New Orleans The City Of Sin And Religion

My first visit to New Orleans was an experience I’ll never forget. I was a mid-teenager straight off the ranch. I was about as country as it’s possible to be. I took a deep breathe, turned left from Canal Street to Bourbon street into the heart of the French Quarter. I had walked scarcely two blocks before I was pulled into a sleazy bar relieved of a two-dollar cover charge and seated below a more than half naked girl sliding up and down a brass pole. That was 60 years ago. I’ve been to New Orleans many times since, I’ve seen many changes in the city. One thing doesn’t change much is the French Quarter, they still believe in the good times.

La Vieux Carre, The French Quarter survived hurricane Katrina with minimal damage. That doesn’t mean its back up and running, it means there’s still the life of the city in tact. The French Quarter is New Orleans all the rest is only incidental. There was a Café du Monde long before there was a Starbucks. The Monteleon Hotels Carrousel Bar invented the Bloody Mary, an alcohol salad in a glass. Pat O’Brian’s invented the Hurricane, pure gasoline with ice and a twist of lemon. There are numerous establishments to enjoy the thrills of the French Quarter. New Orleans French Quarter is like no other place on earth There was a time when good Christians didn’t go there, it’s mellowed over the years. Now the hookers sell T-shirts and dream of the old days. Old Preservation Hall and the other Jazz Clubs are still there. Brennan’s and the Court of Two Sisters still serve the finest alcohol spiked brunches available anywhere this side of Paris. There is no bad food in the French Quarter, even the hot dog venders with their push crates serve gourmet style cuisine

The Artists and Mimes that surround Jackson Square, the lovers in Jackson Park. A hundred smells mixed into one. The sounds, minus automobile traffic. This is the New Orleans that was, and will be again. God will not deprive us of this pleasure.

What we’re seeing on TV is a very distorted view of New Orleans. The media isn’t showing the surrounding Parishes [counties] adjacent to New Orleans who have suffered equally. The media’s leaving the impression only backs are the victims of the hurricane.

Rescue attempts haven’t begun in the suburbs yet. When the count is made I think we will find Katrina was an equal opportunity hurricane. No one race or religion was given privilege over another.

I would be willing to bet next weeks Lotto money New Orleans had an evacuation plan on the books and didn’t use it. The problem with planners is they aren’t doers. They can lay out the best of scenarios telling exactly what should be done in an emergency, when the emergency comes, they fail to act.

Hurricane Katrina had nothing to do with George Bush, Global Warming, The War in Iraq, Born-again Christians, or Allah punishing the Infidels. It had everything to do with 40-year climate cycles. Natural disasters in the past haven’t had 24/7 media coverage like they do now. Is there a possibility of our being so overexposed to these events we’ll no longer pay attention to them? I’m beginning to see it now, there aren’t nearly as many people discussing the hurricane as discussed the tsunami in the Pacific Ocean recently

New Orleans will be back in all it’s splendor. They’re Cajuns they have nowhere else to live. Louisiana is now and will forever be their home.