A Smile for A Saturday (What a Wonderful World...)

New Orleans is a city unlike any other — occupying a unique and vulnerable perch between river and sea. It has been made all the richer by the numerous cultures and people who have called it home. There has always been a sense that the city was built for a party but flanked by an ever-present potential for tragedy. Part of that comes from its geography, specifically as a target for hurricanes. Once again, fate struck this year with Hurricane Ida — which grew rapidly in intensity, a likely byproduct of climate change, and made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Most of The Big Easy fared okay in this storm; thankfully, the levees held. But there was still loss and damage, with widespread power outages and drinking water disruptions. One particular building that was destroyed garnered global headlines because it had once, long ago, served as a “second home” to jazz great Louis Armstrong.

We were moved by this story and wanted to honor the resilience of New Orleans, its ability to turn heartache into joy. Paying homage to Armstrong himself, our choice for this week’s entry in our “Smile for a Saturday” series is one of the most smile-inducing songs we know. Even with all that is wrong today, this still is “a wonderful world.” Steady.

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