Went out to deliver lunches this morning with Theresa, Margaret and Olivia (Margaret's granddaughter) of Trinity Episcopal Church (Garden District). We made sandwiches and then drove off to the 9th Ward in the Mobile Loaves and Fishes Van. All of the lunches went out, but the challenge is to find people on those blocks. Lunches went to people working on homes, to kids, elderly people, spanish-speaking men doing landscape work... The lunches were appreciated, and I had a good time serving iced tea and lemonade and meeting people.

In the picture second from the top, T. is speaking to a man from St. Bernard Parish (east of where we were) and trying to find out whether he knows any details about the death in the storm of an acquaintance of hers who lived a few blocks from him. He called a couple of people to ask if anyone knew.

We finished our route around lunchtime, and I went with Pastor Davenport to lunch at the restaurant you see in the third picture. Catfish, macaroni, peas, potato salad, cornbread.

He showed me some other parts of town, including the block where he was born and raised (very near St. John #5 Faith). While I was waiting for him, I took the fourth picture from the top, which shows a unit of the St. Bernard housing project directly across the street from the house where Pastor Davenport's daughter and a friend waded away from their home when the area flooded. You can see someone's possessions tossed out of the building. It is closed now, and when I flip channels on the radio while driving I hear many comments about what ought to be done with the dozen or so housing projects around the city. Pastor Davenport showed me two more large projects- Lafitte (also closed now, near the Two Sisters Restaurant) and Iberville (closer to downtown, with residents still there).

Afterward I drove over the bridge called 'Crescent City Connection' to look at the neighborhood of Love Lutheran Church. I had hoped to meet with the Pastor there, but he was sick on Thursday. You might remember the bridge as the scene of a confrontation after Katrina when some who had taken refuge in the Convention Center walked across the bridge (a very long walk) and were stopped at the other end of the bridge and told to go back.

I saw no damage in the area immediately around Love Lutheran Church. I believe there was quite a lot of wind damage from Katrina and Rita, but no flooding there. I did, however, see the church in picture #5 with its steeple off. There were several tornadoes in the area last week. I don't know whether the steeple fell recently or not.

I had a treat this evening as I got to hear Ellis Marsalis play at a place called 'Snug Harbor' on the other side of the French Quarter from where I am at. I had a good seat, about ten feet from the piano (picture 1).