Tomb It May Concern

Let me just clarify by first saying, I did not make up the name of this blog, it came from an organization named Save Our Cemeteries (www.saveourcemeteries.org) which is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and protecting historic cemeteries of New Orleans. It's the tag-line on their t-shirts.

Today, I worked in a historic New Orleans cemetary. The work was mostly scraping the building that houses the tools and lawncare accessories. The other part of our work was cleaning out around the tombs. Since New Orleans is below sea-level, the graves here are above ground tombs. We learned about the burial process here, which has been the tradition since the 1800's and how entire families are entombed in the same place. It's amazing actually. If I could figure out how to post photos to this, I'd show you the photo of the open tomb with the decayed bones in it....but I don't know how :-(

Sarah worked inside a Habitat house, mostly painting ceilings and Dana worked gardening around the area of Bloomin'Deals, the Junior League Thrift Shop in the Freret Street neighborhood.

After our 1/2 work day, we took a bus tour of the devastation in the Ninth Ward, Musicians Alley, Metarie and several other area that sustained amazing amounts of damage. We saw houses with holes in the roofs where people were rescued, we saw the markings on the outside of the homes, showing what National Guard unit checked the house, the date it was checked, any special codes (like NE-No Entry) and if so, how many people were found deceased. We saw houses on top of vehicles, houses on top of other houses and amazing piles of debris. One home had a note to the SPCA that there was a large brown dog living under the porch. It is unbelieveable the amount of debris, confusion and clutter. Their world has just been overturned due to Hurricane Katrina. There wasn't one particular thing that was worse than another, just the fact that it encompassed so much. It's like it never stopped. It was so quiet, as some of the areas have just been deserted.

Here's some of the information that was shared today:
*About 80% of New Orleans was flooded by the storm. This totals 144 square miles, 7 times larger than Manhattan
*1,464 people died, 500 remain missing
*204,000-plus homes severly damaged
*60,0000 businesses (of 81,000 affected) have reopened
*1 million plus visitors came for Mardi Gras and Jazzfest
*Only 50% of the population has returned so far

I can't begin to share with you what New Orleans looks like today. I was here several years ago and it's just incredibly different. A JL member shared with us today that the people are just so "out of place" at home. They are just a little left of center still, not sure what to do or where to do it. Many of them just trying to get through each day. FEMA trailers are everywhere, in people's front yards or on streets, while people live in these and rebuild their homes. Several homes are just completely gone, only the stairs remaining. I will post my photos on my Ofoto site when I arrive home, since I can't figure out how to get them to you here.

I'm out of things to say tonight, other than it's just amazing. Tomorrow brings a whole other day. Dana & I are working to restore a restaurant for a 90-year old woman who apparently used to make the best fried chicken in town. Willie Mae's Scotch House in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. Sarah will be working on Musicians Village, a Habitat for Humanity project largely publicized by Harry Connick, Jr. and when complete will consist of 81 Habitat constructed homes for displaced musicians. Nicole will continue as the project lead on a home of a woman who is 79 and battling Ovarian Cancer and was unable to complete the necessary repairs on her home.

Well, it's late and we're exhausted. We'll fill you all in tomorrow!

Until next time~All the best