For those who follow the progress of North Shore Animal League America's famous Chihuahua trio, Venus, Carmen and Pablo, there's news: these charming dogs, born without their front legs and rescued by the League from a Virginia shelter, now have front-wheel drive, in the form of carts that will assist their mobility.

The bulk of my family lives in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where Red Cross set up their headquarters during the Hurricane Katrina disaster recovery. (Founded in 1699, it was also the capital of French Louisiana.) When I visited for Christmas in 2005, as I do every year, my eyes could not believe the disastrous scene; my brain resisted processing the bizarre images.