CHECKS TO:
GAIL PURTAN FUND KARMANOS CANCER INSTITUTE 4100 JOHN R DETROIT, MI  48201
1-800-527-6266
"IN MEMORY OF MARY LOGSDON" - IN NOTE SECTION OF CHECK

JULY 7, 2006 - THERE IS A HOUSE IN NEW ORLEANS, THEY CALL THE RISING SUN, AND ITS BEEN THE RUIN OF MANY A POOR BOY…

When I left the Blue Mountain area of Florida (60 miles south of Pensacola) I had no intentions of ending my day in downtown New Orleans. I felt good so I kept riding. It was when I crossed into Louisiana from Mississippi that I began to see REAL devastation. The signs were, at first, subtle. A large diameter steel post that jutted out of the roadside had only two catwalks on it at the top. It took a bit to recognize the remnants of a very large two sided billboard. That kind of sight was unusual, but then something really hit home. The "forest" that the billboard was in, was dead. Every last tree in that area, on both sides of the road was dead. Some were twisted into the ground, others were laying at angles to the road, indicating which direction the wind was coming from at the time.

As I progressed closer to New Orleans, I became aware of other startling sights. I saw a theater, one of those ever present "multiplex" types. I thought that maybe I would stop in tonight and see a movie. Then I noticed that the sign had been twisted 180 degrees without being ripped out of the foundation. There was a huge hole in the wall facing the road, and there was NO wall on the back side of the building. It had been abandoned. A shell was all that was left. As I rode on toward the middle of town, I had tried to find a motel that was still in business on the outskirts. This was impossible. I stopped counting after two dozen motels, easily recognizable as to what company they used to be - all the more popular names - Holiday Inn, Embassy Suites, Motels 6 and 8, and on and on, were all windowless shells. No one had even bothered to shutter anything.

Entire shopping centers were gone. Weeds growing in the parking lots gave evidence to how long it had been for any vehicle to have used the area. There were dozens of former fast food places that were no longer in buisiness. Markets, Liqour stores, Grocery stores, everything, was just left. I thought that the residents of the area were in deep crap if the went out to get vital foodstuffs.

Then it dawned on me.

There were no residents anymore.

I started looking closer at the subdivisions as I passed. What I began to see was horrigying. Entire subdivisions were devoid of life. No doors, were evident. Only few windows could be seen. Every once in a while I observed a vehicle in a driveway, or a camping trailer in a driveway, which was even sadder than the blight that surrounded those hapless individuals who were trying to save something.

This sight stretched on mile after mile as I came closer to the Big Easy. It didn't get any worse, it couldn't get any worse. I pulled over to just sit and think for a bit. And then I could smell the dank and moldy aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is an overpowering smell.

Katrina was fickle, too, in her swath of destruction. I sat across the street from three former homes. One looked very much intact. The third home was there, but every window and door was gone. The middle home had obviously collapsed on itself during some of the meteorological mayhem that Katrina brought with her. I continued on into town, feeling very much like a survivor in an atomic war aftermath movie.

I forgot to mention that the roads leading into town, look good, but every one that I drove on had underlying problems from the water that they soaked in for days on end. Each of the roads was undulating under me. The bike began to respond to the uneven pavement in an adverse manner, so I eased off on the speed to stop the sympathetic vibration.

The Casinos, however, are going strong.Harrah's had a line of cars waiting for the Valet to park them. I went by. Hotels downtown are offering cut rates, but I found that the Holiday Inn Select here just a bit off the beaten path was a good value and a bargain. I just have to cook my own breakfast, because their kitchen is still closed, as is the lounge.

There were a lot of miles traveled on the new tires today, and they are just now starting to wear in and feel comfortable. That is a good thing.  I hope that my exploring tomorrow brings out some positive things about this town. As of right now, without the population base, I don't know how it can hope to survive. A ready made movie set exists for the making of the next W.W. III movie.