My return to post-Katrina New Orleans

A great deal has changed about the city in which I grew up since I was last there, in July. For starters, Bronson (cousin) turned two on October 10! I was lucky enough to have been invited to his construction-themed birthday bash, held this past Saturday at his parents' house in River Ridge, LA. While my memories of being two are inaccessible at present time, I imagine that Bronson's party was a blast for that age-set. Featuring an honest-to-goodness backhoe and a spacewalk, and topped off by a tractor-shaped cake, the party was a hit (for all the little kids, that is - had you been talking with the rest of the adults inside, you might not have seen me ogling the backhoe and waiting my turn for the spacewalk:)). That celebration, along with the wonderful hours I spent with mom, dad, and friends and relatives, was one of the happier times of the visit. The obvious, overwhelming part was the trip I made with mom and dad into the city to view what was left after Katrina had passed through. Suffice it to say that vast areas of the city, dozens and dozens of blocks at a time, are destroyed and deserted. I've included a couple pictures, but they depict just two of the countless instances of havoc we encountered. God-speed with the recovery....