It's that time of year again...

No, I don't mean the week of Dragon*Con, though that has finally arrived as well. I mean, in case you haven't spotted this already elsewhere, that the Ohio Valley Filk Fest has officially released its final ballot for the 27th (mostly) annual Pegasus Awards. And the really, unspeakably cool thing? About two-thirds of them are on my friends list right here in LJ-land. (See if you can spot which ones!) Most of them are even people I know personally out in meatspace, to one degree or another.

Congratulations to all the nominees; having had four nominations myself in the past, I know that heady feeling all too well. Best of luck to everyone in what is surely one of the toughest fields to choose from ever...and as they say in Chicago, "Vote early, vote often!" Here's hoping the Songbird and I get to congratulate the winners in person, up Ohio way on the fourth weekend in October.

Five years ago today, my home region's last big nightmare began

On this date in 2005 at around 5:10 AM CDT, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near the towns of Triumph and Buras, LA and began its road to eclipsing 1965's Betsy, 1969's Camille (which hit at almost the same time of year) and 1992's Andrew as the historic benchmark for destructive hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region. I was living here in Atlanta at the time with the Songbird not yet having gotten her Kenya job, so we both were witness to the horrific images and reports. She herself went down to New Orleans to help get the city's health department back up and running in the weeks that followed.

If you recall, the rain and wind of the storm's initial arrival in the city actually did minimal damage itself, and folks there briefly supposed that they had dodged the bullet that had wiped half of Mississippi's and Alabama's oceanfront towns off the map. Not until the next day did the storm surge-swollen waters of the 17th Street Canal, the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO, or "Mr. Go" as it's known) and other local waterways break their weakened levees, starting the weeks of widespread flooding that took so many lives and devastated areas of the city and neighboring St. Bernard Parish—some of which still lie unrebuilt and abandoned today.

I don't need or want to recap for you the grisly scenes of that week, or the criminality and incompetence that impaired government response at all levels then and in the years since. And British Petroleum PLC's unconscionable negligence causing the Gulf waters that spawned Katrina to be polluted with millions of barrels of crude oil this spring and summer, further crippling the region's economy and families, didn't help. And many in the areas beyond New Orleans who still need help note that concern from others outside the region still seems to focus on New Orleans at their expense, as a Magnolia State author writes here.

Still, what used to be known as "The City That Care Forgot" is making its slow, struggling way back to full health, as Time magazine reports here. The new mayor, Democrat Mitch Landrieu (having won his daddy's old job after the forced departure of Ray Nagin, who held it when Katrina hit), estimates about 80% of the city's pre-evacuation population has returned. As the biggest hero of the aftermath, now-retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, reports here to CNN, a great deal of rebuilding progress has been made. And the music, cuisine, history and culture that made the city a worldwide tourist destination are still there and going strong.

Having known its citizens for two-thirds of my life and lived there for several years, I can testify that NOLA and its people have an unconquerable spirit that not even nature's and man's worst depredations can kill off. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will make it all the way back, even if it takes longer than most had expected or hoped. As N'Awlins folk have long said in a more sports-oriented context, "I still believe."