New Orleans

I am lost trying to communicate my experiences last week. We saw the result of the wind, the floodwaters swirling twelve feet high through homes, through whole neighborhoods. We saw cars on top of fences, boats in the highway, crumbled walls covered with black mold, grown men choking back tears. We walked through strangers' houses and removed every scrap of memory down to the insulation, leaving it in a toxic, shoulder-high pile on the side of the road. We smelled the mold, the refrigerator waters, the sea. We prayed for a police officer who has been forbidden by the city to leave New Orleans and forced to work every day. Every day. So that he cannot spend time with his family or rebuild his own home. We prayed for a single mother whose home had been her attempt at a new life after her husband left her.

We went to Mississippi where the storm hit in full force, bringing a surge of ocean over the coast that tore houses from their foundations when it receded. There was nothing left except for the foundation and some garbage.

We also laughed like crazy, sang songs while tearing down walls, played football with children, ate marvelous southern food, and screamed at the biggest cockroaches I've ever seen in my life.

It was heartbreaking and wonderful at the same time.

I'll try to post more photos soon.