Geographers and other people use the term “region” to help us locate an area of land whose shared characteristics set it apart from other places. For example, geographers identify ten regions of the world, including the continent of North America, which is where we find the United States, Louisiana, and New Orleans. We also use “region” for smaller areas, when we say that Louisiana is in the southern region of the United States, and New Orleans is in the region of southeastern Louisiana.

Can you name other regions to which your location or New Orleans belongs?

Shared Characteristics: Physical

Physical features of a region are made by nature, such as land forms, bodies of water, vegetation, animals, climate, and weather. The three North American countries are Canada, the United States, and Mexico. They form a continuous stretch of land. The Rocky Mountain range runs through western North America, in both Canada and the United States. The range’s highest peak is in Colorado, 14,440 feet (4,401 m) above sea level. The mountains do not extend to Louisiana, but one of their resources often does.

What might the Rocky Mountains send all the way to New Orleans and what physical feature would carry it there?

The three countries of North America share the Pacific coastline. What other coastlines do these countries share?

Louisiana also shares characteristics with areas outside North America.

In fact, what do more than half the world and half the U.S. population have in common with the greater New Orleans area?

a. They all have frigid climates.
b. They are within fifty miles of coasts.
c. They have little water nearby.
d. They have very few natural resources.

Louisiana is part of another region that has been in the news a lot since April 2010, the Gulf Coast.

What are some of the physical features that the states and countries in the Gulf Coast region share?

Use what you’ve answered above, and information you’ve read in pages 1-10 of Why People Live in New Orleans to discuss these questions and support your answers:

1. What physical features of the New Orleans area do interviewed residents value?
2. What physical features make the New Orleans area important to people who live elsewhere?
3. Why should you and the rest of the world care about what’s happening to southeast Louisiana?
4. Who do you think should help decide about future oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico? Support your answers with what you know about places and regions.
5. What actions can you and your classmates take that would help damaged physical features of your location, New Orleans, coastal Louisiana, or another region of your choice?  How will it benefit you?
6. If you choose a region other than your own, how could you connect with the people of that region to gain information and work cooperatively?  If you chose your own, how can you connect with other groups in that area who want the same results as you?

At Boat Launch

After Hurricane Katrina and before a new marina was built, Lake Pontchartrain shrimpers moored their boats at a nearby boat launch. I loved to visit in the evenings to see the pelicans hanging out and waiting to be fed leftover fish.

I took many pictures of them there and in other locations, like the one at West End on pilings. The pilings are all that’s left of seafood restaurants that used to be out over the lake until they were washed and blown away in 2005.

Remains of Restaurants

As big as the whole is inside me when I view the remains of the places where so many memories were made and good food enjoyed, I now have another perspective. At least the lake and the pelicans remained after that last disaster. I wonder about what will be left of the one going on now in the Gulf.

Shortly before the April 20, 2010 oil rig explosion we had had a series of articles that now seem ironic. We were being encouraged to return to swimming and enjoying the lake, because, with the help of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and residents’ efforts, the lake had been cleaned and was deemed a healthy environment. About the same time, we were pleased at the announcement that Pelicans had been removed from the endangered species. Now we see the images of pelicans and other animals dying in oily muck, and we worry about that same black muck destroying the Gulf, being at the Mississippi river’s mouth, and inching toward Lake Borne which goes into Lake Pontchartrain.

Hope for the Future

It’s easy for me to become mired myself in the oil catastrophe – hours reading, discussing, and worrying about what’s happening. Fortunately, I have excellent friends, mentors, and family who help me move forward in positive ways. One of these is my daughter who, believe it or not, is named Katrina. Yesterday she sent me written and video versions of a meditation for the Gulf that was, of course, just what I needed at the moment. The last picture on this blog is one I took before this spring, when the water and the pelicans appeared quite healthy. It and the meditation help me focus on the possibility of the Gulf returning to some form of health in the future. You are welcome to check out the meditation yourself at Healing Meditation for the Gulf.

 ”we owe the people of Louisiana and of the Gulf Coast both an ecological and economic debt.”

Wondering about  the term “ecological debt?” Do you consider the Gulf Coast an “industrial sacrifice zone” or a “resource-rich hinterland?” Dr. Haney clearly explains these with a sound summary of relevant environmental and economic events since oil arrived in the Gulf Coast region, including the hurricanes Katrina and Rita periods and the current realities and implications of this 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.  He also makes specific suggestions as to how to repay the debt, including the responsibility of the average citizen/consumer.

I think you’ll find it well worth reading whether you agree or disagree with him.  You can access the article at:  http://www.truthout.org/the-2010-oil-spill-and-our-ecological-debt-louisiana59386

Like five years ago we realize the domino effect of the devastation.  Not only were people killed in or displaced from their homes in the flooding, but those houses once needed postmen to deliver mail, grocery stores to provide food, doctors, schools, and so on, all of whom were affected by the loss of each area.  Similarly, not only did eleven men die, countless fishermen and people working the Gulf lose their jobs, and damage or destruction of wetlands and animal life begin, but people across the nation who drink coffee, eat shrimp, like fruit, plan to buy a new set of tires, or export grain, and those who supply these items, could also feel the effects of this oil incident.

Some things have changed in five years.  There have been a lot more more disasters worldwide and people have become much more proactive, much more connected, and have heightened their expectations.  Volunteers line up to help with booms, debris, and wildlife.  Fishermen, who are prevented from doing what generations of their familes have done, quickly sign up to help because they desparately want the solution and so that they may have some income.  Networks of interested groups communicate with their constituents to mobilize needed support, pressure, and action for a quick response at all levels.

We’ve also learned to stay informed, and to distinguish facts from the damaging misconceptions and generalizations surrounding the event, so we don’t compound the effects of the catasrophe. 

Lost Bayou Ramblers at Old U.S. Mint Stage

Did you attend French Quarter Festival this year? Have you previously? It’s billed as the largest free music festival in the U.S. south, because there are outdoor stages set up throughout the Quarter, where bands take turns performing a wide variety of music free to the public from 11:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. for three days in a row.

It was my good fortune to work all three days right across the street from the Old U.S. Mint where there happened to be a stage for Cajun music. While I remained near my table most of the time, my husband, Bob, meandered throughout the Quarter to sample the entire fare.  When I asked him what impressed him about the festival he replied,

“The uniform quality of performers – excellent music, the tremendous enthusiasm and participation of the people who came to be with them, and the reciprocal relationship between the performers and the people.”

I couldn’t agree more. Over the three days I heard fifteen different bands who performend on this stage alone.  While I preferred some bands’ styles over others, they were consistently good.  Somehow “the people who came to be with them” is so much more fitting than the word “audience,” given the vitality that performers and their fans exchanged and generated together.  Add to these the community ambiance New Orleans creates in each of its festivals, where visitors and locals unite in the zest of the celebration.  This exuberant community, in this case, is both a cause and result of the deep experience of the music and the pure fun of the festival.

Likera Lee and family stop for a meal at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, the generous hosts of my book signing. (Don't be fooled by the restaurant's name; they also have an excellent crawfish etoufee' and more!)

The sign to the left of the table was the subject of many photographs and spontaneous answers.

Throughout the day as people read the top question on my sign — “Why do people live in New Orleans?” – some people, with a large grin on their faces, responded with a sweep of their hands and a nod to the fun, ”Because of this and all the rest we enjoy!” 

Others contentedly said, “Because we can.”  In Why People Live in New Orleans, I address environmental concerns that threaten to cut short our ability to say that.  On this website I invite you to add comments to my posts in the “Environmental Concerns” theme.  I hope you will join me in supporting a solution to these concerns, so that people can continue to say “Because we can” for a very long time.

Donald and Helena Midkiff

Donald K. Midkiff is one of the residents I interviewed for Why People Live in New Orleans. When asked why he lives in New Orleans, he replied,

“King Tut! The New Orleans Museum of Art exhibit was a huge success with hours spent in line. Problem? No, not to the people of New Orleans. A spontaneous block party broke out in line with coolers of shared sandwiches and cold beer. ‘Watcha need, darlin’?’ Love, New-Orleans-style, is all about food, family, and events made special by total strangers.”

Gary Wallerman, co-owner of GW Fins mentioned similar thoughts last Wednesday at my book signing that he and co-owner Tenney Flynn hosted:

“At the first French Quarter Festival after Katrina we had a booth at Woldenberg Park. Here we were along the Mississippi River on a beautiful April day with lots of people enjoying the free music that the festival offers. I looked around at the smiles, the food, the music, the shared values, and thought, ‘This is why I came back to New Orleans; this is why we all love being here!’”

Like Gary and Donald, I feel fortunate to live in a place where people make ordinary and even special events larger than the occasion itself by enthusiastically sharing with others. If we asked people who came here to cheer the Saints in the Superbowl game this year, and those around the globe who became members of the Who Dat Nation, they would probably agree. Fun is contagious, especially with people who genuinely enjoy and welcome others.

Christine Ewy with Pat and Tom Neary

Tom Neary from New Jersey, one of the “strangers” who made Wednesday’s book signing special for me, gave another unsolicited account of this welcoming spirit:

“I was here when I was 19 years old and was a bit intimidated because, being that age, I didn’t expect particularly good treatment. However, the employee who greeted me in the restaurant asked, ‘May I help you?’ in such a way that it sounded more to me like a genuine question of ‘May I serve you?’ I really felt welcome and respected.

More recently I was here with my grown son and again noted that in New Orleans you get a sense of people who are so giving. My son said to me, ‘I know what it is. There’s no attitude here!’”

My book’s title, Why People Live in New Orleans, seems to prompt the type of spontaneous accounts that Tom and Gary gave last Wednesday evening. If you’d like to tell us why you live or visit here, or if you have other responses to what you’ve just read, please add a comment to this blog.

Throughout the book signing, I experience that friendliness firsthand in the delightful exchanges that come so easily in New Orleans among locals and former strangers, where in a matter of moments, through comfortable conversation, connections are found. “May all of your flights be safe ones,” I tell the pilot who is seemingly in a hurry. He slows down for a few moments. He finds out I used to fly for Pan Am and he for Delta. We reflect on the differences in the industry now, and then he is gone. I ask a policeman if he worked yesterday, and nodding, he happily reports that his beat on Mardi Gras was incident-free despite the large attendance. He moves on, but I recognize him when he passes a little later, because in that short, friendly exchange, he became a person and not a uniform. Two gentlemen walk up and read my author description on the poster. They nod to a young girl with them and say, “She wants to be an author, too.” The girl and I chat about what she currently writes. I mention that she can see children her age in my book, because they were among the people I interviewed to ensure multiple points of view. When her guardians so lovingly buy her a book, the written best wishes with her writing that accompany my signature hold the memory of our connection. A musician from Algiers, just across the river from New Orleans, warmly congratulates me on my book. He asks my opinion on future possibilities in our area and emphasizes the need to develop concrete strategies to build on the positive energy from the Superbowl win and new mayor just elected. He excuses himself as someone else seeks information about my book. During all this time I witness the respect and friendliness Luisa Chinchilla (standing with me in the photo) and her assistants give people who enter Hudson Bookstore, even those simply looking for airport information.

I felt quite at ease throughout the book signing, because these connections and others with airport employees and travelers were easy. There is a culture of openness to each other here. As resident Marilyn O’Connor says in Why People Live in New Orleans, “People are friendly. I can be at a shopping center and hold a conversation with almost anyone.” That obviously holds true for the airport, even the day after Mardi Gras!