Here in the French Quarter, the city looks to be in good shape. There are some damaged buildings, but the restaurants and shops I remember from 2004 are still here and still doing well.

Wedding Beignets

Saturday afternoon downtown

Bourbon Street is still Bourbon Street...

Yesterday, with Habitat for Humanity and about 250 of Bruce's co-workers, I helped fix up a local elementary school.

The school, and the surrounding neighborhood, were damaged by the floods. They're coming back, slowly.

With Symantec employees and a bunch of students, I helped paint a playground mural of the USA, with all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Our mural may not have been the most artistic piece in the playground, but it was the most commented-on. People wondered why we didn't paint it according to red state-blue state voting records, people wondered why the lakes and borders in their state were misshapen, they wondered why we included Puerto Rico but forgot Guam.

We were just following the teacher's drawing, but we did choose the colors. As for the color scheme, the lack of political affiliations and the misshapen lakes, it's to ponder.It is an artist's job to make people think. Hopefully, this work will inspire thought for generations.

If I can find a cheap enough rental car, I'll be driving out to visit friends in Kenner. Hope to post some pictures showing how the city is recovering.

If you have any travel or picture suggestions, comment or FB!