Revisiting New Orleans

The warm south feels like an entirely different world when compared to the undying blizzard that I call home. Green grass, patches of purple flowers, and blue skies are a welcome sight to my sore Chicago eyes. The sight of spring and the sun's warmth heightens my anticipation of rolling into New Orleans after two days on the road. We travel alongside Lake Pontchatrain - difficult to spell as it is to pronounce, but beautiful nonetheless. The city of New Orleans peeks over the horizon, and I lean forward in my chair, full of energy. I whimsically anticipate improvement: a city changed and renewed since my last time here in spring of 2006. How can there be anything but some touch up work since two years ago?

We weave in and out of the streets and neighborhoods of this once-thriving city, and all at once the sights and sounds of my previous trip return. Vacant restaurants, shattered stores, and gutted houses. Rubble, trash, watermarks. The constant buzz of saws, whistling wind, echoes of hammers hitting nails. New Orleans remains a devastated city. Despite my wishful thinking, there is still an overwhelming amount of work left to be done. Since my first ReachOut meeting, the group has reiterated that New Orleans still needs help, so that's why I came back. Our upcoming week of relief work will be a small drop in the ocean, but every drop is vital to the life of New Orleans. This city now thrives on hope, making it all the more wonderful in spite of its ruin.

Caleb Hepler

March 25, 2008 @ 7:05 AM