Good and Tired

Tired tonight. Seems to be a deeper tired than before -- closer to weary if you know what I mean. So, tonight's post will be shorter than others.

We had a really full day yesterday. The work day was shorter, but we had dinner, worship and group meetings from 5:30 to 8:30. Then, it was our turn to sweep and mop the kitchen area. When that was done, it was 9:00. I had a choice between posting on the blog, or taking a shower. Sorry gang, but the desire to be clean outweighed the desire to communicate!

Yesterday was more work on the first house I talked about, plus a couple of hours of work at a second house close by. Most of it was painting and caulking at both places. About 11:30, Lou and Lyn showed up and insisted on buying us lunch. Lou's not the kind of guy who takes no for an answer. So, we followed them to Longo's Diner, about 4-5 miles from their house. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, and I always think that's a good sign.

I was right, it was good, hearty food, served with some Louisiana attitude. I had red beans and rice with smoked sausage. The plate came with cole slaw and boiled peas. I should have had sweet tea, but had diet coke instead. It was spicy, but not HOT. I even added a little tabasco to the mix, even after Lou warned me not to follow his example in slathering the whole thing in tabasco. We got to spend time getting to know both of them a little better. Good food and good company.

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Probably the most important thing I did yesterday was to listen to Lina, the owner of the second house. She is a true Southern Belle, a widow, and lonely. We were at her house the better part of two hours, and she talked most of the time. She's tired of living outside her house (18 months and counting!), and she's putting all her hopes into having a new house. She is grateful for our help, but doesn't want to talk about the God who sent us here. So, we listen, and pray, and keep working.

I've got to stop for dinner, and I don't know if I'll have a chance to post after, so I'll leave it here. If I can, I'll post some pictures of things I've seen.

Thanks for reading.

Day Three and Sore Me

Hey y'all,

(I can say that because I've been in the Deep South for more than 48 hours. ;-)

Before I really get started, I just wanted to say a public "THANK YOU!" to my employer, Merit Resource Group, for the generous loan of the laptop I'm using this week. Thanks, guys, see you on Monday.

I know yesterday's title was "Workin' Hard," but I realized that I didn't talk about any of the work we're doing.

We're one of six or seven other teams, and each team has their own work assignment. Typically, it involves repair or reconstruction of someone's home. Sometimes it involves gutting a home so that reconstruction can begin at all. Yes, even 18 months later, there are still houses that have not been rebuilt.

Those who have been down before say there aren't as many trailers as there were, but they're not uncommon. Trinity Church has a policy of helping all who ask. People's circumstances vary, but they are still all hurting from Katrina. It reminds me a lot of the stories everyone had after Loma Prieta (1989 SF-area earthquake).

Yesterday, we started work on this house. It's located in Slidell (say Sly-dell), a town about 20 miles east of Covington. It's another ten miles to MIssissippi from there. The house looks like it's in pretty good shape from the outside. That's mostly because the roof was replaced (three trees fell on it). The inside has been almost completely redone.

Our job started with removing tile flooring from the dining room, entry way, and kitchen. The ceramic tile had been installed incorrectly, so we had to chisel the tiles off the floor. Hard, noisy work. We were able to save about a third of the tiles.

We also spent time scraping the mastic (?) off the concrete slab. That was even harder, but not quite as noisy. We also started painting and caulking around the trim and windows.

The owner of the house, Lou, showed up just before lunch. A retired New Orleans police officer, he regaled us with stories from his career, and about his new 5-month old grandson. He told us that after he moved back to the area (not to this house), he had six or seven families living with him at once. We just listened to his story. He agreed to pose for a picture with the work crew: Later in the day, we got to meet his wife, Lyn. Both of them are nice people -- married 41 years.

Lou wanted to know why God was mad at us. "We must be doing something wrong, that he would be sending hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis." I think it's more a matter of getting our attention -- or even helping us to realize that we're not in control.

Our day starts at 6:30 with breakfast. Team leaders get work assignments from the staff here at Trinity, and then we gather tools, if necessary. The church has a big supply of tools, equipment, and supplies that it gives us for the projects. We pull together drinking water and a cooler of Gatorade. Then we head out to the work site.

Today we went back to the same house, and we made great progress. We put up some door trim, several fan lights, installed some electrical outlets, and had a shop vac to pick up most of the dust left over from the tile removal process. My job today was caulking. Yep, I spent most of my day with a caulking gun and a rag. I'm actually really enjoying it. The work makes things look so much better, and it is satisfying to be able to do it well. Sore? Yes, indeed. But, good and sore -- a result of hard work.

Many of you are probably wondering what things are like down here. Well, things appear to be "getting" back to normal. It isn't normal yet, but things are moving that direction. The blown-out storefront is actually pretty rare around here. I understand New Orleans proper is in much worse shape. 80% of the city was flooded. 80%! We're supposed to go to central New Orleans on Friday, so I'll report what I see then.

I'm getting pretty sleepy, hard work has a way of ensuring a good night's sleep. (That, and earplugs!)

Thanks for listening.

Workin' Hard in the Big Easy

Sorry I haven't posted earlier, but I wasn't able to get onto the network last night. All is well in computer-land now, and here is my posting.

We arrived in New Orleans yesterday afternoon (Sunday 2/25). Our flights were uneventful, and only a little late. I guess I should define "we." We are ten volunteers from NorthCreek Church. There are seven men and three women. This is the second trip for three of our members, and this is the third trip for one young man.


We are being hosted by Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana. Covington is at the north end of the Causeway that runs across Lake Ponchatrain. (Which, for you geography buffs, is over 24 miles long, and is the longest free-standing bridge in the world.)

Anyway, Trinity has been hosting reconstruction teams continuously since shortly after Hurricane Katrina (August 2005). They have had over 6,700 people come through, donating well over 230,000 man (and woman) hours. They have turned half of their sanctuary into a dormitory for the men, and the women stay in a portable classroom building near by. The other half of the sanctuary is used for meals and meetings. It's really impressive to see a church throw itself so wholeheartedly into serving its neighbors.

After we got settled in, we headed out for dinner at Acme Oyster House down the road. We had grilled oysters, among other yummy treats. (Hey Mom! I told about having your fried oysters as a holiday treat. Yum!) The food was very good, and the waitress was friendly. We also tried some hush puppies as a side dish. They were a little dry, but not bad. Any place that has three (three!) bottles of tabasco on the table has to be good, right Tim?

I've got to post this now. Lights out in less than five minutes.

Thanks for reading.