Katrina VI: Remembering and Still Rebuilding

Howdy, everyone.  I hope you all had a blessed, safe weekend and no one was too affected by Hurricane Irene.  Natural disasters, no matter the size, are a frightening occurrence and I don't think it becomes any easier as we get older.


I remember my dad throwing us kids into the bathtub with a mattress thrown over us while he crawls on the roof to see if he could spot SOMETHING.  It is difficult for me to imagine the fear they experienced when he was younger working on that dry-land cotton farm.  They didn't have those fancy Doppler radar systems like we do these days, so I'm sure they had to rely solely on the radio, and even that wasn't warning enough for some folks.


The video above is from a fantastic group of leaders here in New Orleans called Levees.Org.  Together with the founder Sandy Rosenthal, Levees.Org has collected and provided a POWER-PUNCH of data about what really happened six years ago when Katrina made landfall.  Man. Made. Disaster. 

Unveiling the levee breach plaque, the community of Gentilly has a visual reminder of the tragedy that occurred six years ago.  This particular unveiling ceremony was held on May 20, 2011.

According to the e-mail I received this morning from Sandy Rosenthal at Levees.Org, Irvin Mayfield, Jr. "played a moving rendition of "A Closer Walk With Thee" on the Elysian Trumpet, hand-built by David Monette, and dedicated to the memory of Irvin Mayfield, Sr. and all of the victims of the flooding on August 29, 2005 during Hurricane Katrina."

JUST LOOK AT THAT INSTRUMENT!  It takes my breath away, the craftsmanship.  I most definitely feel that horn in my bones!  

As was our tradition last year, this morning we are headed over to the Lower 9th Ward to participate in the Second Line to commemorate Katrina.  I'll post what went down later this afternoon.


So, Happy Monday and Go Away Hurricanes.


Period.