I’d love to post something fun from this sunny weekend in California, but I’m too saddened and sickened by the oil slick the size of Delaware that’s threatening to destroy the Gulf of Mexico, as BP’s oil well continues to spew 5,000 barrels of crude per day, unchecked, into the water.

As a scuba diver, beach lover, nature enthusiast, environmentalist and person who will always consider Louisiana her home, no matter where in the world she is — I am at a loss. These photos were taken on the beach at Waveland, Mississippi, this weekend by resident Jenny Lindsay Bell. The rest of her photo series is on Facebook.

You may or may not know that Waveland was one of the towns most severely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005; after the storm I wrote an article about Waveland as a freelance journalist for the Jackson Free Press (sorry bout the janky character problems in the story; hope it’s readable). The people of Waveland went through horrors that you and I can’t imagine … and now this.

It’s not just the gruesome and massive loss of life that’s occurring in the Gulf of Mexico right now as I type this; it’s the unprecedented losses to the fishing/shrimping industry that is the backbone of that region’s culture and economy. It’s the toxic fumes and seepage that will surely displace people yet again from their homes and businesses and daily lives. It’s the fact that these middle-class, average people are five years into an agonizingly slow recovery from being hammered down by Katrina and now there’s this looming threat that could make the aftereffects of that storm seem like nothing.

This is a slow-moving, relentless toxic hurricane barreling into an already pummeled land and people and wildlife. Its effects will be felt for years, perhaps generations, to come.

Drill, baby, drill … Where are all the Teabaggers who chanted that lovely mantra like drones? Are they volunteering for cleanup duty?