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September 10, 2005
Well, Mother
Nature certainly got all of our attention, didn’t
she? Hurricane Katrina knocked our socks off, you
might say. This shocking experience provided a
number of lessons that I hope we have learned as
human beings who must co-exist on this natural
planet. The first and largest lesson is that we are
all in this mess together, one with another. We are
not firstly white or black or Creole, nor are we
firstly rich or poor or middling, we are all human
beings and we are all called upon to help one
another. Anything else, anything less, is garbage.
The prodding next lesson is better not to
build our homes on sands that can shift. Some may
recognize that injunction as being very, very
ancient…so old that in our recorded memory many
people have flat forgotten that pretty basic rule,
seduced by monetary gain and views of blue water.
Greedy developers have sunk pilings in sand dunes on
barrier islands and marshes and built expensive
structures that the sea will undoubtedly claim in
good time. Local zoning boards have caved in to
pressure to allow construction on the dunes, which,
by their very nature, shift, and also in flood
plains which, by their very nature, flood.
Local
lore has it that off the coast of Wrightsville
Beach,
North Carolina
, there used to be houses about three blocks into
the ocean. When we lived there, we watched them
build a Holiday Inn right across a natural slough
that the storm tides used. Hurricanes now usually
put seawater in the hotel pool. Locals are waiting
for it to finally slide on out and one day, it
probably will.
The present location of
New Orleans
is so against nature.
Three hundred miles of
levees is one big clue that the city is
situated in the wrong place. I am waiting to see if
good sense will prevail in its rebuilding or if the
municipal and federal dunces will win out and
rebuild it all back where it was, the way it was, so
one day this devastation can be wrought once again
by Mother Nature to a charming city unfortunately
situated below sea level. It will be very
interesting to see how this will all play out.
The
entire nation and probably the world will be
watching.
Another lesson that seemingly went largely
unheeded during Hurricane Katrina was what you are
supposed to do in a mandatory evacuation. On
St.
George
Island
, off the coast near
Apalachicola
, mandatory evacuation means that if you stay when
officials have issued a mandatory evacuation order
for the area, you will not be rescued if you should
have an emergency. Everybody on the whole island
understands this perfectly. Maybe now EVERYBODY
everywhere will understand this perfectly. I hope
so.
As I write this column in my dry office, luckily
unharmed by Hurricane Katrina or the tornado that
blew through
Gwinnett
County
in 1998, I am conscious of another lesson derived
from the aftermath of colossal weather destruction.
That
is, there is really no need to accumulate
“stuff.” Some “stuff” is essential for life
and the pursuit of happiness, but other stuff is
really unnecessary. Folks in the path of Hurricane
Katrina had their stuff blown away. Gone forever.
How much of your stuff would you miss? We’re going
to lighten the load around here.
Years ago I had a good friend who lived to be
104; sadly, she has been deceased for some years
now. Maybelle Richters
put all those many years in a small, tidy white
bungalow that did not have stuffed drawers or packed
closets. When I asked her about this once, she told
me that the thing to do in life is to travel
“light.” She did not accumulate things, she did
not waste water or electricity or food or stamps or
anything. She traveled light. I think I finally
understand what she was trying to tell me.
Wherever in
the country you might be reading this, there will be
a charity you can support by helping out or sending
money. Hurricane Katrina Relief will be ongoing for
a long time and those of us who aren’t evacuees
need to do our part. If there is nothing near you,
check
www.redcross.org
and see what they need. One of the neighborhood
children came to the door last week selling angel
necklaces she had made for $5. She had raised over
$100 for the American Red Cross with this little
project. If one small second grader can do this
much, what do you think we adults can do? Everything
in the whole world comes down to people, one with
another. Anything can be accomplished if we but
determine to do it.
Hope all is well with you and yours. My
prayers go out to all those families affected by
that monster hurricane.
Thanks
for reading and sticking with me.
091005
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