Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Old Postcard Wednesday--The Blessing of the Shrimp Fleet,
Morgan City, Louisiana



















This postcard took my breath away when I saw it for sale and I had to have it. Be sure to click it to enlarge so you can really appreciate it. Because of this card's power in the face of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster I am basically going to let it speak for itself. But a few links:

Morgan City's website homepage contains tabs with information about the town (but no statement on the oil disaster or how the community has been or expects to be affected). One of the tabs is "Calendar" with a drop-down menu containing Recent Events. The second-to-last event highlighted with photos is the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.

Freda who authors What's the Story in Dalamory included a link that I am repeating in this post. If It Was My Home contains a Visualizing-the-BP-Oil-Disaster-map that is interactive, allowing you to place the damned spill anywhere in the world as a way to compare the size of the horrible thing in relation to other parts of the planet --- this celestial body, our home, that could definitely benefit from a blessing right now.


Certain of our blessings can never change. The important things of life will not perish. In whatever brave new world emerges from this chaos, homes will be created, good deeds will be done and sacrifices will be made. God will be reverently worshipped in many a church and chapel.  Hospitals, libraries and colleges will be organized and endowed. The greatest things will endure - faith, hope and love, and the moral nature in man.
 ~Claude Moore Fuess, educator, historian, author (1885-1963)



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8 comments:

Darlene said...

I used the interactive map and the oil spill crosses the entire state of Arizona and reaches into California on the West and into New Mexico on the eastern border. Shocking!

Lydia said...

Darlene~ It really is shocking. I think the news programs should begin each broadcast showing the thing over some part of the world (not that the news isn't depressing enough already).

Phoenix said...

It's interesting to get the point of view of fishermen with this disaster. Most hunters and people who use animals for food in order to make their living are very environmentally conscious because they have to respect the boundaries they are operating under - gather too much, and their product (and livelihood) goes instinct. They are always so aware of balance.

Balance, I'm afraid, is something that I don't think many large corporations hold as an ideal anymore. I would think that the blessing of any boat or farm would be to honor and respect the animals as much as the boats and equipment.

Thanks for sharing this :)

Lydia said...

Phoenix~ That's what a blessing would seem to entail for me, also.

It took me awhile to understand that the majority of foresters here in the Pacific Northwest have operated with that balance and respect for their product that you mention is true for fishermen and a certain type of hunter. To plunder and decimate that which provides for one a livelihood runs counter to self-preservation. Preservation of the source of a way of life can only be achieved through balance, and I don't see that trend in corporations. No, not at all.

Hattie said...

What can be said except that it's awful? That whole part of the country is rotting away and people down there are in despair.

Lydia said...

Hattie~ When the disaster first began you wrote that it was almost unbearable. You were right then and more all the time.

bfk said...

Oh dear. The Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. Well, at least they got fifty percent correct.

Lydia said...

bfk~ Oh dear, indeed. And Bubba would most certainly agree.

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