The Big Easy Comes Back

Ok, ok, I know I've been MIA lately, and I'm sorry. Life, etc.

Today is a day of reflection for people all over the world, and I don't have many original thoughts to add. Besides, some people have already said it better. Instead, I'd like to take a moment to think about something else: the ongoing effort to rebuild New Orleans.

All Day Buffet has compiled a list of 100 great projects currently going on in the Crescent City. The list is broken down by category for easy skimming, and is full of great projects that are revitalizing New Orleans right this very moment. The folks at ADB were shooting for 1,000,000 page views by August 29th, 2008. I have no idea if they made it or not, but wanted to give them a belated boost.

I drove through New Orleans for the first time in my life in September of 2006. Naively, I thought the city would be more or less rebuilt. I was wrong. Sure, the Convention Center was nice and shiny. The French Quarter looked like I expected it to. But once you got outside of the tourist spots, another picture emerged. High water lines were still visible. There was a noticeable stench in the air.

Hurricane Katrina was a disaster on a scale largely unseen in this country. And three years later, with our quick news cycles and our general national complacency, it's easy to forget what happened. But, without even mentioning the parade of hurricanes that has been working its way through the southeastern United States for the past few weeks, I think it is important to stop and reflect upon the lessons we (hopefully) learned.

So, please, take a few minutes out of your day and look at All Day Buffet's list. And if you see a cause that's interesting, or exciting, or just plain cool, give them a hand. It's not hard to get involved.