No, not the fuzzy kind that eventually turn into moths or butterflies.

I'm talking about the humongous yellow ones frequently found at roadwork and construction sites.

I went in to New Orleans this afternoon and took my usual route, a large part of which goes along the lakefront.

It's Lake Pontchartrain, then railroad tracks on top of the levee, then down the side of the levee to the street.

"They" are in the process of raising the levee, since Katrina breached it and overtopped it with very little effort.

Normally, it's rather interesting to see what the progress has been made since the last time I took that route.

Today it was massively frustrating--a huge Caterpillar was heading in the same direction I was. And there was only one lane in that direction. And (of course) the oncoming traffic was just busy enough that only two cars managed to get around said Caterpillar.

I think it added ten minutes to the drive.

On the way back, I spotted a news truck on top of the levee at the east end. I need to remember to watch that channel to see if was just a back-patting report, or if something else happened.

With the slow inbound pace, I was able to check out the recovery/progress on the houses and businesses which probably got more than a bit wet with Katrina.

The area seems to be recovering nicely--and the food places seem to be doing very well, with all those construction workers around. Of course, Katrina was almost six years ago.


Aside from the traffic problem, it was a really nice day. The temperature was definitely warm enough to not have to worry about seaters and/or jackets. No signs of rain (at least today.)

But the Caterpillar kept it from being an IUD.