Will Paint for Gumbo

Gizzard, sausage, baby crab, shrimp, and all the spice New Orleans has to offer. These are the ingredients of Norma White's gumbo. We spent the day painting the gutters and trim under the roof of Ms. White’s house, and were graciously rewarded with this regional treat.

Driving around the Lower 9th Ward, where Ms. White lives, empty lots are marked with cinder blocks and shattered glass, remnants of the houses that once existed here. In front of most construction sites are FEMA trailers; and lining the streets are piles of garbage.

I have felt numb to it all. We emptied Ms. White's birdbath today and filled it with clean water for the first time since Katrina, dumping out a toxic-smelling combination of mud, sewage, oil, and water.

What will this scene be like a year from now?

Annie Slezickey

March 27, 2008 @ 10:49 AM