Godspeed, Big Easy

I moved to New Orleans when I was 9, lived there for close to a year – the year of Hurricane Betsy, in 1965.

Wild times. We spent a wind-howling night in a second-floor apartment, then returned to our mobile home, which had floated during the storm, apparently, and came down almost on its blocks. My stepmother was scared to open the door – bone dry, only the air conditioner underneath was ruined.

I remember no power, Sterno for cooking, vienna sausages to eat. Ugh. (That was also the year my stepmother had to go to a notary public to swear out an affidavit that I and my two older brothers – having just moved from Philadelphia – were white. Segregation time and all that.

Anyway, I only lived there for one Mardi Gras, remember looking through the windows at the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on Bourbon Street, and… well, I sure hope things go well in the next 12 to 24 hours.

You might remember I’ve been pining for WorldNow to add forum/photo album features to our Website. Well, Hurricane Gustav has prompted creation of a nationwide message board, available to all their stations, and while it isn’t the busiest place in the world, I’ve weighed in, and I do like the look, and hope we can create my dreamed-of High Desert Forum some time, using that software.

Like babysitting the article comments isn’t fun enough, at times;-) But it WAS the top-viewed item at KTVZ.COM in August, topping any individual news story. Some people are offended by what some posters say, but … it is a thriving community and I’m fascinated by it. Many nice folks there, too. Please join in!

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Author: Barney Lerten

A newsman/news 'junkie' since a young boy - in Bend, Oregon since 1991, with a wonderful wife, Debbie, and two crazy kitty-cats!

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