I wasn’t living in New Orleans at the time of the storm. I moved home to Nola in 2006, the year after it devastated the area. I moved into the aftermath, then married someone who lived in Lakeview and lost everything. Everything except this clock.

It doesn’t work anymore. And it’s a cheap clock from a discount store, but it will always hang in our house.

That being said, here is my list of the 10 things you “get” if you’ve lived in New Orleans in the 10 years after Hurricane Katrina:

• “HELLUVA JOB” MEANS THE OPPOSITE
• THE ROAD HOME DOESN’T ALWAYS LEAD THERE
• CRANES IN THE SKY
• GETTING WATER DOESN’T MEAN GRABBING A BOTTLE OF FIJI
• HANDMADE STREET SIGNS
• THE LOT NEXT DOOR
• MR. GO MUST GO
• BLUE ROOF
• ICE IS GOLD
• (OK, 11 things) WHY WE WILL ALWAYS KEEP THIS CLOCK