Monday ...
It's 7:30pmCT in Gulfport, MS. Our co-volunteers are at various tables catching up on their day (as Ray Charles sings "The Right Time" on the boom box) so I thought I'd catch up with you on our day here, too.
(mainly to say hello to the camp pooch, Helicopter), treated myself to a mocha at PJ's Coffee and returned as breakfast is being served. We followed a Hands-On volunteer to today's work site, the Parker Home on the corner of Division and Brown streets. It's about a block away from Miss Dickson's and, as we drove past, I expected to see Jim, Emily, and my other Oregon friends outside.
Our morning started off when Mike G. from Architecture for Humanity told us we needed to pick up stacks of wood and siding, shovel and rake dirt, and generally do landscape maintenance because the Parker Family (mom, dad, and their 6 kids) would be coming by to film a segment that will air on Oprah (either on Earth Day or Arbor Day, Mike isn't sure which). I recall that Jim and his team were asked to film a segment for "Extreme Home Makeover" and him telling me that it was a lot of "hurry up and wait" - but we hustled all morning ...
... and when we broke for lunch, the site looked pretty close to "camera ready".
I couldn't help but visit the village and recognized Russ and only a handful of other folks. The super-nice gal, Aisha, who runs the cafeteria there recognized me, 'tho, and I wasn't ready for that. She's so kind and is so thankful that "that nice company you work for" hasn't forgotten this area. She smiled wide when I told her that we'll be back in August and in November, too.
It's 7:30pmCT in Gulfport, MS. Our co-volunteers are at various tables catching up on their day (as Ray Charles sings "The Right Time" on the boom box) so I thought I'd catch up with you on our day here, too.
I woke early, walked around camp for a bit
(mainly to say hello to the camp pooch, Helicopter), treated myself to a mocha at PJ's Coffee and returned as breakfast is being served. We followed a Hands-On volunteer to today's work site, the Parker Home on the corner of Division and Brown streets. It's about a block away from Miss Dickson's and, as we drove past, I expected to see Jim, Emily, and my other Oregon friends outside.Instead I saw a home - a neat, brick building, white door ... look at it and you'd never know it from any other home on YOUR street.
The only exception is that the Katrina search information is still spray painted in white paint on the exterior.
The only exception is that the Katrina search information is still spray painted in white paint on the exterior.
Our morning started off when Mike G. from Architecture for Humanity told us we needed to pick up stacks of wood and siding, shovel and rake dirt, and generally do landscape maintenance because the Parker Family (mom, dad, and their 6 kids) would be coming by to film a segment that will air on Oprah (either on Earth Day or Arbor Day, Mike isn't sure which). I recall that Jim and his team were asked to film a segment for "Extreme Home Makeover" and him telling me that it was a lot of "hurry up and wait" - but we hustled all morning ...
... and when we broke for lunch, the site looked pretty close to "camera ready".
I couldn't help but visit the village and recognized Russ and only a handful of other folks. The super-nice gal, Aisha, who runs the cafeteria there recognized me, 'tho, and I wasn't ready for that. She's so kind and is so thankful that "that nice company you work for" hasn't forgotten this area. She smiled wide when I told her that we'll be back in August and in November, too. On the way back from lunch, I took the team to the dry dock, which sadly but not surprisingly, hasn't changed at all.
However the "roof with no house" from my previous visits is complete - and gorgeous!!
We went back to work and, around 2pm, Mike pulled us together and walked us through how the rest of the day will go. We're asked to sign waivers (required by "Harpo Productions"), and then we ... hurry up and wait. Unfortunately, after working like we have, sitting around only serves as time for our muscles to tighten up so when we're given something to do about 40 minutes later, it takes us a bit to get the juices flowing.
Before you get too caught up in "wow - you guys are going to be on OPRAH!", realize that this is all about the Parker Family and telling their story. We get to meet everyone but Mr. Parker - and even the youngest kids in the family are super well-behaved. Mark and I work with Natalie Parker to plant a tree and we talk to her for a bit. She's really looking forward to being back home - the Oprah thing isn't even a secondary idea ... it's not even mentioned. The best part about today is that the whole family gets to plant trees as their new home nears completion.
We decide to grab dinner straight from the work site, 
with hopes that we'll get hot showers while everyone else is eating dinner.
with hopes that we'll get hot showers while everyone else is eating dinner.OH - and that "new normal" I talked about yesterday? All four of the showers here now have hot water.
Progress ... it's a marvelous thing.
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