The Bonnet Carre Spillway

Two weeks ago, the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway to prevent flooding of the Mississippi in New Orleans and downstream.  I went to go see this monumental event on the day of it's opening, and it was quite something to see.  

Sometimes you forget just how powerful the river can be, in spite of the fact that you live right next to it, and seeing the overflowing waters flooding the empty land was quite a sight to see.  It's also amazing to think that this is what people lived with for thousands of years before we created levees.  Every single spring you lived in fear of a flood, or perhaps you were just more prepared.  Either way, it was just a fact of life.  

Here are some picture of the amazing power of water.  A seemingly benign force, yet ultimately so powerful.  Arguably the most powerful force on the whole planet.  

The spillway is indefinitely bigger than you can imagine.  It's easy to imagine a small diversion, but in reality the bridge over the spillway is 2 miles wide, and the spillway has the capacity to handle 250,000 cubic feet/second of water, which is an absolutely amazing flow rate, if you think about it.   

As you can see here, there are roads throughout the spillway (dry when not in use) that are completely covered by the rushing waters.

These wading birds were standing on what I think is a covered railing on the side of the road.  They seemed so confused by the rapidly rising water, not knowing exactly how to handle it.  

Graduation

On Thursday I officially became a college graduate.  While that title seems so monumental, I actually feel no different - in all honesty, I don't even feel the pressing weight of reality.  I think I'm still processing the fact that I'm leaving this amazing city and that my friends are scattering across the country.  In spite of this, it was a fabulous time to spend with my family.  Here are a few photos from the evening to commemorate the event, because even if I didn't feel like it was monumental, it really is.  

Don't my dad and my uncle look so snazzy in their searsucker suits?  True Southern gentlemen, wouldn't you say?

With my aunt and my mamma!

The family!

I just love Gary's face so much in this picture.  He's so happy!  Photographs like this make me smile.  This is one of the best parts of photography - capturing those fleeting, yet significant, expressions.  

Would you believe me if I told you that this is essentially a set?  Oh, the wonders of the modern world.  When I first stepped out that door onto the wide porch, supported by the big, white columns and looked outside to see oak trees framing a little path the crossed a small creek I thought I was outside.  Then I noticed that it was air conditioned.  It was quite a double take.  

The mighty Mississippi as our backdrop.  I love these bridges so dearly, but mostly because they remind me of the old Cooper River bridges from Charleston.  

The Moon This Evening

Whew!  It's been a spectacularly busy week and a half.  In the past ten days I have attended three days of Jazz Fest, attended not one, but two crawfish boils for Mother's Day, had a birthday, had a graduation party, graduated, celebrated, packed up, and sold furniture.  My stomach has been protesting for over indulging in these rich New Orleans foods, and I am now on a salad/raw food diet (and let me tell you, I'm not a salad gal).  

In all this fussing around and entertaining, I have had so much fun, but have had little time for the quiet moments in life until today.  This evening just after sunset, I looked out my window and saw the most beautiful almost-full moon.  I grabbed my camera and took a short walk to take some pictures of the moon.  

While the moon is so difficult to capture on film,* I still love taking pictures of it.  There is something incredibly calming about the night sky to me, and I always hope that these moon photos will capture that mood.  I also saw this wonderful flower on my walk.  They are in my neighbor's yard, and are huge and hang down, so that you have to pick up the flower to see those delicate petals inside.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  

*What do you say when you take a picture, but its digital, not on film?  I'm still going to stick with "on film" because it's the same concept.  The beauty that your eye takes in is just not captured by the camera.  

To Beginnings and Endings

On Tuesday I finished my last ever exam as a college student.  The only thing left for me to do is enjoy the next few weeks in a city that I have learned to love more deeply than I though possible with some of the best friends this world has to offer.  

A good way to celebrate, we thought, was a picnic in the living room of my friend's completely unfurnished apartment.  We got a cheese board and a charcuterie plate from the St. James Cheese Company.  (Which is just about my dream store.  Cheese?  Meat?  Wine?  Sold!  Did I ever mention that one of my life goals is to be a cheesemonger?  In all seriousness, though, it would really be my dream job.)  Add to that a special bottle of Saints champagne, a bottle of Prosecco, and a little music and we were set!  

We toasted to friends, life and new beginnings, and tucked into our delicious dinner and one of my favorite nights of college.  

I think every new house should be broken in with delicious champagne and yummy cheese and the best of friends, don't you?