Living in New Orleans these days is very difficult. There are some great things. Saturday night for example, to officially kick off our Mardi Gras season, we went with some good friends to Krewe Du Vieux, a clever and satirical group who parades through the French Quarter. This year their theme was "C'est Levee," and it was a lot of fun.
However, I learned that night that one of my friends is pretty damned depressed. Many people are. Divorces and suicides are skyrocketing. Chris Rose had a piece in the Times Picayune back in December about how Katrina keeps on killing. Wherever you look around here, there are signs of destruction and devastation. Houses collapsed, flooded family belongings piled up on the streets, even the plants are largely dead. And on the radio and television it seems every commercial is about mold, house gutting, class action lawsuits, and how companies are "rolling up their sleeves to serve the people who suffered a tragedy." People are drinking quite a bit more than usual also. I don't think I'm drinking any more than usual, but I've decided to give up alcohol for Lent. I couldn't give up alcohol during Mardi Gras. That would just be silly.
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