My Cousin's Flower Shop

It's almost amazing that you can recognize anything when you are looking at pictures of the destroyed Coast, but there are some landmarks still apparent.

I was thumbing throught the photo section on The Gulf Coast News, and found a pic of Lois' Flower Shop. A mainstay of downtown Long Beach fo as long as I can remember, and where my cousin Lois & other family members worked. The shop survived Hurricane Camille in 1969 even though its location is about 3 blocks from the Sound.

When Hal, my brother, and I took our opportunity to drive south of the tracks to see the beach area, we passed the shop and were happy to see Lois, even if it was under such shitty circumstances. Just finding out another member of the family was alive, and getting back to sorting things out is a huge consolation when your world has been turned upside down.

Lois has already moved her shop north of the tracks.



Yay for the Hippies!!

So very often my hippie buddies are dismissed by the mainstream, so it was refreshing to see the Waveland Community's reactions to the Rainbow group who arrived on the Coast right after the storm and set up a field kitchen. A blurb from The Gulf Coast News says this:

The Rainbow Group. Wow. What can I say. This group of people has made a huge difference in people’s lives. I have personally visited the New Waveland Café, have seen the organization, have seen the amount of people who come through the chow line every day while I was there, saw the tents, the tents, saw the squalid conditions these people wer living in to care for others, saw the medical clinic, and the support from many , many people who wished they would stay. The Rainbow Group was the right support at the right time in my mind.

Even with ideological, spiritual and cultural differences, my new friends made a huge difference in people’s lives. The love and support from these people was an enormous boost to the spirit of the community and a necessary staple in people’s lives. Waveland owes a great deal of gratitude to these unselfish and giving people. Asheville, NC (as well as the rest of the country) can count themselves lucky to have such giving and caring individuals living among us.

Here's a first-hand account from one of the guys who made the trip. He's got links to some of the other guys and gals who made the trip, and donated their time and love to helping a group of homeless strangers.

Hawker, please count me as one of the people who thank you for all you and the rest of the Rainbow Group did down there. You're good people.