Halloween That Wasn't

This was the Halloween that wasn't here in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina has so destroyed the area that even fun diversions like Halloween hardly exist anymore. There was little evidence of Halloween this year- few decorations, virtually no haunted houses, trick-or-treating, adult parties etc. With so few residents left in the city and those that are here too anxious, worried, stressed and busy, there was little reason to have Halloween celebration.
When I watched TV programs or internet activities about Halloween I felt as if I lived on an isolated island, that those just don't apply to my (once) Halloween rabid city. Three months after Hurricane Katrina, my area seems to be having more and more tricks and fewer tricks with each passing day.
Here's some of the Halloween tricks played on New Orleanians this year.
1) It appears almost certain that our NFL football team, The New Orleans Saints, and possibly our NBA basketball franchise, The New Orleans Hornets, will be moving to other cities next year. They are already as gone in the sense that neither is playing any games here this season. With no usable stadiums and few fans, the only boos to be heard this Halloween are those we throw at the owners of those two teams if they dessert a sinking ship (New Orleans) after the destruction of the storm. And those two high profile businesses are just two of many more that will or have left us.
2) The city is still in an arrested state f development, more than two months after the hurricane. There are few people here, fewer businesses open and few prospects for much improvement before next Halloween.
3) The look of livable neighborhoods here is the same as after the storm. Little has been repaired in most homes as residents here line up for contractors that are scarce. Many people (me included) have yet to even have an insurance adjuster access damage for insurance purposes. For us, fixing anything must wait until damage assessment and a proposed insurance settlement is offered.
4) I miss my favorite diversions here! No more Lemon Chicken from 'Wok It To Me Restaurant' That establishment received 6 feet of water and has never reopened. Jane's Laser Tag is gone, probably damaged beyond repair. And her karate classes have yet to resume....and on and on and on.
5) Where is my doctor? In fat where is anyone's doctor. It seems many have packed up and abandoned their patients, as they seek a practice that will provide better income. Need a hospital in New Orleans? Ha! There are only a few open.
6) Friends and acquaintances are missing. No they haven't drowned. They packed up and moved to other cities to start life anew. Many have no jobs or homes left here and are forced to relocate. I know Jane misses here two best friends, who moved to Houston, Texas and Greensbourgh, North Carolina after the storm.
7) The anxiety level is no illusion now. I know I have trouble sleeping, and many others do as well. We wonder what the future will be here, but can only guess and be optimistic that normality will return sooner than later. Sooooooooooo Happy Halloween to you and me and everyone who can suspend their imaginations for awhile and forget the reality that is not the treat we would like to have this year.