hell itself, and how they had to vomit every six feet that they moved it to the curb. The dead guy tied to the fence. Living with the in-laws. Living in exile. But now they're back, they're rebuilding, and they are so glad that others also chose to make the city their home, too. Be gentle with the survivors, because they are still in a delicate condition themselves.

The due date is very soon for the new city. I can't say exactly when, since no one alive in America today has had to rebuild a whole city before. But she is coming along just fine. And from what I can see now, the ultra-sound is amazing!

Cemeteries and sheet rock.

Well, I have not been documenting this visit as well as I should be. We have taken some pictures, but not many. We went to Lafayette cemetery and as I raised the camera to take a picture of a crypt with the name "Hugh Grant" on it, the camera died. Immediately. I had to recharge the battery. But husband did take video of the visit, including the crypt that was actually open via a missing brick. Inside was a skeleton. I'm not kidding. Since we can't process our video on the laptop, we'll make the little vlog bit when we get home in August.

After taking the requisite two days off from the road trip and wandering around town, we got down to work on Wednesday and completely ripped apart the kitchen in the unit that we are working on. Yesterday, the sheetrock came down. Disgusting. Today, new sheetrock goes up and we mud. After our little coffee shop visit here, we're off to Lowe's for stuff to do that job. Half of the cars we see are contractor's pick up trucks, actually. Town is booming in that regard. Lots of people are here buying and selling real estate. It is a market that is risky, but it's paying off BIG for those that have come here to brave the rebuilding.

Town is much, much different from this past winter. More people, more cars, less trash, more...I don't know. More city vibes. I'm sitting in this coffee shop on Magazine street and every table is filled with either students or older people drinking coffee and surfing the net. In December, I would be the only person in here doing that. I forget that NO is also a college town; apparently, summer school is in session, and the kids are back in town. The weather has not been that hot, either. It has been just warm enough. This weekend, it will be in the 80s, with possible showers in the afternoons. PERFECT!!

I promise, I PROMISE...pictures when we take some time off, maybe Sunday or Monday. Hugs and kisses to loved ones--email when you get a chance! I love getting email here in the coffee shop and laughing out loud...it pisses off the studious kids.

Acadie.

Here we are, back on St. Charles. The rain is falling so hard today that the water is running down the curbsides in little creeks. I miss storms like this. Growing up in Kansas it seemed like summer thunderstorms happened with some regularity, and I reveled in the thunder and lightning, especially at night. It is a rainforest here compared to southern Utah, which is like the face of the moon in its lack of moisture of any kind. I'm listening to an older album, Daniel Lanois' Acadie. It is THE perfect New Orleans soundtrack in its Frenchiness and spookiness; plus, Aaron Neville appears on quite a few tracks. My buddy Carolyn loves this album--and New Orleans. I wish she could come visit while we are here, but her life is busy.

It seems like we never left, now that we are back. It's strange. This city has no business being in our lives, and I am amazed that after all the things that have happened to this place, we're somehow involved in its drama. When my mother-in-law bought her condo here, we were real excited. "Oh yeah! We'll get down there sometime and have fun..." We just didn't expect that we'd be here so soon after the big blow-out, and that we'd be a part of the renewal and witness the city's slow recovery. See, this is what happens when you own your own business. You get to do more stuff than you would if you didn't. All right, you work harder and get paid less, but the freedom of the job is PRICELESS.

From my seat, I see the traffic on St. Charles. The cable cars have not returned to St. Charles yet. I am not sure if they ever will. We have not seen my husband's cousin Dorothy since we arrived at an odd hour last evening, but when we do we will get the time frame for the return of the cars. It seems as though Mardi Gras went well. There are all kinds of new bead strings in the trees that line this grand boulevard. I am pleased that the city seems to be gaining momentum in its clean-up. There are fewer blue tarps than in December, and fewer piles of debris on the streets. New businesses have popped up on St. Charles as well! I love the American entrepreneurial spirit, and it is evident here. I'm not saying things are going 100% well and the city is totally recovered. No. That is not the case as whole neighborhoods still stand empty. It's just going better than it was in December, that's all. The bells of the church down the way just tolled the hour...Christ Church Cathedral, an Episcopal church. We strolled by last night and it is lovely. I will try to get some church in while I'm here since I can't get any when I'm in Utah.

On the drive here we went through Texas in one long day, from Tucumcari, New Mexico, to Longview, Texas, just this side of the Louisiana state line. I do love Texas, and this time I jotted down a few of the things that make it great:

Fields of sunflowers...rusted corrugated steel-covered shacks, barns and sheds...an official town sign by the road pointing to "WISDOM" (it's not in the atlas, either. I suppose you have to look for it on your own)...safety rest stops with Wi-Fi and tornado shelters...mesquite trees...dust-nadoes and dirt devils...roadside art...old-timey signs...old town squares...Whataburger restaurants...really old and rustic BBQ stands...old pick-up trucks in excellent shape

Driving into New Orleans through most of Louisiana was interesting, too. Shreveport has these huge mall churches! It was Sunday morning and the parking lots were packed. As we drove through wooded areas, and most of the time we did since the huge trees lined either side of the highway, I noticed that small palm trees lived in the understory of huge, leafy trees, like Elm, Walnut and Oak. I was charmed. And of course the swamps...most of I-10 goes right over the swamps, and along Lake Pontchartrain. Water rules here, as do the plants. When we drove over the Mississippi River at Lafayette, my heart pounded. It's so...damn...big. It is the heart of the nation, its circulatory system...goods go out, goods come in, all on the big river. It joins the East and the West at its sides, and all is calm at its center. If any feature of our country is most representative of what our nation is, I cannot think of one that would be better than the Mississippi.

Our list of projects for the building is really long this time. We can only spare two weeks here, as it will take us a week of driving to get here and get back home. We'll see how much we can get done. Pictures top come, maybe even a v-log of sorts. Lafayette Cemetary is on the way to little coffee shop where we check email and blog, so perhaps we'll investigate that sooner or later.

The United States is Great.

I love the United States of America.

I am a lucky human to have been born here. Honestly, I think Americans take our freedom for granted sometimes. I think about it fairly often, and I have to list a few things that I think make us a stand-out place:

--Blogs. Guess what? I'll bet people in China and North Korea don't get to blog/vent/complain about anything without fear of retribution or of their families being taken away by the secret police in the night. Blogs are great.

--Talk Radio. Ok. Some people might think that talk radio is controlled by conservatives, but I've seen some interesting ratings incursions lately by progressives and third parties, and of course the great Coast to Coast AM is...well, it's something else altogether. As much as you might hate those propaganda-ish right-wing shows, at least you have a forum that is actually becoming a more broad spectrum of the beliefs and leanings of Americans. That couldn't happen in, say, Saudi Arabia.

--Expensive Pet Food. I'm sure you're wondering what I mean by this. If you live in a place where you can spend upwards of $30-$50 on a bag of food for your dog, I would say you live in a highly realized civilization. Seriously! If you are that caring about what an animal eats, it means that you have a high regard for life, no matter its station in the grand scheme of nature. Add to that the fact that you even have the money to spend on such a thing...well, compared to almost everyone else in the world, you're wealthy. Americans on the whole care about animals, and that says a lot about a society.

--News, 24/7. Some people might hate this trend in journalism. I for one am happy that Ted Turner went nuts one day and decided that a 24-hour-a-day news channel was a good idea. Look at how informed we are now, compared to, say, 1976 when we had to wait for the news at 5 and 5:30 p.m. and that was IT. Of course, cable news could be SO much better, and I do see moments of greatness every few weeks here and there. Perhaps one day the medium will stop pandering to the lowest common denominator and highest ad buys and actually become something great, like "Frontline" or "NOVA." One can hope.

--You can start your own business. This is, without doubt, one of the greatest things about America. I moved to Utah in 2000 and started my own business on credit cards, money I made from selling a house in Kansas, and former employment experience. I am my own boss, I have my own hours, and I can sit around and type on the computer when I'm not busy...I can also work whenever I want, even at 9 o'clock at night in my robe. If you have a dream, all it takes is courage to quit your job and just GO FOR IT! Most people aren't aware that this is possible since they are bogged down in debt, brainwashed into that whole "you must have a real job when you get out of college" crap, and of course the house and 2.7 kids thing. It's not impossible! It's not! Just do it. DO IT! Dreams made real are what make America great. Yes, starting your own business involves risk. But how do you know if you'll make it, and maybe make it BIG, unless you try? At least in America, you have the freedom to try. The financing, of course, is another story...but with the right idea, that's not impossible, either.

--Las Vegas. *sigh* Do I even need to say anything about a town based on taking your money, which is given freely in exchange for seeing some pretty lights, happy wheels going around, and giant pirate fights on Las Vegas Boulevard? I rest my case. Don King walked up to my husband on the strip one night, just walked right up to him, shook his hand and said, "Man...I LOVE this country." Then he and his entourage just kept on walking.

In the immortal words of Don King...man, I LOVE this country! I do. Happy 4th.

I love

Tucker Carlson.

I know I should probably add him to the "Things I love" list, but I'm trying to steer away from entertainment/TV/movie references, because it would make the list unwieldy. If I did add him, I would probably put him in position number 9--moving "almost any bread" down to the last position.

UPDATE 9/12/06:

I saw Tucker on "Dancing with the Stars." He won't make it, but I know he's doing it for the story. Give us the scoop Tucker, like the behind-the-scenes drama...the heartache...the footache...who has real boobs...the doping scandals...why Joey is bald...and whether or not that one judge is actually Martin Short in character. I want details. And I know you'll get them.

Protecting the Gulf: Specifics vs. Matrices

Corps report ignores call for specifics--NOLA.com

If you've never seen the Latin plural for matrix, well, there is it my title. Apparently the Army Corps has been working on a report, mandated by the US Congress, on what needs to be done to protect New Orleans from a CAT 5 storm, and after the report was rewritten by Bush Administration officials, it came back with big red lines through such wording as:

-- Closing the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and restoring adjacent wetlands, which had already been required by Congress in a separate supplemental appropriations bill.

-- Early authorization of work on the Morganza to Gulf levee system in parts of Jefferson, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, after the administration argued that the chances of passage of the long-delayed Water Resources Development Act, which also contains the levee project, had improved this year.

-- Authorization of several projects to rebuild barrier shorelines in Jefferson, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, which also is included in the water bill.

-- Authorization of several restoration projects that would protect wetlands in southwestern Louisiana, which must now await money from the Breaux Act trust fund, which pays for smaller restoration projects.

Wow. Instead of actually coming out and saying what needs to be done to protect New Orleans, the Army Corps will now use this report as a guideline for making decisions on what to do in the EVENT of a storm.

Excuse me.

Didn't Congress say the report was to be written with specific projects to protect citizens from storms, as opposed to a flow chart on what to do next? Isn't that what got FEMA into trouble during the storm last year? Flow charts and administrative red tape?

According to a draft version of the rewrite obtained by The Times-Picayune, it instead focuses almost exclusively on setting up a "set of matrices" to provide decision makers with information they'll need to determine how strong a protection system to build.

And it warns that even when the final report is completed in December 2007, Congress will not be presented with recommendations for projects to protect New Orleans and the rest of the state's coastline.

Then why even BOTHER with a report? Idiots. I wonder why all the editing? Whatever the final outcome of this report, I NEVER want to see what I saw last year on TV during Katrina EVER AGAIN, in ANY American city. And I suspect the rest of America feels the same way.

Back to New Orleans.

We're going back to New Orleans next week. I had to repost the New Orleans "house I love" picture because I just saw the building in a country music video (I must commend the production designer--very good taste). I recognized it right away. This may have been someone's house at one time, but it is now cut up into smaller apartments. When I was there in December, not all of the tenants were back. There was a ground floor unit that STILL had a broken window.

I am excited to go back, even during hurricane season...even when it's going to be an open-air sauna...even with all the new crime trouble. I don't care. I will get a chance to check in on the place and take its temperature, so to speak. I get the feeling the place may have a fever...I will be busy with work, but I do plan on finding time to look into other interests. Once again, we are driving; it should take three days, give or take a few hours. I love road trips, especially trips with such diverse destinations.

I'll keep everyone posted via the blog...

Bound by Common Prayer

Episcopalians Shaken by Division in Church - New York Times

Before I lived out west where the Episcopal Church doesn't have much of a presence in the remote areas, I attended an inner-city cathedral church with many different parishoners. And by different I mean gay. Gay people. Many were my friends, and even though I have not been home to Kansas City regularly, they are still my friends.

Now this. I am saddened. I know my home church will still welcome its gay members--even at the risk of being cut away from the Church of England, which means so much to so many who worship there. I must confess I am perplexed by this entire issue.

But what really rattled the pews was the "theological reflection" issued in London on Tuesday by the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury. He has written of his liberal views on homosexuality, but as primate of the Church of England, the "mother church" of the Anglican Communion, his primary task is finding a theologically justifiable route out of a seemingly irreconcilable conflict.

I have found a "theologically justifiable route" for the Archbishop of Canterbury. Didn't Jesus give only two commandments? I think he made it pretty clear: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus didn't say "love your neighbor, unless he/she is...(fill in the blank)." Anything else, or practice of anything less, is a sin. This is the hardest commandment to keep. I have legitimate reasons to hate all kinds of people, individuals and groups alike. But Jesus also said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." There you have it. Why the Archbishop can't see this, I'll never know; it's called the New Testament...look into it.

It seemed to me when I attended my church that everyone's manners were very good, and nobody was concerned with what our more flamboyant parishoners did in their spare time. It was an unspoken respect for each other's personal journey with the Lord. How I wish the church could go back to those days. Now it seems that the only thing holding the Episcopal Church together is the Book of Common Prayer, which may end soon if the Anglicans cut us off. I'm happy to know that I am not alone in my need for a quiet conclusion to this debate:

"What's really going on in the pews of Episcopal churches is they don't necessarily want to align with either side," Father Sachs said. "They want to get on with life. They want this thing resolved."

Amen to that.