Post #220283 by Sabina on Sun, Mar 12, 2006 1:14 AM

Thanks-

I get very emotional, and perhaps even sappy I suppose, but OakTiki and I are very tied to N'awlins and the gulf coast, through our friends (some of whom came out of all this better than others of our friends), through our various trips through the years (i.e for deep love of the places), as well as relating to the work we do.

But also, because we knew so much about how this was not only predictable, but predicted- one of our friends in N'awlins was doing graduate environmental sociology work on the history of the levies long before all this and let me tell you, understanding the topiography of the city through her eyes a few years back, we shuddered to even think!

We have spent time traveling through Louisiana's ever diminishing wetlands, done plenty of long driving across the gulf coast, from FL to TX, and spent just enough time off the well worn tourist routes in the N'awlins proper to have just a glimmer of an inkling of just some of what has now been lost forever.

So the minute we saw the storm track, we had a real good idea of what it could mean. We were still on the road on our cross Country trip when it hit, and we were holed up in a hotel room near the upper end of the Mississippi glued to the net and TV.

Marylanders also hold a certain historical relation to the Acadians (who later go on to be called the 'Cajuns') as after their initial departure from Canada, some Acadians migrated through Maryland (the parting was not necessarily amicable) before eventually finding their 'New Acadia' and setting in . So I guess you could say, those of us who spend way too much time looking at history see certain connections there too. Ironically, now after the storm, some Louisiana Cajuns have come to Maryland whether as 'company' or to make new permanent homes here.

So yeah, emotionally connected, and again, very proud and happy to see TC doing what it can to help. And our friends from Tiki Farm have gone above and beyond! I'll be raising a very special 'glass' to Purple Jade soon, complete with some Pat O'Brien's "h" word mix we brought back from our last trip prior to the storm and some New Orleans Rum.

All that, and well, I'm a born and raised Yankee who's learned the wonderous virtues of making a roux.