Yesterday while attending church services on the boardwalk in Cape May the flag was raised to half staff in honor of the 13 brave American service members killed in Afghanistan this past week. We, well they, continue to sacrifice and give to serve others and protect us. I hope and pray that we learn from these senseless wars and tragedies and prevent putting out people in harms way in the future. I believe we need to focus on the homeland putting out interests first, and then lending a hand to others after that. We are a mess right now, for many reasons, and any normalcy of traditional fall rituals, like returning to school, have already been fractured by the ramping up of Covid infections.
And over the past few days the Gulf Coast has seen Hurricane Ida hit with winds to over 140 mph which is nearly a Cat 5 hurricane. Ironically it happened the day that Katrina hit 16 years ago. As of now there have been no levy breaks and hopefully the damage and death toll stays to a minimum. I remember Katrina well having gone there as a photojournalist and nurse. Pulling shifts as an RN at a makeshift hospital at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge before heading into New Orleans
and switching over to a photojournalists role capturing the rescues and aftermath of the hurricane. Below is a picture of me standing at the intersection of Desire and Marius Streets in the city's St. Clause section. It was an experience both as a nurse and photographer I will never forget. I can still feel the heat, smell the stench of bayou meets fuel meets sewer, and the sights of desperation on the faces of the residents in the poorest neighborhoods of New Orleans.
Ans this week comes as the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, another large scale tragedy I was involved with, but more on that in a later post. I just pray that there isn't any action from our enemies as we remember the destruction and death we suffered on our American soil.
This past week I had the girls and my nephew down in Bradenton visiting my mom. We had a busy week, hit more thrift stores than I can remember, ate too much, enjoyed her air conditioning, and hitting the beach and docks. The best fishing was there, some frozen shrimp on a barbless circle which provided a constant stream of bites and fish landed.
Sometimes I forget what fishing is supposed to be...just having fun and catching fish. Its not about the fly rod, its not about being anti-bait and spin fishing, its about the smiles like the ones above enjoying, and respecting, the fish and the thrill of a bite on the other end of your line.