A day in New Orleans

8:09 p.m. Specialist Bryan Fusilier of the Louisiana National Guard was on duty in New Orleans East Monday evening.  (Richard Fausset / Los Angeles Times)

7:34 p.m. New Orleans residents attend a candlelight vigil Monday night to commemorate the second anniversary of hurricane Katrina.  (Richard Fausset / Los Angeles Times)

6:17 p.m. Iberville Project, Kardale Clark, 10.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

5:03 p.m. Lower Ninth Ward, the trailer of Robert Green Sr.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

1:42 p.m. It’s the lunchtime crunch for Chris Reel at Liuzza’s, a neighborhood pub in Faubourg St. John. Reel’s an experienced cook who can work anywhere, but New Orleans is home. “It’s the only city that’s loved me back,” he says.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

1:32 p.m. Ben Gasper stayed in his pretty neighborhood of Faubourg St. John through the storm. “I’m gettin’ on just fine. How the city’s gettin’ on is not so swift,” said the 65-year-old welder.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

12:43 p.m. Fried chicken is on the menu at Hank’s Seafood, a small store on St. Claude Avenue in the Eighth Ward. Apart from po-boys and fried foods, Hank’s also sells a few household essentials.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

12:42 p.m. Hank’s Seafood co-owner Sam Odeh bought the damaged store with his brother and spent five months fixing it up. Odeh says it was a leap into the unknown to rebuild the place, “but sometimes, when you see a chance, take it.”  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

12:15 p.m. Children perform at a recital at the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School for Science and Technology in the Lower Ninth Ward.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

11:56 a.m. Michael Watts, a contractor, was helping his friend fix a family headstone in the Lower Ninth Ward.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

11:14 a.m. Surveyors for Coastal Environment Inc. snap photos and take notes on the state of the homes in New Marigny. The company has been hired by the city to survey nine historic residential neighborhoods and document any damage to be compiled in a large, public database.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

10:45 a.m. A rickety shotgun home on Mazant Street in the Upper Ninth Ward displays someone’s displeasure with the state of things.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

8:05 a.m. This statue of the Virgin Mary was damaged by a brick during Hurricane Katrina.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

7:53 a.m. Delfido Rojas, who works for his family’s catering truck, says business is good but that they probably will return to Houston after another year.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

7:49 a.m Day laborers, New Orleans East.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

7:20 a.m. Dong Phuong Restaurant and Bakery, New Orleans East.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

7 a.m. Intercoastal Waterway from I-510 bridge with downtown New Orleans visible in the background.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

6:46 a.m. Melodie Garrett says her $9-an-hour job at the Palace Truck Stop pays far better than her old job at a grocery store in Beaumont, Texas.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

6:45 a.m. For $4.99, customers at the Palace Truck Stop can buy this “Katrina Survivor” magnet.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

6:39 a.m. Emile Jackson, Palace Truck Stop, New Orleans East.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

6:32 a.m. Video poker den, Palace Truck Stop, New Orleans East.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)

6:30 a.m. The Palace Restaurant Casino Snacks N’ Stuff, a truck stop on the eastern edge of New Orleans.  (Lee Celano / For The Times)