This time 8 days from now I'll be firmly ensconced in the sunny (and predicted humid) south. 2 days on the impoverished Mississippi coast, then 6 days NOLA. For some of the kids it's agony waiting for it to come; I think a couple others are praying for non-threatening but a plan-altering hurricane. I am in the "how much longer?" camp.
I know so little about New Orleans and the stories I had been told, while intriguing, made a church mission trip seem unlikely. But that bitch Katrina changed a lot of things. I am hankering to get down there and do my part.
There was a wild form wherein I had to rate my skills set on a scale of one to five. For instance: "On a scale of one to five, how would you rate your proficiency with a chain saw?". "What is your comfort navigating tri or quad wheel vehicular machinery?". Hmmm. I don't think anyone really wants me set loose with a chain saw or a tri-wheel combine. The form is limited and unfair. Nowhere does it ask my proficiency in origami. Piano composition. Wedding planning.
Anyway, since I know so little about New Orleans and the coast, I read this week "New Orleans for Dummies". I know, it sounds idiotic. But I leafed through several NOLA travel guides and the Dummies series entry clearly dealt the most with the devastating aftermath of that monster storm. The author Julia Kamysz Lane is a New Orleaner by choice after growing up in Chicago. Her articulate anger --- at the federal response, FEMA, the incompetent state leadership and vague city vision --- gives the deeply personalized skew most guidebooks cannot provide.
So I highly recommend Lane's book.
I'm goin' to Naw'Lins!!!
I know so little about New Orleans and the stories I had been told, while intriguing, made a church mission trip seem unlikely. But that bitch Katrina changed a lot of things. I am hankering to get down there and do my part.
There was a wild form wherein I had to rate my skills set on a scale of one to five. For instance: "On a scale of one to five, how would you rate your proficiency with a chain saw?". "What is your comfort navigating tri or quad wheel vehicular machinery?". Hmmm. I don't think anyone really wants me set loose with a chain saw or a tri-wheel combine. The form is limited and unfair. Nowhere does it ask my proficiency in origami. Piano composition. Wedding planning.
Anyway, since I know so little about New Orleans and the coast, I read this week "New Orleans for Dummies". I know, it sounds idiotic. But I leafed through several NOLA travel guides and the Dummies series entry clearly dealt the most with the devastating aftermath of that monster storm. The author Julia Kamysz Lane is a New Orleaner by choice after growing up in Chicago. Her articulate anger --- at the federal response, FEMA, the incompetent state leadership and vague city vision --- gives the deeply personalized skew most guidebooks cannot provide.
So I highly recommend Lane's book.
I'm goin' to Naw'Lins!!!
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