Reality

OK. So after the reaction to last night's multi-posts, here are some more. This morning we were invited up by Carlton Dufrechou of Lake Ponchartrain Basin Foundation who squeezed us into his busy schedule and really laid out for us what is at stake down here in New Orleans. Then we accidentally wandered into a Prayer meeting in St. Bernard parish. Expressions changed. I have not heard so little sound on the vanride back. Look at the expressions. Listen to what they say.

hey

red leader here (shane) so we rocked out really hard today, we totally took today by storm, we got an interview first thing this morning then got some good footage of levies and just happend to end up in the 9th ward. when we arrived in the ninth ward we stop at a christain relief concert by a church from north carolina, there we got one more interview with a man who stated "if something is not done he is coming back and raising hell" even though none of our phoenominal group is christain we were all moved and we sang along and prayed along and let our selfs free, after we left the concert we went to see the town that got destroyed and it was worse then u can even think, it really just emotionally hit us hard, so hard that we thought twice about getting out and walking around. even though new orleans rocks i wouldnt reccomend people who are not really emotionally strong to visit destruction areas because it will totally take you to a different world. well we are heading home tommarrow and we are sad to leave but we will; well at least i wont ever forget the things we seen and the people we met. here is another quote for you to think about "stay strong and remember that the worst kind of destruction is not from a hurricane but is self destruction" stay strong and wee will see you soon


miss every 1 at home see you soon


red leader out







I haven't read what everyone else wrote tonight, so I am sorry if I just restate the common thread of ideas. Last night I wrote that the destruction we saw was very different from tv. That was true, but I had no idea how true. Today we saw the real thing. I was completely silent for so long. I was shocked to the point where I was hesitant to leave, and would still be there if the crew was not moving on. Of all the things that I saw, One thing stood out. Amongst things such as 12 wheeled trucks sideways in houses, broken pipes with water flowing out of them, linoleum floors with no houses on top of them, piles and piles of garbage with 45 speed records all over, Iron fences with a sculpture of a butterfly affixed to it. One thing really caught my attention. After getting out of the car and walking away from the rest of the crew, I found in the middle of a sidewalk a stuffed tyrranosaurus rex toy from Jurassic park. "No cookie nibbled by a french novelist could send one so suddenly into the past." - Billy Collins

Anyways, the crazy thing about it was that it was personal. Something that I have never gotten from a news report is personality. When I saw this very simple little toy, I could imagine the young, innocent little child who once played with it.
I could see that his family may have not had as much money as the people who lived up on higher ground. I could see that most likely he was african american. Grasping the fact that this situation had a lot to do with race is intensely difficult for me. It seemed clear to me that this entire area that I was walking through was a black neighborhood. What bothered me even more was to know that the future of New Orleans may very well have even more to do with race than it's past. There is not much that I can say about that. It just itches my brain. I wish so hard that it wasn't a coincedence that that little boy probably had darker skin than some little boy, just as innocent, living in the french quarter that was practically untouched, at least by the surge.



Then again, what can I say. I only wish that it wouldn't matter. I only hope that I was wrong, and that that neighborhood was not only for african americans.



It is something that you could think about forever and never know the answer to.



Love to all, I still miss you.



-Grasshopper




Willow Thorneater reporting from the borders of the wastes of anfauglith.


I don't really want to talk about it. It makes you think.