Back again....like a bad penny

So, what is a bad penny, anyway?

Thank you David! and Tracey! and Corry! and Pia! and Val! You have given me great encouragement and that is a priceless gift of goodness.

I told Dave that I'd tell y'all all about my trip soon... Well, I do not have permission from God to tell you what decision I was struggling with. I am still struggling a bit. I have made a decision to go with God and to relinquish my will to His. That may make you go "Well... DUH!" but, sometimes we get too close to something and cannot see our way clear until we step back. I learned I just have to let go and trust God. That shouldn't be hard to do, but sometimes it is very hard to do.

Have you ever sung the song Have Thine Own Way, Lord have Thine own way... Search me and try me absolute sway. Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now, while I'm am waiting, yielded and still... and tears just stream down your cheeks? Suffice it to say that I was straining at the bit... at the end of that supernatural chain that links us to God and pulling hard my own way. But, I didn't even realize it! I didn't know I was being stubborn! Can you imagine that?

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New Orleans still looks like a war zone. I just found out that New Orleans has requested 5000 more FEMA trailers. My question is what are they going to do with the FEMA trailers that are parked in nice, neat long rows? An unscientific, conservative guess puts the two FEMA trailer parks full of about 500 trailers have grass growing around them about 2 feet high. Now, in the summer time in Louisiana during rainy season, grass can grow 2 feet in about 6 weeks. But, in lots of places, the grass is dead because it was under water for so long. So, no telling how long these trailers have been parked in nice, neat long rows.

It is amazing the work that has been done in Slidell, LA. At Christmas, trees were still stacked higher than house roofs and houses were still smashed. Businesses were closed and signs were askew. Now, you can hardly tell there was a Katrina in Slidell. I saw 3 blue tarps on roofs and 2 FEMA trailers in use. New Orleans, on the other hand, is still a war zone, especially under the interstate; Katrina cars reside where the homeless used to sleep.

I do not understand it. If a home sold for half a million before Katrina and it didn't get any water in it, today the owner could ask just about any price over a million and get it! If a home got water in it, the owner can't give it away. What I do not understand is, why would anyone want to spend over a million for a home in a town full of crooked politicians who could care less about the good welfare of the city's inhabitants but cares greatly for bulging pockets?

Here's some disturbing news. The National Weather Service took some temperature readings of the Gulf and the water temps are 15 degrees higher than normal. This means that storms which would just be tropical have lots of hot water to feed them into hurricanes. I shudder to think what might happen if one hits New Orleans any time soon. It is just not even close to being ready.


New Orleans
Katrina
FEMA

PS... if anyone knows how to make blogger accept photos, please give me a lesson!