Today I had dinner with my daughter Anita, Dave and the kids. We ordered a takeout from Ruby Tuesday's. What can I say ... it was good. There is so much that we all do during the week that sometimes the meals we have are nourishing but not special. Although we ate around noon, the food was worthy of being called "dinner". The skylights that were installed in a room that had no windows looks great. It brings light to the entire upstairs. We had a heavy rain a couple of days ago and they didn't leak ... so that job is complete. They have so much more to do. Downstairs will not be complete until all the cabinet doors are painted and re-hung.

I usually never miss an opportunity to drive around looking for progress, today was no exception.

Side View of Above House

Perhaps you sense a lack of enthusiasm in this writing and you would be correct. I am tired! Everybody is tired! It has been a long time! The stressful part of all of this is that we all know that it is going to take years to make a comeback. I have often wished I could just "hug" everyone in the three counties to let them know I understand. I see people on local TV that I may not know personally but have patronized their restaurant or sat behind them at church. Some years back I stood next to A.J. Giardina (WLOX) at Kmart in Long Beach. I have been in most of the damaged or destroyed churches (Catholic) on the coast. Two of my daughters were baptized at Our Lady of Fatima in Biloxi and two at St. John in Gulfport. I wonder about the whereabouts of all the people I did know that worked at our office over the years. Are they okay? The storm is said to be the worse natural disaster that ever befell the United States but people still do not seem to understand what that entails. When is the last time, if ever, you and I have been concerned about infrastructure? I had never spoken the word ... until Katrina. We have big problems down South, bigger than the destruction from the Civil War because technology gave us many more things to be destroyed. Time will tell how well we fare. I pray that I am still around to see it.

Thanks for lending an ear. This writing is different from what I usually write and will probably continue on that course. I don't want to "whitewash" what is happening here. We have too many barriers holding us back. If such a disaster strikes the California coastline or the East Coast, will they be prohibited from rebuilding their coastline? Will federal help require them to pay 10% before the money earmarked to help them can be released? Think about that logically!