Thursday, May 27`

I sit here several days before my departure to the Gulf Coast wondering what it is that has driven me to take this trip. Initially, I'd planned to drive from Arizona to Kentucky to visit my sister and her family. New Orleans has tugged at me for years, so I finally decided to take the "scenic route" to Kentucky, adding 800 miles, several days, and many dollars to my trip.

Then, April 20. TV news showed an oil well engulfed in flames. Eleven people were killed in the blast. Within days, it became clear that this was far, far more than an explosion and a fire. It was the beginning of what may be the worst environmental disaster ever seen.

My first reaction was that summer 2010 was no time to visit New Orleans. Soon, though, I realized that this was the most important time for me to go. I began contacting various organizations in the area, attempting at first to find volunteer work to do. However, they want people with wildlife training or hazmat training, and rightly so. What, then, could I do?

Write. Take photographs. Document a small slice of this disaster.

But back to my original question: What is it that drives me to do this? The only answer I can come up with is I hate the feeling of helplessness. When the World Trade Center was destroyed, I wanted so badly to do something. I sent money, but it almost seemed trivial. Then, Hurricane Katrina, and that same horrible feeling of helplessness overwhelmed me. I again sent money, but it wasn't enough. I wanted to do something.

In June 2007, driving back from Kentucky, road work forced me to take an alternate route through central Kansas, and I ended up driving through Greensburg just a month after a tornado had destroyed the town. I'd never been in the middle of such devastation. I drove through town, then got out and walked, each step becoming heavier and heavier. I ended up sitting along side of the road, weeping. I could barely breathe.

As I walked back to my car, I decided that I would not be helpless in the face of disaster, that I would find a way to be of actual assistance.

This trip to the Gulf is my first act of "doing something" since I made that decision. What I will end up doing is unclear, but at the very least I will write. I will photograph. I will document. And I will share what I find.