A walk in the park

I live in the uptown part of New Orleans and yesterday about dusk I went to Audubon Park for a walk. There is a track that's divided down the middle with one side for cyclists and the other for pedestrians. It sits under ancient and majestic oaks and it was crowded yesterday. The students from Tulane and Loyola across the street were moving fast, pounding the ground with their roller blades and their feet. Young couples were walking more slowly with babies and dogs in tow. An elderly man was bent over and stopped at every bench to rest. There were little groups of friends walking and chatting. The bicycles were nearly silent in their lane but there was the low mummer of wheels and words along the track.



Looking at the expensively dressed and cheerful people you'd never know there was another New Orleans. You would not guess that across town there are miles of ruined homes and businesses. The people on the track may rarely think about the people who lived in the devastation of the flooded areas who have not yet recovered. Yet, they are both parts of the same whole. One cannot be separated from the other. The universality of loss makes brothers and sisters of us all here.

The differences are only of degree.