Saturday, April 11, 2009

I Left My Heart in N'awlins...

I'm having a little trouble writing today. So, pictures you get. Latest trip to New Orleans. I was shocked to see what little has been done in the 9th Ward. This once vibrant part of New Orleans is still struggling for survival, and may not make it. Hardly anyone is living there, since most of the infrastructure is gone. It is so sad.

Update:
I had a commenter drop by. I'd like to introduce you to Editilla of New Orleans Ladder, who sweetly commented on this post and said, "Janie, thanks for keeping the light on for all of us nolafugees.T'anks youz,Editilla~New Orleans Ladder". Fire Station. Being run out of a FEMA trailer. Noone is in the Fire Station at all. It has not been renovated yet.

One of the houses that's not been renovated. The houses were like this one, or had been torn down to the slab. Not much remodeling.

This is the Fats Domino Music Studio. It's directly to the left of the house pictured above. It has not been remodeled, it just better withstood the storm*.

*Update:
Editilla of New Orleans Ladder sweetly corrected me on this statement as well, and said... pss- I stood in front of Fat's house during the flood of '05 after the Corps' levees failed. It was considerably damaged and has definitely been repaired. There was a white grand piano, floating on its side, just inside the front door and Fat's stuff floating all over the front yard.I'm talking Gold Records and everything. Fortunately there were people there who seemed connected to Fats and interested in protecting the property from looting. Unfortunately at the time, Fat's Domino was lost in the evacuation. No one could find him. Finally a group of musicians tracked him down in an internment camp in Alabama, alone.That was a close call.


See the waterline across the side of the house? Water stood that high for some 29 days.

Mother's Restaurant. Though it was not hit, they searched out all their employees, and had FEMA trailers put in the parking lot for housing for their employees. They lived in that parking lot for over a year.

Mother's is known for their collard greens, which is what this young man is pouring into another container. And, again, Editilla corrected me:- that is the Pot Liqueur from the Greens that he is pouring. It is considered as valuable as the Greens. Put it in a glass with a Big Chunk of Cornbread. Mmmmmmm!
I'll post more upbeat pictures later, I really did take some good ones! Suffice it to say that New Orleans broke my heart.

14 comments:

Gretchen said...

How horrible! Yet another one of bush's legacy to be soooooo proud of. :(

Jeanne Estridge said...

When I see pictures of the 9th Ward, I think about all the former residents, flung across this nation like pearls from a broken strand, desperately wanting to return to a home that no longer exists.

New Orleans Ladder said...

Hey Janie,
thanks for keeping the light on for all of us nolafugees.

T'anks youz,
Editilla~New Orleans Ladder

ps- that is the Pot Liqueur from the Greens that he is pouring. It is considered as valuable as the Greens.
Put it in a glass with a Big Chunk of Cornbread.
Mmmmmmmm

pss- I stood in front of Fat's house during the flood of '05 after the Corps' levees failed.
It was considerably damaged and has definitely been repaired. There was a white grand piano, floating on its side, just inside the front door and Fat's stuff floating all over the front yard.
I'm talking Gold Records and everything.
Fortunately there were people there who seemed connected to Fats and interested in protecting the property from looting. Unfortunately at the time, Fat's Domino was lost in the evacuation. No one could find him. Finally a group of musicians tracked him down in an internment camp in Alabama, alone.
That was a close call.

Terri aka Pepsi's Mom said...

My daughter spent 3 months down there with the United Way, helping rebuild, after she graduated from college.
She was picked through the MTV alternate spring break experience. She was so moved by that 10 days, that she went back with the Untied Way.
She wanted to be a permanent volunteer, but evil Mom quit paying the bills, so she had to go to work....She worked quit hard,made many friends, and that is how she ended up in New York!

Anonymous said...

Those days upon days of people standing on the bridge, helpless. We would NOT have allowed foreigners that type of disrespect!

Travis Erwin said...

I love Mothers. I would give my left one for a slice of that ham right now. My friend Gary lived in Bernard Parish and spent 36 hours with his small boys on the roof.

Snooty Primadona said...

Actually, even before Katrina there was never much done in the 9th Ward. So much corruption in Louisiana, but especially New Orleans. It was there long before Katrina or the Bush Administration, and will be there many years from now. Greased palms & bullshit talks. Everything that was done to help, walked away with thieves.

Frankly, I'm very sorry things have come to be as they have. It's such a tragedy for such a beautiful city.

Galveston may never be the same again either, and they didn't get anywhere near the help that was given to New Orleans.

Even though Harry Connick's father is another of the corrupt city officials, Harry has seen that a lot of work has been done in many areas of New Orleans. But it really gets my goat that people blame that shit on Bush. Get a clue about the reality of what happened in New Orleans before speaking, Gretchen.

Snooty Primadona said...

Oooops! Sorry for the rant, Janie.

New Orleans Ladder said...

Hey, Ms. Janie!
Thank you for your kind comment on da'Ladda!

I really enjoyed finding your blog and really appreciate your passion for New Orleans and Louisiana.
It never ceases to amaze me to find such endearing involvement in our plight, which is ultimately your own as well... it is like getting lost on the surface of a diamond with infinitely different faces.

Thanks youz
Editlilla~New Orleans Ladder

Terri aka Pepsi's Mom said...

Way to go Snooty!

Snowbrush said...

New Orleans? Didn't there used to be a city in the Deep South by that name?

You are actually the first blogger that I have ever encountered--to my knowledge--in Texas. Congratulations. Next time, someone asks you what has been remarkable about your life, you can point to that.

I'm formerly from Mississippi--100 miles from New Orleans--and am married to a girl who was formerly from San Antonio. We spent many happy vacations in southwest Texas.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Thanks for sharing the photos Janie. The whole lot of crooked, lawyer politicans both Republicans and Democrats that lead the government are to blame..until they are run out of town and replaced..it will continue.
I heard this story recently, from a elderly man whose grew up next to the Mississippi River, every year we knew it would flood, so we moved in with high and dry relatives, then went back year after year, cleaned up and continued with our lives..flooding was just a fact of life. There was no FEMA help..there was only us..and family. We survived..why can't others? :)

Michelle said...

Wow Janie very interesting photos - I was in New Orleans way before the horrid hurricane and I had a blast. I am sad to see that it has not yet been restored to the great city it once was.

It's still great though!!!

Junosmom said...

It has been so easy for the media to move on. We don't hear so much about it anymore. Thanks for reminding us.