August 29, 2006

Jonathan's tribute (above) on August 29, 2006 on the bayou where so many were stranded without food or water for days a year before.

and my New Orleans Network blog entry for that day (below):

Hagan Avenue people Volume 25
Tuesday, August 29 2006
As I sit in my office between bursts of activity to help set up the farmers market, I am torn between joy at a beautiful morning among friends and incredible sadness (tears being wiped away furtively) at who and what is not here. I write to you, my friends in exile, and friends and family in other places who offered your help when I was in exile, to exhort you to remember us today and all of this week.

For today, at 6:10 am, we start to relive the nightmare we went through last year. We remember screaming at the television, spending days and weeks on our useless mobile phone looking for lost people, our mounting anger at the powers in our government that hold OUR money and OUR resources and refused to use them to rescue our people and our horror when we did return and view the wreckage.
In some form, this can happen to any city or region, including yours. And, when it does, the same unfeeling delayed response from a massive government will kill innocent neighbors of yours and destroy all that you and yours have thoughtfully and carefully built, so take care and listen to what we are seeing and doing here.
I woke up in my FEMA trailer today, walked outside and was glad to see a beautiful sunrise while walking my dog on the bayou. Within a block, I saw 2 tributes to the fallen: a neighbor has a paper hurricane with black wreathed around it on his front lawn.
a neighbor, who had been trapped in the house next door by water during, had floated a wooden HELP sign covered with flowers on the bayou.
I cry now when I think of it. I expect to see many more tributes today. I expect to see and hear anger, silly jokes and grateful faces that are walking around the city rebuilding.
What I hope is that all of you keep telling your friends and family that we are worth your money and care. We are thankful to all that helped and do help, but we are also growing angry at the response that we have had enough help. This is not a tragedy that is over; bodies are still being discovered, the government is still withholding the promised help that we need and insurance companies are still denying claims for people who paid their bills for years. We are still waking up everyday, walking our dogs, and then, with a sigh, going back to rebuilding our beautiful city.