"What has been, will be again"

As I look back on the ominous destructor that is now known as Katrina, I cry. I remember my home as it used to be and wonder if it will ever capture the radiance that was New Orleans again. I choose to think that it will. The great Tenessee Williams once said that there are only three great cities in America, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans. My fellow New Orleneans are a strong people, and more importantly a stubborn people. It is that latter that will overcome this unruly hand and build our so dubbed "New" New Orleans. Although the residential parts of St. Bernard, Jefferson and Orleans Parishes are for all intensive purposes going to be bulldozed and rebuilt, our history still is there: The French Quarter, Lee Circle, Most of the Garden District, Loyola, Tulane, Audubon Park, and the Audubon Zoo among others.

For some reason, when this first hit, one of my first anxieties was of the Zoo. It is hands down one of my favorite places on the planet. To be more specific my exact spot is in the nooks of the historic Oak tree that has worked it's way in and out of the earth. If anyone has ever been there, you will know instantly what I mean. This is one of the first places that I remember as a child. As I have grown into adulthood, my return visits home have always brought me back to this spot. Now it has become more than a favorite spot, it has become a symbol to me. Because you see, that tree is now the people of New Orleans, our roots are deep, and we are so interwoven with our "spot" we will never give it up.

Oh yes my friends, New Orleans will be great again, we won't allow it not to be...