Gulf Restoration Network

01 Mar, 2012

 

A lot of great encounters slip through the cracks on this trip. I suppose that is a product of steady movement. Still, I would hate to neglect some encounters entirely. During my New Orleans pause, I had one such meeting.

One Sunday evening, I had the fortune of picking bluegrass at a friend’s house. Ostensibly, we had convened to play dominoes, but that cause was quickly abandoned when we discovered that we had several talented musicians gathered together. We spent hours picking country and bluegrass tunes and swapping occasional tales between songs. However, there was little talking involved. When we were packing up, I had a short conversation with the tasty banjo picker named Matt. I assumed that his sole occupation was playing with the New Orleans-based bluegrass outfit the Tanglers. Turns out, I was wrong.

Matt works for an incredible organization called the Gulf Restoration Network. Rather than summarizing their inspiring work in a manner that would not do it justice, I suggest that you take the time to read up on them: http://healthygulf.org/ You can also “Like” them on facebook and champion their cause as you see fit.

An important part of the work that the Gulf Restoration Network does is assessing the condition and fate of the southern Louisiana coast. This fragile area of wetlands and bayous is where the rubber meets the road for sea level rise and several other climate change related issues. For more, check out: linesofdefense.org/

Because southern Louisiana is in such a tenuous condition, I decided to change my route and cycle through the region. Although I lack the time to post many of the pictures now, the trip was well worth the additional miles. In the years to come, it is very likely that we will have to change the way that we draw Louisiana. That change is happening now. To see it, we merely have to look. To change it, we need to partner with folks like GRN and express our love for our Louisiana neighbors.