Week Five, Day Two

Monday ...
We were told to be downstairs for breakfast early today - some kind of press conference or some such. We had breakfast and a few folks came around to each table to ask us how long we've been here for, the work we've done, etc. The good news is that Doug, from Week #4, was at our table so he handled things really well. He talked about specific challenges that he's had (building codes not existing, not being enforced, etc.) and we left around 8:20am.

I drove to PJs for my mocha (no, the Starbucks on Pass Road is NOT opened, and likely won't be until November) and then took the team to visit the Camille Memorial. Hurricane Camille visited this area in August, 1969, and the memorial was damaged during Hurricane Katrina. Happily, some folks have taken the time to repair the damage, and everything is in one piece again. Ling noticed that there were lots of folks listed on the memorial with the same last name ... meaning that possibly whole families were lost. Sadly, she's probably correct.

We visited with Mike G. for a few minutes, while he figured out our assignment for the day, and I was very pleased to learn that we'd be working on the interior of the Parker House. VERY cool.

The floors are really great looking, the walls look good, and the tile work in the bathroom is complete.

We spent the morning taping off windows and doors, and filling in seams between walls and floors (or trim), as we'll be painting them shortly.

It occurs to me that, in looking around, the Parkers will not be moving in this week as we'd originally hoped - but changes like this happen all the time, so it's not that shocking. It just means more time that Karen Parker and her children won't be home ... but at least when they finally are, things will be done correctly.

We have lunch at Volunteer Village, where I make sure to visit Richard C., my friend from the Beaverton Crew and Aisha, who is still running the kitchen inside the village.

Both are glad to see the company returning, and both were not too surprised to see that I was part of the team. After lunch, I take the team by the Dry Dock, which is exactly in the same shape as before. The very light breeze allowed for the "wind chime" effect of the beams as they hit one another. It's both beautiful and sad.

We continue our work in the afternoon, after another supply run is made, and by 4pm, we wrap up and head back to camp. We'll likely be working on the Parker home for the next several days, maybe even the week, which is fine by me.

Oh, the first injury of the week has occurred. I caught my fingernail in the track of a window, turning it a really nifty shade of purple. I'd like to say that I was demonstrating what NOT to do, but as ya' know, I'm klutzy so I'm just living up to my own reputation.

We're going to have dinner at camp tonight and lay low. The rain woke us all up around 2:30am last night, so we could do with a good nights' sleep. We'll hopefully start painting tomorrow, knowing that it'll be easier to be active in the coolness of the morning hours.