Elvis has left the Parish

Elvis has left the Parish
Originally uploaded by ellis_earl.

Lunch in New Orleans… well, almost

Yesterday I spent the day at Disneyland celebrating Mother’s Day with my wife and daughter. We went to New Orleans Square and spoke to a musician playing there who turned out to be from Mandeville, LA! A nice older black man who said his Aunt’s had lost their home when trees fell on it. We talked for a bit and then headed over to a café for lunch.

Being in New Orleans Square always makes us think of the real thing and we decided to call Mom and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. The call went well until she told my wife that, “Tomorrow the house comes down.” It turns out that my aunt went to a meeting in St. Bernard and the authorities said that all the houses would be demolished on Alexander St… and also 1832 Benjamin St. as well.

By the time I post this the house should be on it’s way. My oldest sister went by there yesterday and saw the cranes and trucks parked along Alexander St. I’ve been scanning the net but haven’t seen any pics yet. It’s kinda’ funny that after all this time and two visits to New Orleans (more on that later) when I heard the news of the demolition my stomach turned and I felt a bit nauseous. My Mom says she and my sister might go down there in a week or so to see if the house is really gone. When my sister went to the Old House yesterday she said she got mad when she found someone had looted the stove top for scrap. We Parishites are protective of our garbage!

And as we strolled New Orleans Square I got a bit of that sorrowful feeling I get when I realize again what has become of the Old Neighborhood. I’m still sad to see it go.

The following post I’ve had for three weeks now but couldn’t get up any energy to post it as it seemed so thin and inconsequential. Well, here it is anyway. I’ll hammer on an extra P.S. to get it current and post any picks of the “Park Arabi” groundbreaking ASAP. - Earl


“We Open”

Well, just returned from The “Not So’ Big Easy anymore. Saw a lot of activity on the streets in terms of workers repairing everything from streetlights to the cable supports for the St. Charles Ave. streetcars. All in all things ARE moving forward at a good pace. Saw signs everywhere stating “Help Wanted” and a curious “We Open.” The Quarter seems just about “normal” now, trash on the sidewalks n’ all. It seems that the ruined neighborhoods will be rebuilt better than before The Storm but The Quarter will remain it’s old filthy self.

Spent most of our time in Mandeville, stayed at my sister’s house with my parents. They are doing well and enjoying the central air and good plumbing. My daughter liked the wild birds and I liked driving the Causeway and watching the pelicans. We even found a great sushi restaurant! Mandeville is looking up. Upscale stores everywhere. Way too many tall trees on her property though. Gonna’ try to get her to cut them down before June 1. As for Da’ Parish though…

Wow! Wow, with weeds. Since the old neighborhood has so far held off the bulldozers I decided to take my wife down to Arabi to see (and smell) The Old House. I think she finally understands my aversion to clutter. As we topped the bridge over the canal… wow, its still a shock to see the devastation, six months later. At least the plants are growing back, the last time I visited everything was dead grey.

We picked up a few souvenirs and took a photo of us with the Condemmed sign pasted to the door of the Old House. One funny note, we overturned my Mom’s bed to look for any jewelry we might have missed. No jewelry but about two hundred pounds of Mardi Gras beads! I wish I had a picture for the blog. Beads, beads everywhere.

We also ran into two former neighbors and caught up on things. One was getting wrought iron chairs for his mother. He really didn’t want to be there but said that if he didn’t go to Arabi and get the stuff his 79 year old Mom would, and he was afraid she would fall and hurt herself. The other neighbor was with her kids running some errands in New Orleans and just couldn’t stay away. I must admit that The Old Neighborhood holds a morbid sway over my mind as well.

Now if you go down there you’re greeted with a green ghost town. There are more people, believe it or not, LIVING in Arabi! They sit in cheap plastic chairs and watch the tourists, video cameras thrust from rental car windows, gawk through their “neighborhood.” The look on the residents faces isn’t as much defiance as just a kinda’ pathetic haze. I don’t envy them their location come this hurricane season.

If you’re out of town and need cheering up go to Louisiana Speaks and download the latest drawings for the proposed New Arabi. I hope they really can do it. And, yes, I know the water should be drawn in brown, not blue. How about chocolate brown?

Anyway, the highlight of our trip was a visit to my cousin’s place just across the border in Mississippi. Fish, horses, chickens, snakes, lizards, and uninvited turtles, she has it all (and on a lake to boot). My daughter loved collecting the chicken’s eggs and having her papa paddle her about the lake. My cousin even put on a puppet show complete with original music and lyrics. When it came time to leave, my daughter had to be dragged away.

Of course they lost power during The Storm and had to bath and wash clothes in the lake for a while, but all is well now. My cousin is hosting her parents until her brother can complete a home with room for them. Her husband even built a good, solid porch in front of their FEMA trailer, complete with table and chairs and the best view of the property. They even retrieved the street numbers from their old house on Benjamin St. in Arabi and put them up. We plan to return as soon as possible. It was a great visit hosted by a close and loving family.

As to the coming hurricane season and “rebuilding,’ who knows? What with the blame game in full swing and denial at its zenith, who can tell what will become of New Orleans? When Willie Nagin makes a runoff and 1.5” of rain burns out three huge pumps… get your rubbers out. Already the weather is threatening.

What will eventually become of New Noo Orlins… who knows? But I do believe It will be better, albeit with trash on the sidewalks. Until then when I think of New Orleans I’ll keep one phrase in mind, “We open.”

P.S. – Just read my oldest Sister’s Katrina Story, written on her computer at work. A concise and moving account of how she and my parents “escaped” Uptown and how they eventually made it back to town (Sis in her old apartment and my parents in Mandeville). Reading it really brought back the emotion of the time and the fear of not knowing if anyone had lived through the flood. I really don’t understand the pull of new Orleans, especially now when most of it is a wreck.

I did read some disturbing news on an Arabi news site, http://www.topix.net/city/arabi-la, regarding an increase in depression in children, the reason I first started this blog. I can’t stress enough the possible ill effects of returning children to neighborhoods that have been destroyed. Their fear of future flooding and possible drowning is rational and reasonable. Katrina wasn’t Betsy. In some neighborhoods it was Hell on Earth. Bodies are still being found in the rubble. If you know of children who are showing signs of depression or anxiety disorders PLEASE, I beg you, seek professional help immediately. A little book on “coping with return” just won’t cut it. Katrina was a horrible event that I fear will have long-reaching effects on the young of New Orleans. If you are returning and bringing kids please build higher and drier. Please build safer and better than before. Please have an evacuation plan of you own. People, especially kids, need hope to cope. Don’t drown your worries in booze and jazz, ensure the safety of your family by planning ahead.

As for me I think I have finally hit the Compassion Fatigue wall and will just wait and see what this hurricane season brings. Honestly and somewhat ashamedly I really don’t care that much about New Orleans’s future anymore. My family lived through it and at a base level that is what means the most to me. Those who moved away are staying away and those who have returned are dead set on evacuating if need be.


-Earl

P.P.S.- 17th St. Canal levee fails before being topped by flood waters… New higher levee protecting destroyed 9th ward threatens New Orleans proper… Times Picayunne gets Pulitzers for printing false stories and outright lies (and scaring all of us worrying for the safety of our missing families)… Levee repairs not ready for the start of hurricane season… no coherent evacuation plan. Vote accordingly

Oh, and I got a phone call from Moml last night. My Aunt and Uncle visited the Old Neighborhood to check the progress of the demolition. There house will go next week... like Elvis, our old house has left the Parish.

There, up to date. -Earl