Remembering Katrina five years later

In one of my earliest posts after starting this blog, I promised to post some images I took while assisting in the cleanup in the New Orleans area.  I had at least six opportunities to go into New Orleans to assist in removing fallen trees, gutting ruined homes, and cleaning up debris in neighborhoods, following the big hurricane.  Some of the visual images of the devastation will stay with me for a lifetime.  Five months after Katrina, members of  our stake, including myself, assisted in a cleanup project in Chalmette (east side of New Orleans).  One month later, members of our ward, including myself, were involved in gutting Dennis and Michelle Pixton's home Chalmette.  They lost everything and moved to Houma to restart their life.  I have included a brief PowerPoint presentation of these experiences.

Chalmette

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Pixton home

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Black and White

I was intrigued by a photo of a black penguin that came to my attention recently. We associate animals with their colors, and when the colors deviate from the norm, it really gets our attention. This one certainly got mine.

Also, anyone going to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans knows that Spots, the white alligator is a must see. Another must see are the distinctively white tigers, Rex and Zulu. This is a great time of year to visit the zoo in New Orleans, before it starts getting uncomfortably warm for both us and the animals.

Saints on Fire

As can well be imagined, the talk down here on the bayou is reaching fever pitch about the New Orleans Saints having a realistic shot at making it to the Superbowl this year. With home field advantage, this is the closest they have ever come to making it into a Superbowl game, and it is getting crazy down here. I thought about wearing my Vikings sweatshirt to work today just to get a reaction, but realized that it might not be the safest thing to do. Besides, I really do want the Saints to win. There was a time in my life that I was a big fan of the Vikings, back when I was a graduate student at the University of Minnesota between 1972-1977, but they let me down by going to the Superbowl three times in four years (1974, 1975, and 1977) and coming away empty. If the Saints make it to the Superbowl, I wish them well. On the other hand, if the Vikings make it, I only hope they don't disappoint again. They would be the only team to have gone to the Superbowl as many as five times only to lose every time.

There are many twists, turns, and ironies as each NFL season comes to a close, and this one is no exception. Three of the final four quarterbacks have at least some connection with the Saints. Brett Favre (Minnesota Vikings) grew up a fan of the Saints in Kiln, Mississippi, only 57 miles from New Orleans. Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts) was born and raised in New Orleans while his dad, Archie, played with the Saints. And, of course Drew Brees is the Saints' current quarterback. If you live in Kiln, MS, who do you root for this weekend? The town is divided between home-grown Favre vs. the Saints, according to the news. Another twist is that, if the Jets and Vikings somehow managed to make it to the Superbowl, the Jets would be facing the very quarterback that they said good riddance to just one year ago. This is just a tiny sampling. Share your own favorite if you like.

On another football note, Nicholls State University next door in Thibodaux, LA, just hired a new football coach. Charlie Stubbs is a BYU graduate, with 31 years of coaching experience at several schools, most recently, he was the University of Central Missouri offensive coordinator. He and his family will be attending Thibodaux Ward, the church ward we belong to. One of the assistant coaches coming in with him is, Justin Anderson, a son-in-law of Greg Stock (current member of the New Orleans Stake Presidency, CEO of Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, and a close friend of mine).

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans is going through a $300 million dollar upgrade to be completed by 2015, and was just recently designated by Congress as the country's official World War II Museum. Tomorrow, Tom Hanks, Tom Brokaw, and scores of WWII veterans will be on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony associated with the Grand Opening weekend, following the completion of "three remarkable new venues." Upcoming events at the Museum leading up to Veterans Day next Wednesday and beyond are shown at the Official Website of the National WWII Museum. We have never been there. This is definitely a place we would like to visit and experience while Lori & James are in town. One of the venues features a so-called 4-D film (wind & shaking seats) called "Beyond All Boundaries" that is narrated by Tom Hanks.

New Orleans City Park

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I last visited my own blog site. We were at the end of the USDA fiscal year which goes from October 1 through September 31 each year, so there was the usual rush to get everything finished that needed to be finished. Then, I was obligated to be host to an Egyptian visitor who was here for two weeks. We were working on a USAID proposal for the benefit of both of our countries that has a deadline of October 20th. He has left now, and I feel relieved. Then, on top of everything else, we are in the middle of sugarcane selection which means I am in the field, helping out with selection as much as possible. This year, selection is especially difficult because the cane is down and tangled to some degree. Also, it has been very hot and muggy. On Thursday this week, I was involved in selection, and by 9:30 a.m., my clothes were soaking wet from top to bottom. My leather boots were oozing water out. By 11:00, I had to stop because of heat exhaustion. I was drinking water all along, after each row of selection, but when I went home at noon to change clothes, I weighed 9 lbs less than when I had left the house in the morning. When I got to the house to change, Judy informed me that the air conditioner had stopped working, and the service man wouldn't be able to check it out until the next day. After cleaning up at home and then going into the office to do desk work in the afternoon, when I returned home, we ended up turning on all the ceiling fans and opening up the windows. It still never got below 86 F indoors by the time we went to bed, so needless to say, Thursday was a rather unpleasant day for me all the way around.

Thankfully, the cold winds from the north finally made it down to Louisiana on Friday, and today, Saturday, it was unbelievably pleasant. It actually felt like the fall season had finally arrived. I had church meetings in New Orleans in the morning, but while driving in, I was listening to a guy by the name of Dan Gill from the LSU AgCenter, who has a weekly Saturday morning talk show about plants. He mentioned that there was a Fall Garden Show going on from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the New Orleans Botanical Gardens in City Park. City Park, a 1,300 acre open space near downtown New Orleans, is to New Orleans what Central Park is to New York City. I had heard that it is a great place for families to spend the day together. I had never really gone into City Park before, and thought this would be a great time to check it out. So after the church meetings were over, I went to City Park and enjoyed the Garden Show, as well as the Botanical Garden. I drove around the park a little bit, and now realize that City Park is a wonderful place that has much more to offer than I had ever imagined. Perhaps, when Lori and James come later this year, we can go there.

Mardi Gras Live!

Today is Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras is only hours away. The weekend was filled with parades in New Orleans and surrounding communities. The party atmosphere really goes into overdrive from here on until midnight tomorrow night. While there are numerous dedicated Mardi Gras websites, Bourbon Street web cams, etc., my personal recommendation would be to go to WDSU TV. It's live and the crew following the various parades do an excellent job. You can watch live, or sample some of the videos at the bottom of the webpage to get a sense of what Mardi Gras offers those who flock here to see the spectacle.

I'm heading out of town tomorrow...going to Cary, North Carolina...to brush up on the statistical packages that SAS has to offer. Training isn't cheap, but the statistician at our area office had built up some extra credit, so she is allowing me to take advantage of the credit she had built up, which I am very grateful for. Timing is good, to get away from the craziness, but Judy is going to have to drive me to the New Orleans Airport, since it's pretty much a given that there won't be any parking spaces available.

A Sunday in the New Orleans Garden District

On Sunday, I was invited to speak in the New Orleans 1st Branch. As background information, when a congregation is too small to fully function as a ward, then a branch is formed. The ecclesiastical leader of a Branch is referred to as a Branch President, rather than a Bishop. So we are talking about a small unit. The members worshipping in the New Orleans 1st Branch live in the uptown New Orleans area. They include students and teachers attending Tulane and Loyola Universities nearby. The chapel (also referred to as the uptown chapel) is located in the famed Garden District of New Orleans at 3616 St. Charles Avenue. You can actually see what the chapel looks like on Google Maps Street View. At or near the above address, it's the red brick building with the plain steeple as you point north .

On my speaking assignment, I invited Bro. DiMaggio to come with me. Bro. DiMaggio is an older member who has a wonderful self-effacing sense of humor, and is a delight to be with as a travelling companion. We spoke on the 6th Article of Faith having to do with church organization (similarity to the church that Christ organized while He was on the earth), and discussed the priesthood offices in the church including apostles and prophets, all the way down to the young deacons (12-13) and teachers (14-15) who passed the sacrament to the congregation. I was not too surprised to learn that about half of the congregation was made up of out-of-town visitors. Apparently, this is not too uncommon. It reminded me of our first church experience in Hawaii in the Waikiki Ward, and our experience attending the Hyde Park Ward in London. The vast majority of church members who live in the New Orleans area, are in the suburbs, especially Metairie, Kenner, and the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Within the New Orleans Stake, our Thibodaux Ward is the furthest away from New Orleans, and the more affluent Covington Ward on the North Shore of Lake Ponchartrain is the largest, certainly in active priesthood attendance.

While many associate New Orleans with Mardi Gras and the French Quarter, New Orleans has so much more to offer. Whenever we take visitors to New Orleans, we try to make a special point of taking them on St. Charles Avenue so that they get some exposure to the architecturally delightful Garden District, especially at the end of St. Charles Avenue where Audubon Park and Zoo are located. The French Quarter is a whole different experience, and has much to offer. It is like a city within a city, sort of like some of the old European cities that have a old fortified city area that is surrounded by the modern city. The best part of the French Quarter, in my view, is NOT Bourbon Street, which way too commercialized for my taste. I much prefer walking from Jackson Square down some of the other French Quarter streets like down Chartres St., returning on Royal St., taking in a few perpendicular avenues, and avoiding Bourbon Street altogether. I guess you have to do a little bit of Bourbon Street, just so you can say that you did.

After the three-hour church block, we couldn't get onto St. Charles Avenue because of a Mardi Gras parade. So we ended up taking a back street to get out. Mardi Gras parades will be coming at us fast and furious until Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) next week.

Fleur-de-lis connection to Louisiana

While Louisiana has no special claim to the fleur-de-lis, it is prominently displayed in this part of the world. It is associated with the New Orleans Saints football team. It will be on prominent display during Mardi Gras. I suppose some of this has to do with its French name and connection. So here is a little history about the fleur-de-lis (fleur-de-lys, singular). The Wikipedia web page includes pictures of some of the coats of arms and flags that use the fleur-de-lis. The scouting organization recently updated their logo, of which the fleur-de-lis continues to be its central element. On October 16, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act which authorizes the minting of 350,000 silver dollar coins in recognition of BSA’s 100th Anniversary in 2010. The Boy Scouts of America was founded on February 8, 1910. These coins will prominently display the fleur-de-lis. There are some rather creative fleur-de-lis out there, and here is a small sampling: wildlife version, Craw-de-lis version, monarch butterfly version, New Orleans Hornets version, and finally a link to New Orleans Fig Street Studio that uses fleur-de-lis designs in many of their products.

King Day today officially kicks off carnival season in New Orleans

The city of New Orleans officially kicked off the Carnival season today as Mayor Ray Nagin hosted his annual king day party with an official proclamation from Rex, the King of Carnival. What follows is seven weeks of festivities leading up to Mardi Gras 2009 on February 24th. City and krewe leaders celebrated 153 years of Mardi Gras in dance, music and, of course, king cake. King Day would not be what it is without king cake. Here's more about the king cake tradition. The krewes of Rex and Zulu also unveiled this year's posters. The all-black Krewe of Zulu is celebrating 100 years, and the Krewe of Rex commemorates the 50th anniversary of the doubloon. These two are among the most celebrated krewes. A recent entry into the lineup of krewes is that of the St. Joan of Arc Krewe, a krewe that will take to the streets today. Here is a complete schedule of the parades leading up to Mardi Gras. I think outsiders would be amazed at the amount of effort that goes into making Mardi Gras what it is. Mardi Gras is so big, it can be pretty much what you want it to be. If you are into the pomp and circumstance, and the tradition of royalty with Kings and Queens, it can be just that. If you are into the bawdy and gaudy, the adult-rated on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, it can be that too. Many of the outside communities have their own Mardi Gras parades and activities. Houma is a good example of this. We have several parades that families look forward to each year at Mardi Gras time. Obviously, they will not be as elaborate as those in New Orleans, but they are crowd pleasers none the less. As a family, we have been fortunate to have lived in parts of the country that celebrate their own culture on a state-wide level, including Pioneer Day in Utah (July 24), Kamehameha Day in Hawaii (June 11), and Mardi Gras in Louisiana and surrounding areas (47 days before Easter Sunday). None is more grandiose and original than Mardi Gras.

Winter has arrived!

As of midnight last night, winter has officially arrived. Julie reported temperatures of -2 F (-22 wind chill) in northern Indiana. I saw that it got down to -20 F in infamously cold International Falls, Minnesota. We were in the low to mid-30's in southern Lousiana (mid-20's at the top of the sugar belt in Bunkie, LA). The sugarcane farmers were working feverishly (maybe a poor adverb choice in this instance) to get their crop in as quickly as possible. The cane canopy has already gone from green to straw color in much of the sugar belt as a result of earlier cold spells, so the protective green canopy blanket has already been removed. Stalk deterioration is limited as long as the crop remains cool following a freeze; temperatures into the 70's become the farmer's worst case scenerio. I believe the industry will be in pretty good shape in getting its crop in on a timely basis, thanks to dry weather during most of the harvest season.

Someone locally shared a nice video following the recent snowstorm in New Orleans that I thought was appropriate as Christmas approaches. It is fittingly set to Louis Armstrong music. Here it is. Enjoy.

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest are two major events in New Orleans that to a great degree, define the city. According to the official Jazz Fest website, "The Festival celebrates the indigenous music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana, so the music encompasses every style associated with the city and the state: blues, R&B, gospel music, Cajun music, zydeco, Afro-Caribbean, folk music, Latin, rock, rap music, country music, bluegrass, and everything in between. And of course there is lots of jazz, both contemporary and traditional." Jazz Fest kicks off tomorrow, Friday (Apr 25), continuing on Sat (Apr 26), Sun (Apr 27), Thu (May 1), Fri (May 2), Sat (May 3), and Sun (May 4). The likes of Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Timmy Graw, the Neville Brothers, Santana, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall, Keyshia Cole, Ellis Costello, Allen Toussaint and other artists will be featured. There are 11 stages/tents of various sizes set up at the Festival, the two big stages being the Acura Stage and the Gentilly Stage. Music will be played simultaneously at the various stages/tents, as shown under Music Schedule at the official website. I told the Idaho musicians that it's a shame they would be missing this, and they agreed...it would have been nice to have experienced a part of Jazz Fest. You can experience enough to whet your appetite by clicking on some of the previews of recordings from past Jazz Fests.

Another connection

The name, Tew, originates from England. My great grandfather, Thomas Tew, Jr., was the first of my direct Tew line to arrive in the U.S. The family of Thomas Tew, Sr. investigated the LDS (Mormon) Church. As teenagers and now converts to a new religion, both Thomas Tew, Jr. and his close friend Walter Bird, were sent to Utah ahead of their respective families. They were given enough money to buy steerage passage on a ship from England that arrived at the Port of New Orleans in 1850. From there, they went up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. They got work driving ox teams to the west. At the time, they knew nothing about oxen, or how to set ox bows on them to team them up to pull wagons. Obviously, over the next several weeks, they became well acquainted with oxen. They fared pretty well until they got into mountainous country, where Thomas came down with Rocky Mountain spotted fever. He became completely helpless. The wagon master told the group to leave Thomas behind for dead, but Walter sneaked his lifeless-looking body into a wagon, covering him up, and he eventually revived. Thomas owed his life to Walter. Shortly after their arrival in Salt Lake City, they were sent 50 miles south into the Utah Valley where they settled in what is now the Springville-Mapleton area. Their respective families soon followed. Thomas eventually married Walter’s sister, Rebecca Bird. As the best of friends for life, it is fitting that Walter and Thomas were buried next to each other in the Evergreen Cemetery that borders Springville and Mapleton. And now, 140 years later, the name, Thomas Tew, has come full circle, with myself returning to within an hour’s drive of the New Orleans and the Mississippi River. Every time I fly from N.O. to S.L.C., I can’t help but think about the stark contrast between my short flight and the arduous journey taken by my great grandfather. Picture taken in the late 1800's, is of Thomas Tew, Jr. (sitting, 1833-1904), with his sons, John Henry (center, 1868-1948) and my grandfather William Thomas (right, 1859-1933).