That was a neat way to spend the day . . .

We left quite early yesterday morning for a trip with son and wife to Shell Beach which is East of New Orleans which meant driving through some of the older parts of the suburbs near NOLA. The houses are packed in tightly but are pretty as all get out. It looks as if government may be trying to save these older areas as there was road work going on and although there were some more than run down places there were more nice looking, sweet homes all fixed up and lived in. We stopped in Hammond at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I had forgotten that they serve a pretty darn good breakfast and enjoyed the meal and the company. I think that P&D's Pop and I shall try the Cracker Barrel on Airline for breakfast instead of Frank's until our IHOP gets back in business. We stopped to check on it after flying/walking at the park this morning and it seems they are waiting for an inspection and then may be ready to open. I hope so. Even the Home Depot is starting to look like it's getting ready to reopen. Every business that manages to reopen is a big plus for Denham Springs. I tell you the drive to the park still brings me to tears - I don't do it on purpose but I can't believe that this great community that we chose for our home is in such dire straits. It doesn't look as if I will be helping out at the early learning center at church until mid-October. They have no building ready for them. I hope they'll be able to keep the children they had enrolled but they may lose a lot of them because of the flooding. Parents might not be able to afford to send their kids or many not even be in their homes or may have lost their jobs or may have extra family living with them or may have just called it quits and left the area. It's amazing how a disaster of this magnitude affects our lives and we were not personally affected. But, I ramble as usual.

The drive to our fishing spot was through St. Bernard Parish which had been completely inundated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the year our son moved to Louisiana to start his new job and find a home for his family. He did well and thankfully chose to live in a small town not prone to flooding, wet and rainy with lots of deep puddles but not rivers or oceans backing up or surging forward. The area we visited yesterday had been totally wiped out and more than 150 people in that one parish lost their lives. It is amazing to see that some have returned and are still making their homes in this watery parish. Most of the fresh seafood comes from this area of land; shrimp boats and fishing boats of all kinds abound. We had perfect weather for most of the day and although we only caught some too small drums and one crab who skittered back into the water it was a great day.  As we left and drove through a gate on the highway we realized that St Bernard Parish now has a way to keep the flood waters at bay - the gates can be closed and the area where we were fishing can be cut off from the rest of the small communities in St. Bernard Parish in times of hurricanes, storms and high water. We didn't figure out how long the retaining wall is but it must be many miles long and I'm wondering if there are other roads that are gated in the same way? I think not; the expense would be staggering so I'm guessing that the people of the little villages on the Shell Beach side of the wall will have to make sure they get out of churning, rising waters before the gates are closed. Their homes are built up on stilts now, amazing practical designs for living near land's end. We stopped at Middendorf's for a late lunch, another wonderful experience. I know we shall go back. The restaurant is positioned close to the waters of both Lake Maurepas and Pontchartrain and the trains grumble by the restaurant as does I55. I'll just say that I ate another fried catfish poboy and had bread pudding for dessert as I watched boats and trains come and go as we were seated on the open, covered deck. Can't begin to explain how much I love this new land of ours and sharing son's turtle soup and froglegs was a big plus too!

Quote:  Alexander the Great, seeing Diogenes looking attentively at a parcel of human  bones, asked the philosopher what he was looking for.  "That which I cannot find," was the reply; "the difference between your father's bones and those of his slaves." _____Plutarch