By Stu B.
The team slept very well last night - a sure sign of how tired we are all getting from the work we are doing. I know that many of the pictures you might see are us eating or having fun, but there really is a lot of very hard work going on in between.
Today, we got going by around 8 and we, along with 50 others at camp from other groups, we went to a spot near a levee that was under construction. We had parked back at the farm, got an orientation that told us to watch out for snakes and then a hayride to the levee. There was a lot of spraying and lotioning back at the farm - bug spray, sun lotion, you name it - a chemical wonderland. Dayle also stopped and got hats for anyone without one. Temperatures of 75-80 and bright sun were on hand. Many of us still got roasted.
We spent about 6 hours planting little Cypress trees all over the place. We broke up into small 2-3 person teams. Each team had a tool designed to make the hole in the ground, a ribbon to label the trees orange so they can track the trees and the trees themselves to plant. Between all 70 people, we planted hundreds of trees - literally hundreds. The trees help to protect the area from storms and act as natural barrier against future storms. Many trees were destroyed in previous storms as well as from how the area was treated by man over time. We ribbon them so that they know what was planted when which helps with future plantings. A great effort by all and not easy work at that in the warm weather.
Charley came back as a lobster unaware the February sun on the Gulf Coast can be rather strong this much closer to the equator.
A tired crew dashed from the barn in a determined effort to get back to Camp Restore to get to all of the showers before any of the other groups did - this was a highly successful effort - and we had no trouble commending ourselves for it!
Evening activities had us splitting into two groups. Pastor Scott, Mark & Lance enjoyed the French Quarter to much of their delight.
The other 20 of us headed to The Shed in Gulfport, MS, one of our favorite annual hangouts. A good meal was enjoyed by all as well as a real good time.
We followed that with a ride to Blizzard Beach - our home in Mississippi away from home. They close at 8 and we arrived at 8:30, but they were waiting for us thanks to the kids texting back and forth with the Blizzard Beach folks. Shaved ice was enjoyed by many as well as a tour of their latest Mardi Gras float - The Wizard of Oz. The detail on this thing was phenomenal. Plenty of pics out there somewhere.
Some of us then drove straight home, while others took the more scenic route for a while on US-90 through Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis where we have spent some much time in prior years. It was tough to see much with the fog. But you can see some places slowly coming back while there are still many abandoned places. This is where the eye of Katrina hit.
An absolutely exhausting day - many slept in cars on the way to and from the evening activities - all went right to bed upon return.
Now, for someone who can really write!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER Ali Z. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Today planting trees in the bayou felt different than other sites I've worked on in the past. We've always given back to people, but never to the earth. Hearing the stories of what the hurricane did makes one fear nature a little. But being connected to it today was special. Because not only were we giving something to the earth, we were protecting the people that live on it. Never have I ever been able to multi-task like that. It was renewing for me. Having worked to construct someone's home for the past couple of days, I was looking forward to changing things up a bit. It changed the way I see things here more than I expected. My job here is to help people. I felt like, if anything, I would be protecting people from the terrors of nature. Today I'm embracing it. Maybe we can all learn a little bit from the things we fear and the things we embrace. These things can teach us a lot about ourselves. If I can figure out a way to do a little more embracing, and a little less fearing, I think I can lead a fulfilling life. At least learning about what we fear can make us understand each other. And isn't that what I'm doing here? I'm trying to understand what people go through. I'm trying to understand the effects of disaster, and maybe prevent these effects in the future. I think that as long as we can embrace each other, we can overcome each and every disaster
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Isn't she good!
Ali Z. is awesome!!!
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