Greg and I have been back home for a week and a half now. We are very happy to be home but things are very different. The first 4-5 days were really difficult for me. It takes a while to find a routine and figure out the new pace of the town. Things you take for granted - daily mail service, regular garbage and recycle pick-up, even newspaper delivery - didn’t exist when we first got back. Only three grocery stores appear to be open to service uptown, downtown and the french quarter, and they now close at six and are short on cashiers. Otherwise you have to drive to the other side of the river, known as the westbank, or out to the suburbs of Metairie or Kenner. Literally 70-80 percent of New Orleans proper is uninhabitable, the parts at flooded. Seriously. People come in town to salvage what they can, pull out moldy drywall, with out water or electricity and leave for the night. Before we got back there was a 6pm-6am curfew. It was shorted to midnight to 6am but the bar owners persuaded the city to stay open until 2 am. You have to be off the streets when curfews start. And this is in a city where many bars never close.

When you come back you don’t know what to do first to get your life started again. Cleaning up is a good start, restock the fridge and visit with neighbors. Whenever you see someone you know, even in passing, you stop and share stories; how your residence did, your job situation, where you evacuated to, etc. Many people moved around a lot like we did.

The first couple of days back, where ever you drive you see damaged houses, and it shocks you and you gawk. It seems so random, there will be a single house surrounded by others that look fine except for down trees or a blue tarp on the roof. Some houses under renovation collapsed. Some had a large tree fall on them. Some burned to the ground and you try to picture what the building used to look like. In the flooded areas you look for the telltale brown high water mark, it’s very distinctive. The areas that got several feet of water are mind blowing. I haven’t even been to the really bad parts of town; Greg went out to Lakeview for a meeting and had nightmares from what he saw. You see photos on the TV or on-line and it’s just one or two houses, but the destruction goes on and on, block after block. You never noticed the subtle elevation differences block to block before, the damage can very greatly a few blocks over. But after a few days, the random damage doesn’t shock you and you learn to avoid the hard hit areas and fine new routes to where you need to go.

But everyday, another traffic light is functioning, another restaurant opens, newspaper delivery resumed--though the paper is much thinner. Mail comes when it comes if you even have any. Garbage pick up is sporadic. Usually crews troll the streets and they have their assigned garbage to pick up; “white trash” of appliances, household garbage, hazard stuff or building materials. Out of habit I still pull out glass and paper to recycle but who knows when they will be able to pick that stuff up again. Hi-speed internet has been an issue for us, something we both need for work. I knew the phone and internet was down at my office. But we had DSL at home, no problem. Problem. DSL wouldn’t be reactivated until January. We can occasionally pick up a neighbor’s wireless signal but it’s not reliable enough for work. I ended up working from my former employer’s office for a couple of days this week. The internet was restored at our office, yeah!, Thursday, so Greg and I both moved our computers (again) in. I broke down and got myself a cell phone since it was uncertain when my office phone line would be functioning again. Friday Greg and I were working when the internet stopped working. ARGH!! I called the company to report it. What’s been happening is utilities get services restored, only to have clean up crew cut or break a line.

I will say this, we’ve been having some amazingly beautiful weather. Still no rain but it’s cool and dry and clear. The cold front that came through was what pushed Wilma over to Florida. The eye of Wilma passed over my father’s. He rode out the storm with some wind damage to his gutters and landscaping and some water leaking in a window. I wasn’t able to call him but used the trick we learned with Katrina--text messaging. He wrote back he was OK. A few days later he was able to call me. Still no power and he was starting to siphon gas out of his car for his generator. I haven’t heard from him in a few days, I tried calling cell and landline which just rang and rang - good that it’s working but no answering machine which may mean still no power. And Cyndi was supposed to e-mail once she had power but no e-mail. No reply to the text message I sent earlier today. The end of hurricane season can’t come soon enough.

I still haven’t had a chance to post any photos, I’ll try to soon. As I’ve typed this 2 different patrols of national guardsmen have come down our street. Not so many as before, but they are a welcomed, though still odd, sight. E-mail us and let us know how you are doing.