Spring Week with Jill and Bob

Our Nellysford neighbor, Jill Averitt, and her father, Bob Johnson from Wisconsin, joined us for the perfect spring week. They came expecting to work hard building, and they did, but we also found plenty of time to enjoy this enchanting city. It is clearly our duty to support the restaurants, shops, museums, theaters, and musicians. We did it all!

Most of the week we worked with a group from Howard University. The neighbors must have enjoyed their rap music since one woman cooked them red beans and rice plus fried chicken for an afternoon snack.

One day was spent near Musicians' Village, building a porch.

Bev and Jill were assigned to interior detail work where Jill used her art background to touch up walls.

Bob, a retired marine engineer, educated us about the dredging of the Mississippi and the various engines involved.

Jill, who is in the process of building a new home in Nellysford, kept her eye out for architectural touches that might work on their home. What do you think of pink, Richard???

Springtime in New Orleans, across from Liuzzi's By the Tracks, where they serve the best gumbo in New Orleans.

Discovering the tacqarias for lunch was a real treat,

but lunch at Cafe Amelie in the French Quarter was delightful too.

The Irish Channel on St. Patrick's Day

The Irish Channel is a section of New Orleans between Magazine Street and the Mississippi River. We had heard that there was going to be a parade and "block party" on Magazine Street on St. Patrick's Day, but we had no idea that is was going to rival Mardi Gras! Someone said the parade was ten miles long, and although there were no marching bands, there were lots of floats and hundreds of men dressed in formal attire, crazy hats, and kilts, all doling out silk flowers and lots of beads. Not only were people throwing beads from the floats, but carrots, potatoes, and cabbages were flying, so we had to stay alert. New Orleanians certainly know how to party!

Musicians' Village

Since it has received a lot of wonderful media attention, many of you have probably seen pictures of colorful Musicians’ Village. It is a cluster of homes being built by Habitat for Humanity in the Upper Ninth Ward on land purchased by several well-known musicians after Hurricane Katrina. Although the homes are not limited to musicians, part of the original intent was to help bring musicians back to the city. To qualify for a home, applicants must provide documentation that illustrates that they can pay the modest (interest-free) mortgage.

Although most of our work with Habitat has not been at Musicians’ Village, often we help there on Saturdays when crews are not working at our regular site in East New Orleans. Last Saturday Keith used his step building skills while Bev worked on landscaping. We both got a lot of work done, but the best part was getting acquainted with some of the musicians who live in Musicians’ Village.

Dewey enjoyed selecting and planting two sweet olive trees and other plants donated by Home Depot. As his sweatshirt indicated, he was playing (string bass) at Preservation Hall that evening.

Sitting on the step is Dewey's neighbor, Troy Sawyer, who is a trumpet player. We enjoyed hearing him Saturday night at a coffee shop on Frenchmen Street. Lisa is a horticulture student who hopes to switch from a career in law to vegetable farming!

Many hands make light work!

Spring Break--New Orleans Style

It's March and thousands of college students have escaped the northern snows! Rather than heading to beaches, many have come to New Orleans to help with gutting houses, park clean-ups and building. It is enough to restore one's faith in humanity!

This week we worked with a wonderful crew from The University of New Hampshire. They drove down in a crowded van, stayed at Camp Hope and kept their sense of humor through it all, despite a few cases of bronchitis and mono.

Note to the UNH crew--if you want to check out what we do in our "real lives" go to www.basicnecessities.us to see our shop and link to our farm. Come see us if you come to Virginia.

The fence building crew--Sabrina, Liz, Keith and Mary

Step-master Keith

Our neighbor who didn't get his own FEMA trailer, but lives in the shed out back.

Natasha's Purple House

When asked what color she wanted us to paint her house, Natasha, the woman we were building the house for, said without hesitation, "purple." So that’s the color we painted it and she’s absolutely delighted. Within a few days, after we complete some basic landscaping and install a fence around the back yard, she’ll be able to move in. As a Habitat volunteer it has been wonderful to work on a house for someone who really needs a place to live and to do it from start to finish...even if it is purple!

Natasha is a single mother of a six-year-old son, Reynard. She works for the city of New Orleans’ water department and comes out on Saturdays to work on her home and receive her "sweat equity" hours. She can hardly control her enthusiasm for her new home. "I love it!"

The foundation for her house was poured last fall and we started working on framing it the first week of January. I’ve been working on it since that time and have been able to use some of the skills I learned while building the Morgantown house years ago and have acquired a mess of new skills – framing, roofing, siding, painting, trim work and block laying to name a few. Of more importance than learning some new building skills has been for me the opportunity to meet so many volunteers from around the country. A group from St. Mary’s College in California even bought Natasha a purple gazing ball when she said that she wanted one for her new backyard.

Natasha, on her front steps between Carol Vagnini and Bev, after a day of painting together. If you are wondering about the house number, when a new shipment of numbers arrives we'll add a 9 to make it 4904 Dale Street!

Charlie Charms New Orleans

Scott and Charlie headed back to the airport this morning after a quick, but delightful visit. We all missed having Sarah join us, but Charlie quickly warmed to having Grandma Bev and Granddaddy Keith chase him as he explored New Orleans. He competed with the street musicians in the French Quarter as he danced to their music, explored every playground we could find, and charmed everyone he met.

Watching "big boats" on the Mississippi, including the new USS New Orleans

Reading the history of New Orleans, lettter by letter

"We remembered the sunblock, Mommy!"

Sliding at Audubon Park where we also watched lots of herons and ducks

"I can eat by myself!"

Tongen's Visit

What a wonderful week we had with Megan, Anthony, Micah (almost 3) and Paul (5 months). Anthony and Keith kept busy working with Habitat and Megan joined them one day while Bev watched the boys. Unfortunately Paul didn't like sleeping here very well, so it made it hard for Megan to work as much as she wanted to, but Grandma Bev thought both of the boys were angels!

It's hard to limit the pictures of the fun we had during the week--finding alligators in the swamp, visiting Audubon Zoo, sliding at the playground in City Park, walking the neighborhood, enjoying beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde, watching the IMax film "Hurricane on the Bayou", eating fabulous meals in the French Quarter, browsing on Magazine Street, and listening to New Orleans music -- jazz at Preservation Hall, Zydeco at the Botanical Gardens, and Gypsy jazz at The Spotted Cat.

Keith and Anthony working hard on Dale Street in East New Orleans

Visiting Dad at the Habitat work site

Hiking at the Barataria Preserve of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve

Micah with his new girlfriend, Keith's cousin, Meg

Paul enjoying a beautiful day at City Park

Bush Visits New Orleans

Last week W spent a few hours in the city visiting a local charter school using the photo-op to tout the advantages of the charter school system. He neglected to mention that many of the city's public schools are still closed, 18 months after Katrina. Bush also repeated, for the umpteenth time, his commitment to the region’s recovery and rebuilding, despite his failure to even mention the region in his recent State of the Union speech. Further, his repeated claim that he worked with Congress to write a $110 billion check for Katrina recovery and rebuilding is quite misleading.

It is rarely mentioned, for example, that the funds for rebuilding the Gulf Coast are divided among five states after three hurricanes, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Of the total Congress appropriated, $59 billion is earmarked for the whole state of Louisiana and of that total, $14.7 is for insurance payments–payments to people who, over the years, have paid their premiums for Federal flood insurance. In addition $18 billion is mandated costs the Feds incurred in routine disaster relief–rescuing evacuating people, temporarily housing (FEMA trailers) and feeding them, providing medical care and all the other costs the government is faced with in any disaster, but not for rebuilding.

If we subtract from the total about $7.4 billion to finance the Road Home program, which is designed to help home owners rebuild, the remainder–about $19 billion by my figuring–is what the state of Louisiana has coming to it to rebuild schools, hospitals, public buildings (almost all of which in New Orleans were damaged), roads, bridges, ports and other parts of the infrastructure. How much of this will be available for New Orleans remains to be seen.

Folks in this town were hoping that Bush would do more than voice some tiresome platitudes. They hoped, if he was serious about really helping out, he would announce that he would direct FEMA to waive the 10 percent local cost-sharing requirement for Federal projects, something that was done immediately after 9/11 in New York and after hurricane Andrew in Florida.. The city has little money to meet this requirement, thus stymieing rebuilding. On this critical issue, not a word from this President.

"Why New Orleans Matters"

If you have the time to read only one book about New Orleans, I would like to recommend the one by Tom Piazza, Why New Orleans Matters, (ReganBooks, 2005). It’s a short, personal account of the author’s reasons for returning to his beloved city soon after Katrina and why he feels it’s so important for the whole country to support the city’s rebuilding. Even if you’ve never been to New Orleans, Piazza will help you understand the place, and maybe even convince you to come for a visit.

The future safety of New Orleans and all of southern Louisiana is linked with the survival of surrounding wetlands. Bev and I just finished a book titled Bayou Farewell with a subtitle: "The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast," (Vintage Books, 2003). The author–Mike Tidwell–has traveled extensively in Cajun country documenting the impact of the disappearing wetlands–disappearing at the rate of 25 square miles a year–on the lives of the people who live and work there. In addition, the author reminds his readers of the critical importance of wetlands in suppressing hurricane generated storm surges, a phenomenon well understood by folks all along the Gulf Coast.

I have been particularly interested, since coming to New Orleans, in learning how it happened that the levees failed to protect the city. To this end, I have read several accounts of why it was that hurricane Katrina, a category 3 or less hurricane, collapsed the levees and flooded 80 percent of the city. I’ll report on these books at a later time.

Medical Care in New Orleans

Eghteen months after Katrina, one of the many problems facing New Orleans is medical care. "The New Orleans region lost some 11 hospitals to Katrina and remains mired in a health care crisis." (Times-Picayune, March 2, 2007) Hospitals were destroyed, records were lost, medical offices were flooded, and healthcare providers lost their homes. There is only one full service hospital open in the city. So what happens when returning citizens (or a willing volunteer like Bev) get sick?

Over a week ago one of the Habitat staff happened to mention "that nasty Katrina cough." Almost on cue I came down with a bad chest cold and was in bed for several days feeling wretched. One of my worries was whether we'd even be able to find medical help if we really needed it. Finally last Wednesday we tracked down a recently opened, walk-in medical clinic where I was seen quickly and professionally. Whether Katrina cough exists or not, I have acute bronchitis and am on the mend, perhaps just from knowing that there IS medical help available in New Orleans.

Each day on the news there are bright spots--the LSU dental clinic is almost ready to reopen, finally a trama center has reopened in a totally new facility, and a woman in the Lower 9th Ward rebuilt her home as a free health clinic which opened this week--but there is a long way to go in the recovery of medical care. Until there is adequate housing for doctors, nurses, and hospital staff, it will be a slow road.