sans rampant looting...
I've never been to New Orleans. I don't know anybody in New Orleans. I don't even know anybody who knows somebody in New Orleans. But I'm sad. Very very sad. I am sad for the people who have lost their homes, I am sad for the people who have lost loved ones, I am sad for the people who still don't know. Mostly, and this is purely selfish, I am sad for myself. I always always ALWAYS wanted to go to New Orleans. I don't know what it is about the city but every time I see a picture, hear a story, or watch a movie that has anything to do with New Orleans I feel a pull to go there and see it for myself. Even when people say they've been and that it was awful and they never want to go back I just think to myself, "That's not you Katy, you will go and you will love it." I feel this hole now. Sure, they may rebuild, it may be restored to its former splendor, but it will always be different. The history in those buildings is washed away. The stories those walls could have told will have been drowned. You can't "rebuild" history. That's why it's history. It's old, it's fragile, and once it's lost it can never be found again. Remembered maybe, but not lived. Hopefully one day things will be set right for that city and the people that call it home. When that day comes I will go. I will revel in its present, mourn for its past, and be glad for its future. For now, I am just mourning the loss of a girlhood ideal.
I've never been to New Orleans. I don't know anybody in New Orleans. I don't even know anybody who knows somebody in New Orleans. But I'm sad. Very very sad. I am sad for the people who have lost their homes, I am sad for the people who have lost loved ones, I am sad for the people who still don't know. Mostly, and this is purely selfish, I am sad for myself. I always always ALWAYS wanted to go to New Orleans. I don't know what it is about the city but every time I see a picture, hear a story, or watch a movie that has anything to do with New Orleans I feel a pull to go there and see it for myself. Even when people say they've been and that it was awful and they never want to go back I just think to myself, "That's not you Katy, you will go and you will love it." I feel this hole now. Sure, they may rebuild, it may be restored to its former splendor, but it will always be different. The history in those buildings is washed away. The stories those walls could have told will have been drowned. You can't "rebuild" history. That's why it's history. It's old, it's fragile, and once it's lost it can never be found again. Remembered maybe, but not lived. Hopefully one day things will be set right for that city and the people that call it home. When that day comes I will go. I will revel in its present, mourn for its past, and be glad for its future. For now, I am just mourning the loss of a girlhood ideal.
4 Comments:
Well said, Katy.
I feel exactly the same way. I went once for a weekend but had always planned on returning for a real extended stay and historic tour of the city. I'm so sad that will never happen.
"You can't 'rebuild' history."
I am by no means am I arguing or discounting this statement as I love the sentiment behind those words. I would, however, like to throw a little optimistic english on that cue ball if I may:
While history cannot be rebuilt, it never ceases to be made. We shouldn't grieve (too much) over a missed opportunity as we should celebrate the opportunities that are yet to come.
I can't wait to visit New Orleans II, Electric Boogaloo.
Or would that simply be ‘Newer Orleans’?
I should just write my own fucking blog entry on this...
r
fin...
I understand completely Rob. I hope newer new orleans is just as splendid as old new orleans. I guess my point was that I'll never know.
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