Hurricane Ida Pounds Louisiana

It has been a strange time for me just lately. I recently got back from a trip with my son to the Deep South. That was the annual trip that he and I take together for this year. Just a few days ago, while visiting New York, it occurred to me that we had gone from New Orleans to Nashville to New York in the past five days (at the time).  

After a few days, I began posting pictures on social media of the trip. True, I had been posting pictures and recollections of the trip here on my blog, but not on my Facebook or anything like that. There were various pictures from the Southern trip, although most of the pictures were of New Orleans.  

Really, that is not all that surprising, since the Big Easy was the main attraction for our trip. First of all, I am a French-American, so the cultural roots of Louisiana, and New Orleans specifically, have always appealed to me. Also, the architecture of the old district, sometimes known as the Vieux Carré and most popularly known as the French Quarter, were also things that I had long wanted to see. All of that, not to mention, of course, the food and the music and all of those other things.  

Generally, that is what I do after a trip. I organize the pictures, and try and recount the events of each day, to the best of my ability. This has the extra added benefit of reliving, and thus n a way, extending, the trip that just finished.  

However, this time around, it was a bit different. I posted some of those pictures, and one person expressed concern that I might still be in the city.  

That is, of course, because of Hurricane Ida, which hit New Orleans yesterday, and was one of the most powerful storms to ever hit Louisiana. It hit the city and the state of Louisiana on the 16th anniversary of when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, an event from which the city has yet to fully recover.  

New Orleans, of course, is under sea level by some eight feet. Sometimes, it feels like it is just a matter of time before it really gets hit by some kind of superstorm or hurricane that devastates it yet again. Not sure if Ida will be that storm, or another of those storms on the level of Katrina. But as I write this, there are concerns about the possibility of mass flooding.

It is a bit strange for me, personally. After Hurricane Katrina, I wanted to make a point of visiting New Orleans. Yet, it took me sixteen years to do so. Then, ironically, the city is pounded by the biggest storm since Hurricane Katrina less than one week after I leave.

So I wanted to take this moment and wish the very best to those living in New Orleans. Also, my son and I are very grateful to have visited such a beautiful and fun city, and we hope to someday visit again.