Katrina

[ajblakejr]

I'll never forgive my first time back to Nawlins' after the nasty Bia-cth Katrina punished her levees.

I was an Amtrak comin from a Saints v Texan game at Reliant in 2007.

I rode in at night and I knew that was the big guy's plan for me. He knew, I could not handle those first looks on that Thanksgiving Holiday week under the microscope of the light of day.

My life is measured in days.
My first lesson in Nawlins' - life measured by how high the water was round 'bout ya'll.

My face planted hard against the glass, the darkness protecting my heart from the ruins of life destroyed by the water and my view clouded by the salty tears running down the tracks as the train pulled into New Orleans.

This was America.

Take a moment and share.
Do you have any photos?
Do you have any post Katrina stories?

Why do I love New Orleans?

Did you ever listen to the sound of a crying tenor saxophone, echoing at night, calling your soul with first notes of Amazing Grace, on Royal Street?

The food is good.
The music....

 

[DS]

That was a pretty awesome taste of the blues AJ!
I have no idea how that guy held that note so long!

Back in 1973 I went from Toronto on a bus tour of a few states.
I got off the bus in New Orleans carrying my acoustic guitar in the hopes
I could find a hotel during Mardi Gras. Several people told me that if the
police saw me with that guitar,the first thing they will ask is where are you staying.
If you have no answer,they will supply you with one.So I got back on the bus and
went to Biloxi Ms and got a motel there.I went back to New Orleans and met my
sister and we had a great time watching the parade and walking around the French
quarter.I was 18 years old then,and I still remember it well.

 

[dilligaf]

No AJ, I haven't ever listened to a crying tenor sax, but I would certainly love to. Would you be my guide?

 

[ajblakejr]

No AJ, I haven't ever listened to a crying tenor sax, but I would certainly love to. Would you be my guide?

I have listened to this young man play in New Orleans. This is the best representation of how it feels...the echos of an Alto Sax.

 

[ajblakejr]

This explains the street in New Orleans...

 

[ajblakejr]

A memorial to Joyce and Shanai (Shenae) Green. Lost in Katrina.
I have a picture of Robert Green and his FEMA trailer.
He waved to me. We talked.
Robert is the son of Joyce and grandfather of Shanai.

 

[ajblakejr]

Walking in the Ninth Ward.
I became numb.
The people.
The lives.
The pets.
The dream of a parent for a child.
The dream of homeownership.
The simple garden in the backyard.
The corner church.
The grocery store.

GONE.

 

[ajblakejr]

View attachment 4545

Walking in the Ninth Ward.
I became numb.
The people.
The lives.
The pets.
The dream of a parent for a child.
The dream of homeownership.
The simple garden in the backyard.
The corner church.
The grocery store.

GONE.

I shot these pictures with a film camera.
It was hard because my eyes would not stop tearing...
Damn it.
This was Thanksgiving 2008.
Rubble still littered the streets and FEMA trailers still provided housing.

 

[ajblakejr]

This place still hosted active funerals.
This place still showed the scars of deep water.

 

[ajblakejr]

Sometimes on the hard streets...you fight to collect enough change to feed your best buddy.

 

[ajblakejr]

You can feel the pain.
Yet..the music lives on

 

[ajblakejr]

And then I think about the job...
I can't help but notice docks.
I wouldn't want to back into this one...

 

[ajblakejr]

The job again...
I hate delivery restrictions!!!

 

[ajblakejr]

View attachment 4543

A memorial to Joyce and Shanai (Shenae) Green. Lost in Katrina.
I have a picture of Robert Green and his FEMA trailer.
He waved to me. We talked.
Robert is the son of Joyce and grandfather of Shanai.

Below you will find Robert Green
He waved and stopped us
He had a story to tell
I was ready to touch the pain of the Ninth Ward

 

[ajblakejr]

Robert Green
His story
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/green.family/roof/index.html

 

[ajblakejr]

 

[ajblakejr]

 

[ajblakejr]

“All that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters.” Gordon Lightfoot

These are foundations of lives that were just swept away.
Foundations.

You can see it on TV
You can read about it
It is so much different when you feel it.

I will never stop going back.
I will never stop leaving a neatly folded twenty on the bed every day
For the Maid at the J.W. Marriot on Canal Street.

I couldn't go to New Orleans to help because I was recovering from a motorcycle crash.
I still collected school supplies.
I still collected musical instruments with my Alma Mater.

I was lucky to be invited to The Superdome for the reopening because of my efforts with the School Sisters of Notre Dame...that September 25, 2006...Saints v. Falcons.

Many populations were forgot in the first year and my Catholic College, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, we collected walking sticks, canes, wheelchairs and walkers for Old People..or so I thought...just old people.

I could not go on that September 25, 2006
I lost my vision because of something called opticneuritis.html.
As I cheered on the Saints...
I knew that life as I knew it would change forever the next morning.
I knew it would change and that I may never be able to able up the stairs in the Superdome.




My heart and soul goes out to all my UPS brothers and sisters that live in the New Orleans area.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

aj, this is a thread which touches the heart. It is hard to believe that it has been 5 years. It is even harder to believe the stark difference in recovery between the Ninth Ward and the French Quarter. You have shown the emotional highs and lows through your pictures and words and the fact that these are people, not just numbers scrawled on to their front doors.

I am ashamed to admit that when a story comes on the news about Katrina I will change the channel. Perhaps this is my way of dealing with it (out of sight, out of mind?) or perhaps it reveals a character flaw I never knew existed. Whatever the reason I have a hard time watching this footage.

Thanks for bringing your warmth and compassion to an otherwise cold and callous place (BC). Dave.

 

[fxdwg]

AJ

This is a dark documentary worthy of a 30 minutes on PBS for the USA to view. It's a good angle that needs to be broadcasted.

The lives of those then affected are invisible to us; The Public.

You have me wondering how they are...where they are......are their children happy.... Did they bury their Parents......Where are they now......