New Orleans Day 3 - part one: the angel...

[thoreau]

I took this inside a crypt at the Metairie Cemetery this afternoon.

This angel - fell - crying at the foot of four big blue stained glass windows. I took nearly a dozen photos of JUST this small room. It was a remarkable place.

Before visiting the cemetery - I spent the morning walking through woods in Mississippi - where subdivisions of homes were swept away by Katrina. Finding steps in the woods leading up to front doors that disappeared almost three years ago. We visited Ron and Mark's "beach home" - which is a shell waiting for them to finish the home in New Orleans. I saw lots of news footage and pictures of Katrina damage. but seeing entire communities literally eliminated was intense. It was like someone lit off a bomb that blew away everything but the swamp and beach. unbelievable. I'm still wrapping my head around it.. I'll blog later. Today was visually intense - and hard seeing the boy's beach home so beat up. They didn't want to spend long there - it's still very emotional for them. They'd owned the house for a few months before Katrina. They had one week vacation there reading in sun rooms and relaxing - before the hurricane blew it to pieces. Very rough.

More pictures from the cemetery:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lowfatmuffin/TheMetairieCemetaryNewOrleans

Pictures from the Gulf Coast:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lowfatmuffin/GulfCoastMississippi

Comments

[bukephalus.livejournal.com]

Very powerful images and words. I envy you getting to experience all these extremes.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

LJ lets me share them with you :) woof!

[joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com]

Amazing stuff, Robert. Thank you.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

thank you Joe :) do follow the links to the full sets....

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Your photo of the fallen, crying angel (in blue hues) is stunning ... Thanks for sharing ...

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

thats honestly the natural light in the space - it hasn't been touched. the windows left that blue light on the sculpture.... amazing.

[ursusarctos.livejournal.com]

Absolutely wonderful images from the cemeteries. I can't wait to see more.
One minor point. That damage you witnessed over here in MS wasn't wind for the most part. It was a (up to) 31' tsunami-like wall of water that rose in less than 5 minutes, slammed into the coast and stayed for up to 3 days before scouring what was left out into the Gulf. Ask your hosts for details. You do get a real respect or fear of the physics behind moving water seeing the coast now.
NOLA got a slow drowning, we got a crushing blow. Both were nasty, but we're tough.
I hope the your visit to NOLA/MS continues to be many things you didn't expect, all of them pleasant.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

here is the link to the whole set of cemetery pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lowfatmuffin/TheMetairieCemetaryNewOrleans

Seeing all that was amazing - and their descriptions of car dealerships sitting in a pool of water and rotting - and piles of debris and the toxix stew the water became. Its just awful.

[osodecanela.livejournal.com]

The photos are amazing. I'd heard about the cemetary tours when I visited NOLA, but my trip there was so brief there was no time. Now I realize how much I missed.

The monuments remind me a bit of Greenwood cemetary in Brooklyn

[drevilmoo.livejournal.com]

They certainly know how to do death down there, don't they? Beautiful pictures and it sounds like you are having fun.

[everythingnnot.livejournal.com]

Amazing pics! Reminds me of a short writing I wrote some time back as the pic could indeed be the angel spoken about here:

Broken Angel

Tired angel slumps over a headstone wondering what has gone wrong with the world. Her wings are battered. Broken by the long night’s journey into the gloom of children terrified of the dark; of what lies behind unlocked doors; of who opens the doors of their rooms which should be sanctuaries against monsters.

Her tears pour out in rivets of sorrow for those things she has yet to get to. Things, which haunt her, like demons pounding against the walls of her heart. Things which no one else dares to see; which most would not believe should they happen to glance upon them.

Her tattered wings try to cover her while she consoles herself. Steadying her resolve to face another night; then another on to eternity. Endless nights of the crying eyes of children peering in the darkness of empty souls and hopeless lives. She cannot help them all.

There are far too many that cry out to the heavens beseeching that someone might hear so numerous small voices which speaks prayers in whispers and sobs. They long for protection from their lives. Lives filled daily with terror; panic stricken they hold little hope that tomorrow will be better. Little hope that people can change; even that someone will hear their pleas.

And what of ones in silence who suffer needlessly because they cannot speak of demons that they see. Parents turned to demons who pain and sorrow bring. Love all but forgotten in the endless agony. Who can comprehend the silence of the ones with voice stolen? To short were their lives filled with pain of those forgotten.

Angel tears are flowing over one such silent child which others call to her their small voices but whispers in her ears.


Thanks so much for sharing that pic!