Last fall I moved to a lovely little town in southern Wisconsin.  It is small, has a thriving downtown, and the traffic is minimal.  Unfortunately, Wal*Mart also thinks it's the perfect town to build in, even though they already have a small store here and there are two other stores within 20 minutes of here.

I watched the small town where I lived in Louisiana become a sprawling, traffic-clogged, faceless place.  And I would hate to see that happen here as well.

I am not opposed to development, unless it is inane.  More below the fold...

Yesterday I took a drive through Lakeview to say goodbye.  We will be moving to Wisconsin in three weeks and I wanted to say goodbye to a place where I spent many hours walking up and down the streets and parkways.

The streets were still empty, the houses still decimated, the weeds were high and many trees were dying.  But more on that below the fold.

I wrote this back in October, 2005 at another site I visit.  I decide to include it here for the anniversary of Katrina.  There were so many thoughts, experiences and fears that even by October my mind had blanked out.  I wish I had kept a journal.

My update is at the bottom.

I have photos that went in the story, but I don't know how to post them online, so I'm sorry you won't get the full effect. Also, please see the dKos Katrina Blog: http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina_blog_project

Every year I go home to the small town in Colorado where I grew up for the Fourth of July.  It's a great mountain town with lots of parties, a fun parade, and some really good fireworks.  If I'm anywhere else on the Fourth I become a snarling depressed lump of human flesh that must be constantly fed chocolate until the day is ended and all fireworks are done.

This year was a little different because this is my first vacation since Katrina hit here last year.  I went by myself as hubby chose to save his leave to use in his job search and to take care of the animals at home.  I planned to RELAX!  To sleep, play sudoku, drink coffee and good beer, hike, and visit friends.  I was going to leave the world behind for TWO WHOLE WEEKS!  No news, No Kos, No Truthout.  (Okay, just a glance here and there)  No worries about peak oil, the middle east, the idiots in the whitehouse, or work.  

I knew going into this vacation that I would have one challenge to my plans - my wingnut parents...