Couple of Coffees

Listen to the locals

Eileen, who toured us around New Orleans, and Joanna, her daughter, have commented on the New Orleans in New Brunswick post earlier this month. Check it out. They both wrote eloquently about the importance of spreading the word about the city, the continuing devastation and how it's important for visitors to keep coming. Joanna grew up there and I remember her telling us she tries to not look around when she drives to and from college, because it's just too much to see every day.

Thanks for sharing your perspectives, Joanna and Eileen. There will be more, as I've said, whether it's in blog form or essay form. I have a pile of notes, waiting to coalesce into an essay. I can't tell you how much it meant to me and Jonathan to meet you guys and spend time with you, seeing the flooding aftermath in a way we'd never be able to as visitors. It's been the biggest thing on our trip, the one that has shaped our perspective and thoughts and conversation more than any other place we've visited in the last month and a half. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The good news is people are interested in what's happening in New Orleans. They want to know what we've seen and to see our photographs. And some of them have had children or friends go there for vacation or weddings recently, so that's positive. In Oxford, Mississippi, we met a guy wearing a "Make levees, not war" shirt, and he said his friend in New Orleans makes them. You can check out his business here.

Eileen and Joanna, any thoughts for the people reading this blog about what else they can do? We don't have a huge audience, but people are reading, and they know other people who know other people.

posted by Laura the Writer @ 10:48 AM