Katrina Update #80Katrina Update #80New Orleans seems to have settled into a new routine that is a gumbo of old, established behavior and new, improvised activities born out of necessity. Looking back, there is an odd mix of changed/not changed in this city since Katrina swept through exactly 11 months ago today. Like a sentinel, the abandoned red Chevy Corsica sits on the street, one house down, as it has since the day we returned to the city, October 3, 2005. It's presence is a constant reminder that normal is a relative term here in New Orelans. What was normal is no more, and what might be normal for us here in uptown is a far cry from those whose homes are still undergoing repairs, or worse, still waiting to be gutted or demolished.
This red Chevy Corsica has been on the street near our house since we got back in October
You'd think a government that can send aid to Lebanon and spend over $5 billion per month fighting a war overseas could do better by its own people. Imagine what $5 billion per month could have done here! We'd see no more debris, no abandoned cars, no homes that needed to be gutted or torn down. New Orleans would be far from rebuilt, but it would be so much farther from shambles.
Yet, tremendous progress has been made. Adam came uptown to our house for a visit last night and, when I took him home, I was thrilled to see how vibrant the Faubourg Marigny was with activity. The Marigny is a more bohemian than other areas of the city. Since it is closer to the river, it took on less flooding. In post-Katrina New Orleans the rents there, while still high by pre-Katrina standards, are more affordable. Artists whose success in either their craft or their income level have claimed the area as their own, and it shows through the creativity exhibited in the appearance of the homes and the variety of shops and restaurants that have opened there. On this hot, humid evening in late July, people were walking around, going from dinner to a club, enjoying life in New Orleans. For these people, the city that care forgot was just that for a few brief hours.
A home in the "Marigny"
The French Quarter, while not quite back to normal in terms of the business it is bringing in, is holding its own. Coop's Place is enjoying one of its best summer's ever — with crowds of people coming in for dinner that sometimes rival that of Mardi Gras. Cary reports that daytime business on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (usually so slow you can read War and Peace more than once during the summer months), has had steady business.
On the home front, the graffiti on our front sidewalk that I mentioned in Update #35 has started to fade. It has become a symbol for how time blurs and softens one's memories.
Our "Sidewalk Graffiti" just after we returned on October 3, 2005 (left) and today (right)
But even as the graffiti fades, there are other, more vibrant signs of life. Our "Katrina" pepper plant is about to give us some more peppers, and it even surprised us with an offspring – which took up residence in the same pot as one of our pineapple plants!
Our "Katrina" Pepper Plant and our new Pepper Plant inside the pineapple plant's pot
Boat ownership is a relatively new experience for me. Boating isn't that new, but I never had to worry about the more finite points of boat ownership. Before the storm it was fairly easy. Call the marina, they take the boat out of the shed, and put it in the water. Go fishing. Marina takes the boat out of the water, you hose it down and then they put it back in the shed. Simple.
As you may recall from Update #23 and from my Galleries page, the sheds where the boat was kept are gone. I reported in Update #54 how I received a call in mid-December that the mechanic from A-1 Outboards had hauled my boat out from the marina the week before Katrina hit, and it was spared. He took it to Poplarville, MS to fix the motor. Janis and I picked it up on our way back from Atlanta the first part of June. Since the sheds aren't there anymore, Jaclyn is allowing us to keep the boat at her house until they are rebuilt.
So for all you out there who own a boat or might be thinking about buying a boat, let me tell you how it has gone so far. Go ahead and laugh - this one's on me.
I had one rule: until I can afford to put a new trolling motor on the boat, anyone that goes fishing with me must be willing to row. OK, two rules: I actually will not go fishing alone until I have a trolling motor, either. With that in mind, Jason Palmer and I set out mid-day on June 27th. This trip was intended to be just a boat ride to make sure the motor was working OK, but we brought the fishing polls with "just in case." We stopped on the way to gas up the boat and buy some sodas. We were all set for an afternoon on the water.
The hoist at the marina was not operational, so we had to launch the boat. Easy right? Well, yeah - sort of. I backed the trailer down the ramp and we gently allowed the boat to float off – and begin filling with water. Jason says "uh, Chuck - the boat's filling with water." I reply "that can't be good" and immediately start cranking it back onto the trailer - no small task, as its weight had now increased quite a bit. We pulled the boat back out and only then noticed that all the plugs were missing from the back of the boat. For the uninitiated, these plugs are designed to keep the boat seaworthy while in use, but then to allow any accumulated water that may have splashed into the boat to drain once it is back out of the water.
"Why didn't you check to make sure the plugs were there before you got to the marina?" you may ask. This goes back to my lack of experience as a boat owner. All I had to do in the past was just get in the boat. The plugs were never an issue. Yes, we took them out to drain the boat after we got back on land, but then we put them back in again so we wouldn't lose them. (Remember, the boat used to be stored in a shed. This is a key point you need to keep in mind for later.) Apparently, the plugs had been removed by someone. Either someone else needed them (and by all means, if they needed them to escape rising waters in another boat, they were welcome to them), or perhaps the mechanic took them out and forgot to put them back. We also noticed, at this point, that the oars, fish grabber, and fish net were also missing. Hmmm... So it was just as well we didn't make it out.
So we headed back towards New Orleans. On the way, we stopped by Tim's Marine and picked up 6 new plugs and put them in the boat. We returned the boat to Jaclyn's yard and made our way home. I also had a shopping list: 2 new oars, fish grabber, net, and "duck" pole - so named because it is a pole with "feet" that look like a duck's that can help you out of mud or off a bank.
Feet from a "Duck Pole"
Two weeks later – and with oars and net from Wal-Mart in hand (they were out of fish grabbers and I didn't see a duck pole), I am headed out to Breton Sound Marina again, this time with Jason and Cary. Once again, the purpose of this trip is to primarily to try out the motor, but if we happen to catch a fish or two, all the better.
When we arrive at Jaclyn's to pick up the boat. I notice the boat has quite a bit of water in it. Now, remember, I am used to the boat being in a shed when not in the water. So everything is new to me about this boat care stuff. It did not take me more than a moment to realize that those plugs are just as good at keeping rainwater in the boat as they are at keeping seawater out. So the plugs come out and we wait until the water drains out, replace the plugs, and then we are off.
We arrive at Breton Sound Marina and once again the hoist was down, so we launched the boat. No problem. (Yes, it floated this time.) Before loading it up with our gear I did think to start the motor. It started right up and purred like a kitten. Quieter than I remember it being, as well. Again, our "rule of thumb" was to not travel out farther than we were willing to row. So we started out in Lena Lagoon, which is not too far from the marina, then took the boat up Bayou la Loutre to Engineer's Canal. Cary managed to catch a couple of baby trout, but that was about it.
Jason and Cary by the boat after Excursion #2
But the day was a success. Although we didn't bring home any fish, we did verify a). the boat was seaworthy and b). the motor worked like a charm. We returned to New Orleans and park the boat back at Jaclyn's house. This time I remember to pull the plugs in the back.
We are so ready to catch fish this trip. The Tide Prediction Sever says this is a perfect "10" - you only get a few of those each year, so it's best not to waste them. They can't predict the weather, obviously, but all other factors that can be predicted say July 27th would be a perfect day to catch fish. This time, Cary and Adam are with me - which make it all the better. I'll go fishing with anyone at just about anytime, if I can, but going out with your kids - well, that's just "all that" as they say down here. The tide would be coming up all day, with high tide happening at about 4:30 PM. So we head out of New Orleans for Breton Sound Marina at about 6 AM.
Did I mention this boat ownership thing is a bit new to me? Maybe I did. It was suggested that perhaps checking to make sure the motor started before leaving New Orleans would be a smart thing to do (hey, I remembered to put the plugs in!). Of course, this suggestion came after we had the boat in the water (the hoist was working) and put all our gear on board. The motor wanted to turn over so bad, but there just wasn't enough juice to do it. This seemed odd because, like a car, the motor charges the battery while it is running, and we ran the motor quite a bit the last time out. Also, it had sat for a month or more before we were able to start up the motor for the first time, and it started like a charm. No dice this time.
The marina had a battery charger, and they hooked us up. After a few minutes, we were off, running up and down a nearby canal to charge up the battery. We then came back to the marina, shut off the motor for a few minutes and started it up again. We repeated this a couple more times, and then - sure the battery was charged, took off, confident the fish were ready to jump in the boat and filet themselves at this point.
I really need to learn how to fish with live bait. Once again, Cary out-fished us all, getting one baby Redfish in the boat that had to be thrown back. We have been told for years that live bait is the way to go, and I am becoming a believer. But while out fishing with Coop or Doc we always seemed to come home with fish caught with artificial lures, no matter what time of year it was (I've been told live bait works better except during winter, when artificial seems to work better).
Again, not wanting to get far from the marina without a secondary means of getting back (other than rowing) we kept to what we knew that was close by. One of the people at the marina suggested we go out to "The Rocks" which is an area where the MRGO meets the Gulf of Mexico. That's a 17 mile drive out of the marina. He said if we get stuck out there, it would be much more likely to get a tow back in than if we were out in the marsh somewhere. Maybe he was right.
We fished a couple of places in the bayou, and then, with the motor starting up without problems, went over to Lena Lagoon as the high tide was approaching. Lena is a place Coop and I have had good luck, once having a double-hook-up and catching two large redfish at the same time. But it is shallow, so you have to be there during high tide or you can get stuck. we got there about Noon. High tide was not until 4:30, but the water would be coming up all day and I was familiar enough with it to know where not to go. We went back into the lagoon a little bit and just drifted around, casting into the still water near the marsh banks. A couple of bites, maybe, but no takers. So we started to head back when I got this brainstorm that we would go in and fish the area where Coop and I caught those two big ones. There would have to be fish in there, right?
Nope. And then the motor wouldn't start. Dead battery.
We tried hooking up the other battery for the trolling motor (since the mechanic said he charged that up as well) but that was even deader than the other one. This is not, to my thinking, that big a deal. We are well within rowing distance of the marina (which is probably 2-3 miles away), and I know I could use the workout. So we start rowing.
To our right, which is North, we hear the distant clap of thunder and we can see where rain clouds have formed. Fortunately, the wind is out of the south and getting rained on is not something we need to worry about, although some additional cloud cover to protect us a bit from the mid-day sun wouldn't be all bad. But the bad thing about the stormy weather to our North is that it lowers the temperature in that area. The difference in temperature causes the wind to pick up as the hot air rushes towards the colder air. We want to go straight west to the MRGO, then just a bit (less than a half mile) south to get to the bayou where the marina is located. The wind would have nothing of that. Despite our best efforts, we are blown into a marsh bank in the middle of Lena Lagoon. We have rowed maybe a mile from our original position at this point and can go no further.
So we sit for awhile and review our options. Let's see if we can flag down a passing boat. Try as we might, the only boats that pass by are either too far away, or traveling in the MRGO and they don't look in our direction. I stand up in the boat and survey our surroundings. I notice that in the middle of this marsh bank we have been plastered against by the wind is a small pool of stagnant, algae covered water. As the tide comes up, it will blow us into the middle of that, making it much more difficult for us to be towed out. So we begin pushing against the marsh bank, inching our way forward towards a point, where, once rounded, it will be easier to move along the bank and eventually into open water - where we will be blown further from where we want to be, but will at least be more in a position to be towed out.
We do have a flare gun and we decide to shoot one off. It doesn't go very far or very high, so we decide that's an option that would have to wait until closer to dark if we want to be seen. (Hopefully we won't still be stranded then.) We don't want to waste them all now.
Sometime between 1:30 and 2 PM I decide to try my cell phone (normally it doesn't work out there). I stand on the bow of the boat and hold the phone above my head. A signal! Trying not to move too much I reach up and dial 911 and press send and turn on the speaker phone. I get the 911 operator, explain our situation, and she says "hold on while I connect you with the Coast Guard." I get connected to the coast guard, who then connects me to the New Orleans station.
"Do you have your life jackets on?" Yes, I say while motioning to Cary and Adam to put on the life jackets and hand me one.
"Is anyone in need of medical attention?" No.
"Do you have plenty of food and water?" I wonder momentarily if this means spending the night on the boat, but shrug it off and say yes, because, in fact, we had plenty of water, some beer, some Fritos, and one sandwich.
The Coast Guard explains in pretty lengthy detail that they would notify the station in Venice (which was closest to our location) and put out a Marine Distress call to see if a nearby boater could come to our rescue. This means if the Coast Guard actually has to come get us, it would be at least 2 to 3 hours.
I think it was about this time that Cary shouts out "Wilson!"
Shortly after this time, another sport fisherman and his wife come into the lagoon (not in response to the distress call, but to go fishing). The three of us stand up in the boat, wearing our life jackets, and start waving our arms and jumping up and down. We get their attention and they come in (three orange blobs flaying about in the distance, go figure). We throw them a rope and they tow us back to Breton Sound Marina. They were from Baton Rouge and they have a free meal coming on me if they ever show up at Coop's Place.
I have a new shopping list now.
With the boat back on the trailer, we head in to Tim's Marina, where I make an appointment to have a new trolling motor put on the boat. The waiting list is long - 1 to 2 months. But it will be worth it (and give me plenty of time to charge up those batteries). In the meantime, we are planning a boat cleaning party at Jaclyn's house. Now that we know the motor works, I don't feel so bad about putting a little more money into it. Although I am constantly reminded of what my friend Keith once told me "A boat is a hole in the water into which all your money is poured."
So we are all sore and sunburned, but to tell you the truth, spending the day on the water Thursday with my kids still beat the heck out of sitting behind the computer all day - problems and all.
- I got an email this week from Max Wage, who is a good friend of ours and who we kid as being Kenzi's heterosexual lifemate. I'd like to share a portion of it with you:
I hope this note find you and family well. I emailed janis when she was is the hospital but for some strange reason the message never got to her, or at least AT&T tells me that and who am I to mess with the company that was told to disband because it was a monopoly many years ago and now they are buying all the old companies back. Now that makes perfect sense. Glad to hear that janis is feeling stronger with each day and hopefully she will get her "sea legs" back again. I still laugh about her sea legs and how she f**ked up her a and b legs. [A joke I once made in regards to Janis breaking both her legs at the same time. - Chuck] As I read your updates, I can almost hear you telling me the same story and makes me wish that I was down there again.
The situation here has not changed. The monkeys are not speaking and Kenzi has told me that he has often wanted to call and talk to Bonnie he does not want to stir up the problem all over again. I would have thought that as close as Kenzi and Dan were that one of them would pick up the phone. But then maybe you are right. maybe it was a Dan problem.
I want to be very candid with you Chuck, because I consider you a friend and always will, but I think banishing the whole football team for the actions of one or two players is not always the best route to take. You said in your email that unless the three of them can "fix" things up here then no one was welcome. So what if that never happens? The only winner here is bonnie who you say was not responsible for her actions and Kenzi who you wrote was also not responsible leaving the entire blame on Dan, who should strap on a pair.
I believe now and I did then that Dan just went along to keep peace. The decision sucked. They could have left and got a room. Dan could have said to shut your friggin mouth and go to sleep but he didn't. He just took the easy route and left and the rest is history. Five months have passed and so far no one is speaking. I would wish that things were different but they're not. But then maybe I am wrong. With the time that has passed and the lack of communication, maybe the monkeys weren't as close as I thought.
Now another hurricane season is upon us. I hope that you will be safe and at some point things will get back to as normal as things in New Orleans can ever be. Janis, take care of yourself. You will be back to partying soon. Just hang in there and Chuck, keep the updates coming, I look forward to them and be safe my friends.
I have been asked, on occasion, if I have spoken to Dan or Kenzi since Mardi Gras. And I answer honestly: no I haven't, except for one business-related exchange back in March. In Update #65 I summarized what happened, and, after re-reading that I stand by what I said then:
So here's the deal (since I know they will read this): they have issues with each other, not me. Dan and Kenzi have been friends since high school. They can make nothing up to me without first making things right between themselves. What matters to me most now is that they figure out how to not make this happen ever again. If that means some kind of doctor-prescribed medication to bolster their coping mechanism, then so be it. Once that happens, they can start figuring out how to make things right with me. Not before.
Yes, they owe me an apology, but that's it. And I won't accept it until they make nice to each other. THAT'S what I, as a friend, can do for them. But Max is right about one thing. I may have been a bit more harsh to them privately than I was publicly. I have told many people in the past few months that either Dan or Kenzi are welcome here any time they want to come. But not together. At this point it seems unlikely, but I really don't want to play referee between two adults that are supposed to be friends. Their issues are still theirs to work out, even now. But in the meantime, either are welcome to come visit without the other.
- It still amazes me how our tale of two cities (the "haves" and the "have nots") is also a tale of crime and not crime. The areas of the city that tourists are likely to frequent are relatively crime free, but the areas on the fringes of the "sliver by the river" outwards towards the lake have literally become infested with drug dealers, gangs. Last night, at about 9:30, four more people were shot to death and another was found this morning around 4AM. Earlier this week I was reading an article online about a rash of killings in Seattle. I was shocked to learn that Seattle - a city one-third larger than New Orleans pre-Kartina, and over twice the size post-Katrina - has a murder rate that is less than one-tenth that of New Orleans! I understand that some elevated levels of crime are to be expected in any major port city, but that just seems ridiculous.
There are some dangerous - and very politically incorrect - observations I could make here in comparing the two cities. But in the end, all that really matters is that New Orleans has to get hold of this somehow. At the risk of alienating those of you who weren't turned off by my uncharacteristically strong opposition to the smoking ban, here's a thought: make New Orleans a gun-free city.
Again, with apologies to Dennis Miller: I don't want to go off on a rant here but...
<rant>
It seems to me there are a couple of "inconceivable truths" out there that many people just don't want to grapple with. One is global warming. It is real, it is happening, and even scientists who previously came out against it are now moving over to the global warming camp - but that's another rant. The other inconceivable truth is about guns.
No one wants to face up to the fact that guns are just plain bad. Guns kill people. Our forefathers intended our right to bear arms as providing us with the ability to protect ourselves against incursion from another country, or even, if necessary, so we can rise up against our own government. Come now, be honest: do you really think there are enough people in the U.S. with enough weaponry to overthrow our government? (Well, on second thought, maybe – we can't seem to win in Iraq). More to the point, in this day and age can you even imagine a coup taking place – much less succeeding - in these United States? I can't.
When I was a kid, there was a popular bumper sticker that I think was put out by the National Rifle Association. It said "When Guns Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Guns." Someday, I am going to reprint that bumper sticker, but it will look like this:
The point being that it would be so much easier to tell the good guys from the bad guys if the only good guys with guns also had badges. It also makes everyone safer. If you have a gun, you go away. PERIOD. Now, I know about the constitution - but I maintain one thing: at the time the constitution was written, this country was under serious threat of being invaded by all sorts of other entities. The early history of this country is riddled with conflict with England (and Canada, who fought under the British flag), France, Spain, Mexico, etc. Our forefathers wrote that "right to bear arms" clause specifically so we can use firearms against an aggressor who would threaten the sovereignty of the nation. They never intended we should use them against each other.
Like with my stance on smoking, it comes down to choice, people. Years ago Salmon Rushdie and Ted Nugent appeared on a talk show together - I forget which one. What I will never forget, however, was how Ted Nugent interrupted Salmon Rushdie when he was discussing how guns should be altogether banned, as they are in many other countries. Ted stood up, grabbed the chair he was sitting in and raised it over his head and said "look, I could kill you with this chair – does that mean all chairs should be banned?" Salmon very calmly looked at him and said "the purpose of a chair is to be sat upon, it is not for killing, although, as you point out it could be used for such - as could many things. The purpose of a gun is to kill something. It has no other purpose."
And that is why it comes down to choice. If you swing a chair at me, or wield a knife, I have choices I can make. I can swerve out of the way, I can fight back. I can run like hell (and probably would). But if you shoot a gun at me, I have very little choice in my future. At that moment the amount of time I have left to live is pretty much up to how good an aim you are. It doesn't present me with a fair opportunity to either defend myself or run like hell.
"But Chuck," you say "if you had a gun you can defend yourself against those who have guns." This, on a bigger scale, is MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction. Except on that smaller scale I will always be at a disadvantage. The shooter will always more likely have more experience than I at shooting a gun, making him a better aim and me less likely of seeing the next sunrise.
"But Chuck," you say "you could take lessons in marksmanship." True, but not everyone is going to do that. What's next? Make marksmanship a prerequisite for gun ownership so you can make sure the innocent are adequately prepared to protect themselves? This takes us down all sorts of slippery slopes.
The only real solution to this problem is to meet it head on. Like global warming, we are reaching the tipping point. Something must be done and soon. I think New Orleans is as good a place to start as any. I would like to conclude this rant with the following: in war, one of the first objectives in minimizing the loss of lives in your armed forces is to send in an advance strike and take out the enemy's ability to hit you. Israel did this during the past week by taking out Hezbollah missile launchers in Lebanon. Isn't it about time we disarmed criminals? And it seems the only effective way to do that is simply to make it illegal for anyone to have a gun. Have a gun, go to jail. It's that simple.
I have nothing against guns. I agree, guns don't kill people - people kill people. But giving someone a gun increases the odds someone is going to die. By default, it increases the odds an innocent person is going to die. That is simply too great a price to pay.
Outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns. That is exactly what I want. Makes them much easier to identify.
</rant>
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