The Back

 


This is my family's house from the backyard. The slant that you see in the foreground building comes from the floodwaters lifting the bulding off of its foundation. Some combination of factors probably caused the 30 degree list: weeks spent soaking in the water; the pressure of the initial surge; and, potentially, wind. In any case, it gets worse inside in the house. 

Katrina Cleanup

I'll try to post some pictures this weekend from the cleanup at my family's house in the Big Wheezy (when you see the dust, you'll understand the pun). When I post them, I'll describe the eerie scene throughout much of the city.

A Very Washington Funeral

A death is almost always shocking, not least when no signs of illness are visible and no warnings manifest themselves in other ways. It was under these circumstances that I was informed of David Wimer's death early this week. The funeral was yesterday afternoon in a small, simple church that was packed to capacity. A number of people were standing in the back of the church for lack of space, among whom were Alexander Haig and Jerry (L. Paul for the non-personal) Bremer. As someone at the funeral commented afterwards, it's a tribute to the kind of guy that David was that the pallbearers have to squeeze between Al Haig and Jerry Bremer to get out of the door! Indeed. Later, at David's house, a number of fairly influencial Washingtonians held forth on various matters that merely reminded me how close David was to the centers of power in the world. He wouldn't have thought anything of the gathering -- these were his friends, after all. But for a poor cajun from a now defunct homeland, it was an impressive testament to a life well-lived.

Goodbye, David. We miss you already.