an alum's visit and ecology...

Last night Kimon Ioniddes CA '03 spoke to the group. He spoke of his love for his adopted home of Louisiana, and of the policy work he does for the state. One small layer of the complexity of post-Katrina New Orleans is that I know Kimon is working hard to make things better, and yet I would imagine some of the people with whom we've spoken wouldn't want to have anything to do with someone working for the state's recovery effort.

Kimon was also careful to point out that his entire experience of this area has come post-Katrina. As we cleared lots today, I tried to tune into the ecology of the area. I was in New Orleans 20 years ago for a brief visit, but I'm also new here. As with Kimon's comments on how recovery is going for people here, I have so far found the area difficult to grasp.

When an area like this has been submerged under brackish water for a few weeks, the ecosystem starts nearly from scratch. Which organisms return first? Either those that were tough enough not to succumb to the flood -- today, thick-stalked black-eyed susans by the thousands occupy these lots -- or those that can return on their own power or borne by the wind. So remarkably few ants (though there are some hills, but lots of hornets (with beatiful red and yellow stripes) that don't appreciate our clearing efforts. The language of ecology is striking here. The first organisms to return are pioneer species (that sounds nice) or opportunists (not so positive a connotation).

But does any of that presence or absence I've observed have anything to do with Katrina? Like Kimon, I'm reluctant after so short a time to trust my judgment. It's early, and there will be more experiences and more time swinging a grass whip to reflect on them. Certainly I've been very proud of CA students for their hard work and remarkable generosity of spirit so far.

Thanks for reading!
John Drew