Vancouver first

An untypical sunny Vancouver day just prior to setting sail aboard the M/S Volendam

September 6

The memories of Hurricane Gustav were still fresh in my mind on September 5 when I returned to New Orleans. The thoughts of tires stuck in the mud, a blown front tire, blinding rain, blustery winds and long lines of heavy traffic were still very much with me when I repacked the large suitcase I intended to take with me on my Alaskan cruise. That last day was fraught with peril and there was really no time to make needed runs to the bank and to the food store to restock all of the perishable items I had removed and given away at Henry S. Jacobs Camp or consumed before leaving for the trip. I did manage to make it to Loew's to return several hundred dollars worth of storm-related supplies, but, alas, the generator was not returnable. So, I now have a perfectly fine portable generator filled with gasoline that I hope to use (or hope to not have the occasion to use) in the future. But my thoughts had turned from hurricanes to the high seas. I was ready to leave early the next morning. The M/S Volendam (that dam ship!) was to embark from Vancouver, British Columbia, truly one of the most beautiful cities in the world on Sunday morning, September 7. Unfortunately, because of Gustav, American Airlines decided to cancel the two early morning flights from New Orleans to Dallas, despite the information on the website that stated everything was scheduled and on time. This required a run to Brennan's Restaurant to sample some grits and grillades, Eggs Sardou and Bananas Foster. After all, I wasn't certain how civilized these Cannucks were going to be. The rescheduled flight put me into Canada in the early evening rather than early afternoon, so the afternoon tour of the city was rescheduled for the next morning, just prior to the time that the ship would set sail for the 49th state.

Governor Palin wasn't home

Mendenhall Glacier located outside of Ketchikan, Alaska

Ike was as probably as bad as I had feared. I am truly sorry for those people living along the Louisiana and Texas coasts who took the full brunt of the storm. Many of my friends from the area in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes took a double hit from Gustav and then Ike. I will be seeing what I can personally do to help my friends in Scouting there, particularly those in the Houma area. Regular readers may have wondered why I haven't posted more regularly over the course of the last week and I gave a hint last Friday, the last time I had access to the Internet. I had been planning a vacation before all of this hurricane brouhaha. The trip was to take place the following weekend when Gustav suddenly forced my evacuation from New Orleans. Not only had I been forced to load up my essentials for the trip to Jacobs Camp in Utica and the eventual run to Memphis, but I also had the additional consideration of having to bring all of my clothes for a week-long cruise that started in Vancouver, British Columbia on September 6. I was probably the only evacuee from New Orleans who had his formal wear, cufflinks and patent leather shoes with him throughout the ordeal. When I was able to return home, I only had a little over 24 hours to repack and make certain that I was truly prepared for the trip of a lifetime to Alaska. Yes, Alaska, the largest state in the union and the one that remains the most untamed, brutal and awe-inspiring site that one can imagine. This was a pleasure cruise and one that paled in comparison to the harsh conditions endured by thousands who first came to Alaska in search of gold during 1898. For a boy from the flat Mississippi delta lands to see the wonders of majestic snow-capped peaks towering thousands of feet in the air was breathtaking. For someone accustomed to seeing alligators swimming along bayous to see humpback whales and orcas in their native environments was impressive. Over the course of the next few days I will be recounting my travels along Alaska's Inner Passage aboard the Holland America ship M/S Volendam. Despite all of the many wonders and pleasures I endured on this vacation, it was all tempered by the thoughts of those back home who had just endured Gustav and who were hoping to avoid the new storm as well as those in the direct path of Hurricane Ike.

Another whalechaser

A humpback whale in a characteristic salute to whalechasers.

Part of dealing with the wonderful blogosphere is that one meets a world of people online who would probably never cross paths in real life. I have gotten to know a fellow blogger, who goes by the name Whalechaser. Her blog is called Whalechaser's Musings and is filled with a number of sometimes hilarious and oftentimes very well-written pieces. I find it incredible that she goes by the nickname of Whalechaser since that's exactly what I've been doing for the last several days. More on this later. Thought I'd post a picture I took the other day just for you (and her) to enjoy.

The Seven Year *itch

Seven years ago we all remember where we were when the attacks on America began. It was a defining moment in our republic, a focal point from where we knew we were no longer safe in this world. This was the day that global terrorism became domestic. We had watched from afar for many years and witnessed how others in far off lands had struggled with the threat of terrorism as part of their everyday fabric. We had labored under a false sense of security. After that black Tuesday morning, we could no longer look at terror in the same way as we had on September 10, 2001. In a plan designed to frighten our citizenry and shake the foundation of our nation, the enemy used our own advanced technology against us, felling the noble Twin Towers in New York, the symbol of our financial prowess, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the seat of our military power. Seven years ago today we shook our heads in disbelief, mourned our victims and, in a series of specific measures, set about redefining what liberties we would have to do without in order to safeguard our national security. It seems pretty clear to me that the future of our nation depends on our ability to protect ourselves. With brave men and women stationed in far away lands to safeguard its liberty, America finds itself on the brink of one of its most important national elections. It is important we remember the lessons of 9/11 and keep them close at heart when we cast our ballots in less than eight weeks.

Breathing a sigh of relief

Sometime yesterday I went from major hurricane mode and consideration of having to evacuate a second time to being able to breathe a sigh of relief and relax for the first time in a week. Frankly, the prospect of being able to enjoy the weather for the first time since Gustav came roaring into town, is much appreciated. I began to think about Hurricane Betsy, the 43rd anniversary of which was this past week. Hurricane Betsy was the first storm that taught me the magnitude of what a hurricane could do and it gave me insight into how dangerous these storms could be. My mom and dad flew over the hurricane as they journeyed to Guatemala and the Yucatan Peninsula for a two-week vacation. They literally flew over Betsy and came back just after essential services had been restored. My housekeeper Victoria was in charge of taking care of my sister and me and we had no electricity for most of that fortnight. Many storms have come and gone in the intervening decades, but I always respected them after Betsy, even when they were just at tropical storm strength. Now that Ike has made a more westerly track towards Texas or Mexico and lost most of its power, I am ready to think about more important things like the presidential campaign or the recovery effort going on in Houma or maybe about the onset of fall. In any event I am now ready to keep my mind affixed on any of these events as long as I can keep my attention off tropical storm activities.

Disasters of both kinds

Thank you, Cuba. While I thought for sure that Hurricane Ike would be moving into the Gulf of Mexico as a powerful category 2 or 3 storm before re-strengthening, your jagged and mountainous landscape provided just the resistance needed to tame the storm into a category 1. Of course 73 deaths were attributed to Ike in Haiti and we’ll probably hear about the death toll in Cuba within another 24 hours. But as was the case with Gustav, any lessening of strength is something for which we should all be grateful. While many in New Orleans and along the Louisiana Gulf Coast have kept a wary eye on Ike as the storm churned in the Caribbean, others in the nation are looking to Washington, D.C. to witness an unnatural disaster. I am speaking of the incredible bailout by the federal government of FannieMae and FerdieMac. Thanks to lobbying on behalf of mortgage and banking interests who needed it to save their financial necks, the United States assumed the assets and liabilities of those two giant lending institutions that will cost taxpayers anywhere from $200 billion to as much as $500 billion. As the late Senator Everett Derksen was wont to say “A billion here and a billion there…pretty soon you’re talking real money.” So, which will have the most impact on our lives? The natural disaster that could cause levees to fail or the unnatural bailout of two financial institutions who were run so shabbily that the government had to come to their aid after creating financial havoc in the lending industry? Only time will tell, but either way we’ll need a lifesaver to hold onto or else risk being sucked into the vortex of financial doom or social upheaval.

I don't like Ike and neither should you

A possible one, two punch from two major hurricanes within a week of each other? That's preposterous. That's ridiculous. That's exactly what could be happening right now. The likelihood that Ike will strike Florida is fairly certain. Experts are suggesting it could be the most powerful storm to strike Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. People in New Orleans will recall two facts. When Hurricane Betsy hit Miami in 1965, it started on a track that eventually hit New Orleans. When Hurricane Andrew struck the southern peninsula of Florida, it followed a similar track. With those historical markers stated, let me now give you my gut feelings. All through the Gustav crisis, I kept eyeing Ike. It developed very quickly and reminded me of Hurricane Camille in how compact and destructive it seemed to be. Because it already is or is about to hit areas devastated by Gustav and Hannah earlier, this storm has the potential to inflict major loss of life in the Caribbean. But closer to home there are several things that are clear. To mount another major evacuation in another few days on the scale of what we went through with Gustav seems unlikely. Like the boy who cried wolf, Mayor Nagin's call for everyone to leave the city for the "mother of all storms" might come back to haunt him. People may reason that nothing happened before, so why not ride out the storm. That's a dangerous assumption and one that police and Homeland Security definitely don't one people to take. Like it or not, a good number of people in Southeast Louisiana don't have the means necessary to evacuate and stay away from their homes for extended periods of time. I am holding my breath a bit on this one. As Ike makes its way towards the Gulf, we'll get a better sense where the storm will eventually make landfall. The forecasters were dead on track for Gustav. Their suggested path of the storm has it in the Gulf by Thursday, a horrifying thought indeed.