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Memories Underwater
Sep. 1st, 2005 09:45 pmAs the surreal bad news continues to unfold about the Gulf Coast and the damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina I (like a lot of people, I imagine) can't help but consider my own memories in the present context.
I've only been to New Orleans a couple times in my life, but they've been memorable visits. There's a unique character to the city; Christopher aptly described it as "Scorpio" — sex and death, decadence and decay but also a certain frenetic energy. I can't help but think of the places we went and saw only months ago (our last visit to the city was this past May): Jackson Square, St. Louis Cemetery, Congo Square, Bourbon St., all of it under water.
I particularly remember looking at one of the flood levees then and thinking about the idea that New Orleans is basically a giant bowl surrounded by water. Imagine if one of these broke... Now we don't have to imagine, but it's still difficult to imagine. It's hard to wrap my head around the possbility that New Orlean may never be the same again, that future generations will go on tours where the phrase "in the great flood of 2005" will be a regular occurrance. Like the Chicago Fire or the San Francisco Earthquake, the New Orleans Flood will enter the great roll call of national disasters. Gods willing, the city will survive, its people will rebuild.
Even more surreal than seeing images of the drowned city and thinking to myself "Wow, I've been there" of course is the other thought that occurred to me not long after the images began showing up on the news: "But what happened to all the vampires? Man, they must be screwed."
But hey, that's my geek life.
I've only been to New Orleans a couple times in my life, but they've been memorable visits. There's a unique character to the city; Christopher aptly described it as "Scorpio" — sex and death, decadence and decay but also a certain frenetic energy. I can't help but think of the places we went and saw only months ago (our last visit to the city was this past May): Jackson Square, St. Louis Cemetery, Congo Square, Bourbon St., all of it under water.
I particularly remember looking at one of the flood levees then and thinking about the idea that New Orleans is basically a giant bowl surrounded by water. Imagine if one of these broke... Now we don't have to imagine, but it's still difficult to imagine. It's hard to wrap my head around the possbility that New Orlean may never be the same again, that future generations will go on tours where the phrase "in the great flood of 2005" will be a regular occurrance. Like the Chicago Fire or the San Francisco Earthquake, the New Orleans Flood will enter the great roll call of national disasters. Gods willing, the city will survive, its people will rebuild.
Even more surreal than seeing images of the drowned city and thinking to myself "Wow, I've been there" of course is the other thought that occurred to me not long after the images began showing up on the news: "But what happened to all the vampires? Man, they must be screwed."
But hey, that's my geek life.
