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May 1, 2006
There were highs and lows driving to the Gulf Coast today. I'm traveling with Steffan Hacker, our staff photographer--and also a good friend of mine. We took a two-week road trip to photograph and interview homeowners in Michigan prior to the 2005 Jimmy Carter Work Project about a year ago, so this is almost like a reunion trip for us: two weeks in the Gulf Coast. We had a pleasant drive from Americus, Ga., to New Orleans in our (generously donated) Nissan Titan, talking about the movies we've most recently watched, listening to Johnny Cash CDs, sharing thoughts about things at work.
Steffan drove for the first half of the trip, till about Mobile, Ala. After we stopped there for lunch, I took over the driving and Steffan dozed off. It was interesting being alone with my thoughts as I drove. I noticed, the closer we got to New Orleans, the worse things looked, the more seemed still destroyed.
Driving along the outskirts of New Orleans, where the Six Flags amusement park once stood, where hundreds of apartments once housed people ... deserted, destroyed. And so sad.
But our hotel for the next two nights is in the French Quarter. It's so much more alive here than it was when last I visited in October. I'm encouraged by that. But it's still not the same--many restaurants are closed, many stores have reduced hours.
Sitting in my room watching the local news, I was struck by how imminent Katrina still is here. There is constant reference to "the storm." No one needs to ask which storm.
Along Bourbon Street, in the kitschy souvenir shops, T-shirts ranging from the clever to the vulgar berate Katrina.
Katrina is ever-present, eight months later, one mere month before hurricane season begins anew. So much remains to be done.