About what IS in New Orleans

Today's pace of living can be daunting for busy people. So much happens that we are not fully able to integrate all of it into our minds. But now we are all trying to integrate Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. Sometimes the thought flashes, "I'll just have to think about that later." And that mental processing may or may not actually happen. Like Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, I say, "I'll think about that tomorrow." This idea came to me after blogger - with whom I sometimes exchange comments and e-mails - wrote,

"I'm settling into life after jet-lag, I hope to find the time &
mental space for post-trip processing. :-)"

Feeling mentally overwhelmed happens to me during those times when lots of changes are happening. Adjusting to change, whether positive or negative, is stressful. That is because change requires me to think in a new way. The changed realities of my own life must be integrated into my mind, along with changes in the reality of the world.
It applies to the daily news, because I am a "news junkie." I may not be directly affected by a news story, but it does affect the way I think about what IS. I am a curious analytical soul. I have always needed explanations for what it is that makes things are the way they are. I must have plagued my mom with "why's."
The perfect blogger motivation is speculating about or analyzing the news. As I write, I integrate these significant happenings into my mind. I understand. I now know why. And I could be totally wrong. (The anniversary of . . . ) initiates more mental processing and integrating realities. And the months of August and September kick me into thinking about 9/11/01 and 8/29/05.
Post-Katrina anniversary processing is my current preoccupation. The reality I see is perhaps obvious:

• New Orleans will never be the same city again as before 8/29/05. And the federal government does not intend for it to be further protected or rebuilt, despite all the rhetoric. What was, is now history.
• Local, state and federal will and capacity to help victims of flooding remains inadequate. Far too many corporations are profiting from Katrina's misery. It is still not safe to live anywhere below sea or lake level in New Orleans.
• Thousands who had homes in New Orleans will never be at home there again. Some evacuees will learn to feel at home somewhere else, some will always feel homesick for New Orleans. A different culture will emerge there.
• The nation is still plagued by racism and class distinction. America is more polarized now than in many years. And those in charge do not care that this is the way it is.

Resources:

1. National Public Radio programs: Morning Edition
2. Center for Public Integrity "Katrina Watch"

Tags: New Orleans Hurricane Katrina News and Opinion Bush politics