Jeri: Thanks for asking about our house.

We're about to celebrate our one-year anniversary of living back home: after Katrina we spent about four months (Sept-Dec '05) in "exile" in New Jersey, then eleven months (Jan-Nov '06) in a New Orleans apartment while waiting on insurance money, waiting for a licensed electrician and licensed plumber, and working on the renovation. We were finally able to move back into our home at Thanksgiving last year.

I have before-and-after pix of the homestead in low-resolution (e-mailable) form that I have sent out to various friends. Actually, a set of three pictures is the most instructive: before Katrina, immediately afterwards, and today, after rehab. The biggest difference between before and after is not so much the house as the surrounding and overhanging shade canopy. The hurricane destroyed 70% of the tree canopy citywide, and it's very evident at my property. Our biggest trees survived (didn't fall down completely), but lost most of their limbs. The background of any photo of our house taken before Katrina showed nothing but green above and behind the building, while all pictures taken since then reveal a bare open sky.

I'll try to remember to send copies to joe-at-mudcat, since he was kind enough to offer.

Janie: Speaking of birthdays, I just had one of my own last Thursday: turned SIXTY on the eighth. I'll be wishing you a happy b-day, and will galdly accept belated greetings for myself...