Every aspect of life has been affected by Katrina

Some of you may recall that we took in some foster kittens that were rescued from a feral colony and turned out to be tame. Under normal conditions, someone else would have fostered the rescued kittens, but because of the massive post-hurricane rescue mission, kitten foster families were already very busy. And under normal conditions, the kittens would have probably remained in their foster home for a few weeks. But these kittens have been here for three and a half months because there have been no adoption cages available. This, too, is because of Katrina.

Finally, we understand, some cages will be available at two retail outlets within the next few days. Of course, in the meantime, we have become very attached to the kittens, and it will be very sad when they go. As much trouble as they are--and they are a lot of trouble--I hate to see them go because now I know them so well and am so fond of them. We are the only humans they have ever known and they are attached to us, too. They are wonderful kittens and will make great pets, but I will miss them a lot.

Then there is the matter of some other, less attractive, creatures--the pine bark beetles. After Katrina, thousands of dead, dying and weak trees were left on the ground, and they attracted large colonies of every type of pine bark beetle known to Louisiana. They ate their way through the wooded area in our front yard, and totally consumed the pines in our back yard, and in our neighbors' yards. The good news is that we now have sun in our back yard (we have very little in the front, which makes gardening difficult), and we can also clearly see the specimen trees back there, which include a wild magnolia and a very attractive palm tree. It is also easier to see the camellias and azaleas. Two poorly performing hydrangeas have also been transplanted back there

We have also created a bed where we will grow daylilies, a large ginger, and some other perennials, yet to be determined. Soon we will edge it and add some stepping stones leading from our deck. Eventually, the bed should look very nice, but who knew we were going to suddenly have this bare space in the back? Alongside the deck, we plan to put some Louisiana irises where there used to be a stand of bamboo. If the bamboo comes back, that's okay, too.

We had no way of knowing how many activities would be affected by Katrina, or that there would be this many changes occurring in our environment.