BLAKE & QUAKERS
9 months ago
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angels and people / life in new orleans by Susanna S. Powers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
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angels and people / life in new orleans by Susanna S. Powers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Oh, what's the story behind this?
ReplyDeleteGood morning Glenn, I think the only story is that this whole summer feels like a Katrina 5-year memorial, with everything coming at us all the time. But I thought it was sort of ironic to have these marks on a cemetery, where counting the dead is redundant. For out-of-town readers, during the weeks following Katrina, there was a massive search & rescue by boat and they painted in permanent paint all over the front of houses, or even on rooftops if necessary, about how many living, dead, animals, etc, and the date and crew. This one is atypical, being on a cemetery after all, and somehow pleasing in its symmetry. My reaction, about our house, was to take pictures but get the whole house completely painted nicely, as soon as possible. But there is a certain personality type interested in carefully preserving the marks in place, for all time, like a red badge of courage, (or yellow in this case). Everyone has their own way of working through the grief and healing. In Carry Me Home, Mark Folse describes the marks as "painted postcards from a time just passed." thanks, sp
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting that they've elected to leave the search marks all these years. I remember visiting south Miami-Dade County and seeing the names of insurance companies spray-painted on half-destroyed homes years after Hurricane Andrew, but I think most people who stayed and rebuilt painted over them. I'm glad to know animals were included in the search. One of the most horrifying aspects of the news coverage of Katrina were the reports of barking dogs trapped in abandoned homes all over the city.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response, sussah. As for keeping the "X" signs, I've heard of at least one person who photographed the one on his house after he'd returned and had the image tattooed onto his arm. It's a "sign", after all.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a creative way of processing the emotions, putting the experience into a form, to control it. It would be helpful if everyone tattooed their issues on themselves, but most people don't need to because the words out of their mouths catch up with it very quickly. Someone I know, who was not badly affected by the storm, wore a gold pendant of the hurricane symbol on a chain around her neck, and I thought, how could you wear that on top of your heart? Everyone's responses were and are personal. sp
ReplyDeleteI think I'm in agreement with you on the hurricane symbol over the heart. In addition to that, I find it a disagreeable symbol. It appears to me to be off-kilter anyway.
ReplyDeleteWow! You've outdone yourself with this one, and that's saying something.
ReplyDeleteThanks K! I'm glad you saw it. You never know which person might like which photograph. I now pronounce you an honorary New Orleanian. It's a pleasure to hear from you, sp
ReplyDeleteNow that's an honor! You just made my day!
ReplyDelete