Looking out the window at the nightmare outside, we decided to head into Plymouth to buy some wine and find a place for dinner. The town was filled with cars, tourists and locals with the same idea. We took a recommendation to go to a place on the water, Cabby Shack. Facing an indefinite wait for an outside table, we opted to eat inside and had a bowl of chowder and some chicken fingers.
The weekend was dedicated to the “Harlow Family Reunion”. Imagine meeting cousins with your only connection dating back to 1670. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but found our way to the Saturday afternoon business meeting and sat quietly and listened. It became apparent that our initial impression, based on the lack of response to our membership application and genealogy information, was fairly indicative of the entire group. Much of the discussion was around the state of the Harlow House – requiring major structural repair- and the mission of the Harlow Family Association. It turns out that the board members were surprised to learn of the mission of the organization. The other discussion over opening membership to non-Harlows got quite a heated discussion. We did meet a few Harlow cousins who had quite a dry sense of humor and had us rolling on the floor. We decided that there must be some connection between these very distant cousins and John's immediate family…..the caustic, dry sense of humor had to come from somewhere- and it appears to be from the Harlows. After a two hour meetings, we had a few hours before the “Family Dinner”. The buffet of kebabs- beef and chicken with salad and “lemonade” was enlivened by our table companions. We made it through about half of the Harlow Family Auction before making our excuses and heading home. We still had Sunday afternoon to make new friends.
The Sunday picnic was held on the grounds of the Harlow House (closed to the public for the renovation work to come). After lunch of hamburgers and hot-dogs, we had the chance to hear the “guest speaker”, one of the Harlow cousins who is the Curator of Gems at the NY Museum of Art. Expecting to be inside, he had planned for a slide presentation. Faced with presenting outside under a tent, he opted to hold up books and pieces of jade as props. We made a hasty exit after the presentation and explored Burial Hill, the old Plymouth cemetery.
We spent the rest of the week doing some Harlow research in the Mayflower Society library and the Plymouth Library. Donna Curtin, the head of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society, gave us a personal tour of the Harlow House. She explained the difficulties they face with the restoration- cracking beams, insect and water damage. She also told us of the plans for the house. Rather than actual furnishings, they plan to use reproductions to allow people to have a hands-on experience with the furnishings used in the 1600’s. The large fireplace used for cooking and baking will be used for cooking demonstrations.
We listened and watched with horror to the news of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. After the initials reports on Monday, it looked like New Orleans had been spared the brunt of the Category 4/5 hurricanes 150 mph winds. Then, as we were driving through Plymouth, we heard the stories of the levees breaking and water pouring into New Orleans. It was the nightmare that we had talked about when we were with Jean and Gordon in 2002 for the last hurricane. We were glued to the TV watching the streets flooding and saw this beautiful city that we had hoped to call home destroyed. The days following the breach in the levees turned more nightmarish as the 1000’s of people who didn’t have the means to evacuate were left deserted by our government in the Superdome and Convention Center with no food, water or sanitary facilities. People were falling ill and dying of dehydration while gangs looted the local stores taking all of the guns and ammunition, leaving the poor and sick terrorized by gangs. The reports on the news were horrifying- it looked like a third world country, not the “super-power” of the world.
As we’ve traveled the country and seen the crumbling infrastructure of our highways, bridges and the abandonment of our cities, we had been talking seriously about what we would do in a national emergency. The debaucle in New Orleans left us certain that our government is totally incapable of dealing with any kind of disaster- be it natural, terrorism or something like bird flu.
The only quasi hopeful sign was the reaction of our to-date silent media to this tragedy. After years of simply parroting the White House bull-crap, they appear to have found their voice. While they were in the midst of the horrors in New Orleans- in hospitals, the shelters and the streets, they finally called our government on it’s inability to get to those same places.
Brenda and John made a valiant effort to get to Salem- but turned around as they saw the fuel prices rise and the lines for gas grow. They also had to deal with Brenda’s sister and brother-in-law who had to leave their home just outside New Orleans. With no home, no jobs and no idea of when they could return and what they would return to, they moved in with John and Brenda to ride out the storm and its aftermath. Fortunately, their neighborhood and their house made it through with no major damage. But, until they can pump all of the polluted water out of New Orleans, no one is being let back into the city permanently.
With stories of fires damaging 3 blocks of homes in the Garden District, water at the roof levels of other homes and bodies floating in the streets, it has been a nightmare beyond description.
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