Tuesday, August 29, 2006

A year's time

It's been a whole year. Doesn't seem like it. I remember watching the TODAY show when I woke up the day after the Hurricane, seeing Brian Williams standing in the Quarter, no water to be seen. By the time I left for work, the water was rising fast, at least up to his knees. I remember feeling helpless, calling the Humane Society to offer to foster animals (they never took me up on it), trying to find a place to donate things, not knowing what to do. A year later I still feel that way. At times I think, we should take our next time off work and go down there to help build something. I think we should vacation there, spend our money, support the local economy. Then I read about the high crime rates and lack of amenities and wonder if it's time for that. Those same articles mention the lack of public defenders and assistant DAs, and I think, heck, we should move there! The two of us could fight crime and revitalize the schools! We could renovate houses! But I haven't done any of those things. Maybe in the fall we could take a three day weekend down there. Maybe it will inspire me to act. Maybe the money we spend will at least be a small drop in the bucket of help that is needed. Maybe...

Don't forget to watch HBO's When the Levees Broke. It's on tonight.

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