Although I was born in Kentucky and have spent most of my life here

I spent seven or so years in Louisiana, over a third of my childhood. and a terribly long time to be stationed anywhere in the armed forces. Actually I was there twice--we moved to England AFB when I was a few days old, which was near Alexandria, and then six years at Barksdale AFB near Shreveport, where I lived from age 6 to age 12.

So I've been watching the rising of the Mississippi and the flooding that was engineered to save the bigger cities, causing havoc for those who live out in the country who are seeing the floods threaten their homes and livelihoods.

I guess in a bit of solidarity, while I was putting some of my CDs on my phone, I pulled out Carencro, by Marc Broussard, which is a sort of soul-rock album. Here's my favourite song:

It may be small, but it packs a punch

Video of a cat facing down a (and at one point two) alligators, who decide perhaps it's best to slink back into the water.



Ah, Louisiana, home of my youth, where I used to wade in lakes full of water moccasins, play in woods full of copperheads and bobcats, and where Old George the alligator would walk back up the state every time they moved him from the lake down South. It's amazing I survived. I guess to be a cat in alligator country, you have to have a certain amount of chutzpah.

I grew up in Louisiana

albeit in the northern part, not the south, but it breaks my heart to see so much oil heading for the coast in what could easily be the worst spill ever. The damage to wildlife could be incalculable, and in an area barely recovering from hurricane Katrina, this could mean the end to many people's livelihoods (shrimpers, for example). As one man put it:

"A hurricane is like closing your bank account for a few days, but this here has the capacity to destroy our bank accounts," said Byron Marinovitch, 47.

Birds under threat as oil hits La. shore: Spill may prompt rethink of Obama’s coastal drilling plans

I remember the Exxon Valdez spill and how devastating that was. (Did you know that ship is still in service?) Even now, the coast there shows signs of oil. This is set to be far worse, since the oil is continuously pumping out and is much more than any single tanker could contain. May they be able to do everything they can to minimise the damage to the Gulf Coast.

How do you clean up an oil spill?

PHOTO: (Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) in mating plumage foraging on rocks near Crescent City, California)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanvernon/ / CC BY 2.0