Ebb and flow of the tides…
June 30, 2006

I have been moving like Lance Armstrong on speed all morning. For some of you that will be normal to imagine me that way, and for others, you’re probably laughing out loud. I’m anxious today, a bit antsy, and somewhat restless. I’m homesick. I want the comfort of the t-shirt (read previous blogs) today. I want to wear it all day.
Things are constantly changing around me, there is a steady flow of people coming in and leaving. I believe that is the hardest part right now. Watching people come, sharing this amazing experience with them, and then watching them drive away, hopefully changed and ready to tell the world what they have seen. There is something about sharing an experience such as this with people. It connects you, bonds you and provides memories to last a lifetime. It’s also grueling, painful and lonely when each of them leaves.
If I could be anywhere today, I would be sitting on a beach. I’m ready to be cleansed by the sun, by the water crashing on the shore and the calmness that the sound provides. Maybe the way that I feel today is how the shores feel on most days. There is a constant ebb and flow of the tides. There is constantly new water, constantly new footprints in the sand and new inhabitants of the beach. There is something attractive about the beach, something almost romantic about it. The same could be said about spending time in New Orleans, trying to provide people with things they need and helping the rebirth of a very old city.
I’m ready to be the person on the beach today. Ready to soak my feet in the sting of the saltwater, ready to feel the freckles coming on my nose and ready to leave my presence there when I depart.
It’s hard to watch people come and go like the ebb and flow of the tides, but each one serves a purpose, each one has a reason, each one wants to make a difference. So I’ll stand at the edge of the beach, where the tide sometimes begins and other times ends and I’ll be thankful for the fresh push of water between my toes up to my ankles, and know that with each ebb and flow of the tide come new opportunities. Chances to start fresh, chances to learn something new and most of all a chance to be really aware of what surrounds me and glad that the tides are cleansing, refreshing and I will never experience 2 ebb and flow of the tides that will be exactly the same.

A Not-So-Perfect Circle

June 28, 2006

So I’m pretty sure that it’s needless to say that we have been working really hard, gutting houses, fixing yards and housing volunteers. Not to mention that it’s been 94 degrees each day, plus at least 30 in our Tyvek suits. We currently have our hands in many different projects, working towards a common goal, providing people with the things that they need and somehow haven’t been given. A few days ago I was working on the yard of an elderly woman whom we have adopted in our neighborhood of Mid-City, her name is Miss Marjorie. She is charactered; with her pinned up gray hair, her strong glasses and her willingness to feed us Coke floats each time we are there. We had made it a goal to make her house look habited, because people had looted her while she was there, thinking that no one lived there.
These times of working so diligently leave time for thinking, for processing, for learning. As we were raking, I was thinking that the edges of her sidewalk needed to be edged. The organization that I’m with “doesn’t have an edger” I was told. I’m not so sure what an actual edger looks like, my knowledge encompasses it being a shovel. I’m immediately taken back to Fremont Road, where I have called home for almost 10 years now. I vividly remember standing in the driveway with my mother and watching her edge our driveway with a shovel. In my mind, at the time, I had no idea or interest in what she was doing. But somehow learned the trick of the trade as I was able to edge Miss Marjorie’s sidewalk. I called my mom as soon as I could after that to tell her of my new found passion for yard work and edging sidewalks. She didn’t have much to say about it, only lots of laughing and asking me if I was thankful that we spent so much “quality time” together when I was younger.
The physical labor that I’m doing right now it exhausting. It’s some of the hardest work that I have done in a really long time. We did similar work in January when I was here before, but that was because we had limited time. I have limited time this visit, but not only 3 days as before. I must admit that my body is just plain pooped out. In my mind I would love to swing a sledge hammer today, but know that as soon as I picked it up I would barely be able to swing it over my head. The more tired I get, the more vulnerable I become and the more I reflect on my life, where I have been, where I am now, and where I desire to go.
When I was a teenager, I lived on a farm. We use to run fences, dig trenches, bale hay, raise pigs, ride horses and three-wheelers, mow lawns the size of small fields and plant 1,500 pine trees by hand. Now that might sound like a whole hell of a lot, and well, it was. It was hard, I use to cry about it to my mom, wondering if most teenagers worked like my step-brother and I did. Come to find out, they didn’t. At least not most of them. Many of the things that we did while living on that farm were fun for me at the time, and in the end, my heart broke when my mom and I left. For the longest time, I hated the thought of doing all those things again, running fences and digging trenches. Because they re-ignited some of the hurt that came along with the whole situation.
As I’m faced with similar tasks right now, as far as the physical labor and working really hard goes, I have learned a few more things from my past that work for my life right now. The first day that we were working on Miss Marjorie’s yard, I was looking back on those times at the farm with such fondness. I was thinking about all of the laughing that came with running the fence, and all the gratification that came out of digging a 4 ft deep trench that ran about 100 ft (with a shovel), and the knowledge that came with planting all of those trees by hand.
My heart has healed of the hurt that had previously accompanied those memories. My heart has become stronger as a result of those things. I can look back and say that since my heart has healed, I can see the light beyond the darkness. I started to think about that in all areas of my life and realized how true it is. As my heart has healed each time that it has been broken, not just from romance, but from the daily living that slowly can wear away at the jubilance of a heart such as mine, as it heals, the memories become vibrant and full of color and life, full of learning and remembered with joy and thankfulness.
Raking in Miss Marjorie’s yard has brought things full circle for me. Or a not so perfect circle. It seems as though life might be easier or more gentle if we could learn things, not from heartache but from great experiences and not stumble or fall so hard. I’m not so sure that’s possible, or if I would even want to learn that way. There is something to be said about stumbling, falling and then picking yourself up and moving forward. I’m not going to take credit for picking myself up, I have great family, friends and Jesus to aid me and be my rock when I’m ready to crumble. But I will say that as life has shown me the not-so-perfect circle that it is, I’m thankful for the stumbles, the falls and the burning desire to keep moving forward.
I won’t ever forget the place that I have come from, the experiences of my past or the life that I have been designed to live. I am amazed that as I live each day that my life has come almost full circle. And as I continue to live it will continue to be a not-so-perfect circle. What’s so great about perfect anyway?

A few numbers, some life changes and an old comfy t-shirt
June 27, 2006

I often wonder what it takes to change the life of one person. Not just a temporary difference, but one that sustains life, one that changes the core beliefs, not just puts off the actions for the time being. Does change come only when people are open to it? Or does it force its way in like a piece of sand into an oyster-causing some discomfort and dread, but potentially make a pearl?
I have had my life changed in the last 4 days, in the last 3 weeks, and in the last 6 months. My change has come in a rare form that I haven’t seen in a desperately long time. It’s like that old comfy t-shirt that is at the bottom of the pile in the top of my closet. I know that it’s there, I know what it’s been through, where it’s been and that it will always reside exactly where it is. There are times when I am able to pull it out, based on what’s going on in my life at that time, and wear it with the utmost comfort and ease. It fits me; it knows me and provides me with exactly what I need every time I slide it over my head. It has the ability to revitalize the dormant parts of me, the parts that aren’t seen often, that aren’t touched often, the hidden parts of me that ache for simple words of affection and interaction.
I met people this weekend that fit me like my old comfy t-shirt does. I felt more understood in the last 4 days than I have in a really long time. There were times that I thought they were flipping through the pages of my mind’s eye, reading it piece by piece. I’m not sure that any of them had any idea that they were doing this, but they left today, and I felt as though I had lost a part of me; a part of me that hadn’t been ignited for a long time.
They are educated, they are passionate, they have goals, they dream big, they work hard-really hard, they speak well, they laugh hard, apparently they cry hard (although I didn’t experience that one), they drive far, they play loud, they know about things-things that are important and use their gifts to convey that knowledge, they are smart (asses), they want to give back, they question why they do what they do-if for selfish purposes or for the greater good, they are giving of their time, they are good listeners, and great conversation havers, they are grounded, they are sensible, and most of all is the simple fact that they are taking all of these phenomenal characteristics and spreading them to all of those they encounter on their tour. These 4 outstanding men that I met are members of a group called Eighty Four (Yes, they are on myspace, check them out).
I was proud to watch them drive away today, knowing that they were going to spread more of their knowledge, but saddened as I felt like part of me was leaving. They were very generous with all of the volunteers that they met, providing us all with a CD- an autographed CD and a t-shirt.
I’m not quite sure that I can verbatim how I’m different today than I was on Friday night before I met them. I guess that will come in time, but I know that I feel differently today then I did then. Better, more understood, connected, comforted and at ease. The comfy shirt that usually lays at the bottom of the pile in the top of my closet has now become a black t-shirt with a man, head in hands and the words Eighty Four across the bottom.
I’m not sure that I’m going to put it back. Ever. I think that I’ll arm myself with it each day. With the ease that I have changed. Again I’m not sure how. But I know that not only are my actions different, but my core beliefs have been reinforced. It might be hard to believe that my life could be changed by a few numbers and a comfy t-shirt, scary almost. But I’m a firm believer that when people are open to change in their lives it comes in ways that we never thought possible, and impacts parts of our hearts, souls and lives that most times we don’t even know need to be changed. I have welcomed change with open arms. And I got to hug all 4 of them today with those open arms and thank them for doing things that are of their character that changed who I am, who I will continue to be and the goals for who I will become.

The Human Spirit and its idiosyncrasies...
June 19, 2006

I’m a fluid driver these days in NOLA. I drive to pick up people from gutting sites, I drive to get to work at Landry’s, and I drive to get groceries. Each time I do, navigating my way gets easier. The thing that makes the drives most difficult are the sights that I see along the way. Abandoned gas stations, boarded up high schools, trash invading yards in most of the neighborhoods that I’m traveling through. I know that I’m a volunteer, I know that I have only been here for what will be 2 weeks tomorrow, but I’ll just be honest and say that it’s wearing on me.
I could look at my life and say that I have a pretty tough spirit, (although one of my teachers in elementary told my mom that she would break me of it… Clearly that didn’t work out too well…) regardless, I have had some experiences in my life that might leave room for a bit of a broken spirit. But I have tried to rise above those things, to look at the light and not the darkness, to find the little bit of good in all the bad.
I believe that Jesus gave me a gentle spirit; one of sensitive demeanor, one of adventurous endeavors, and one that is resilient to most of the difficulties that have been set before me in my lifetime. I must admit that this visual theater that I find myself in each day is wearing close to that gentle spirit. It’s hard to drive around and see women walking the streets with no shoes on, talking to themselves and then hear that similarly to these wandering women, others have literally lost their minds because of this storm; it’s hard to hear a yelling man on his cell phone talking of times past and “if only you hadn’t talked with him anymore.” People are at the bitter end of their sanity down here. Of course there are those who have weathered the storm rather well, who have the money to rebuild with no worries, to relocate and never look back.
And there are the others. You know the ones… those who have had every single odd stacked against them, who have never had anything given to them their entire lives, who never complain about having to work so hard every day, and still find the light in the darkness, the strength during the pain and the wonder of really living. It would be really cliché of me to say that those are the kinds of people that I have met down here, so I won’t go on and say that. But I will say a few things about these people… I’m not sure that I have met anyone like that yet. And I say yet because it takes time to get to know people like that. To let them let you into their lives. They have been hurt and screwed over and taken advantage of, I would understand their caution in meeting and getting to know people. But I firmly believe that those sorts of people are down here, shining their light. The light that so many of the current residents of N’awlins have yet to find again, or even for the first time.
Maybe the people with such tough spirits attract the harder things because Jesus knows that their spirits can handle those things, how else would we know that people can survive such tough situations if they aren’t faced with them? Do we attract certain people or incidents in our lives based on the human spirit that we have been given? When I look at my own spirit and its idiosyncrasies I would have to say that is a fact. I attract certain things in my life, certain people, certain relationships-whether romantic or not. I’m not sure how to name those relationships or certain things. I have found that I have so much love to give to people, certain people in my own life, and just to people in general. I truly believe that I attract those who need the love that I have to offer. Since love comes in so many different forms, I am able to provide love to those people that I meet on a single occasion, and also to those who I call my dearest friends. There are times when I’m overwhelmed with the feelings and idiosyncrasies that are within my human spirit. It’s flawed, it’s been broken, it has its strengths and gaping holes of weakness. But somehow it’s mine. And it’s sensitive to all that surrounds it right now, which are many things. Many visual images, many conflicting voices inside my head, many physical demands and most of all the longing to be grown, to be pushed. I want to take the gentle spirit that I have, and let it be at ease with the gentle parts of the world that I live in right now (which are few and far between by the way), but have fierce passion about the life that is raging around me, and to take that passion and make it a true part of who I am. A human spirit that is raging. Raging with passion, with the love of life, with only a portion of the knowledge that it takes to truly live, and the wisdom to seek all that it doesn’t know.
I believe that the human spirit learns through experience, through being in the meat of things. Here I am, in the meat of it. Now comes the hard part… waiting to be changed, waiting to be strengthened, waiting for a place to put all of the raging passion. Maybe that’s how the people here feel. They just need an outlet, a place for their passion or some hope that there will be passion again. That might explain all of the uneasy feelings, the saddened faces and the continued appearance of devastation that is wearing on my human spirit and its idiosyncrasies.

p.s. I'm not sure how much sense this will make, there is so much running through my head right now, that putting it into words is difficult... Handle with care... :)

Devistation Tour...
Here are some pics that I have taken in the last few days... Some of them are hard to see, and some of them show that there is still hope in a city so devistated. They are tough to see, and to clear up any doubt, yes it still looks like this down here. Unbelieveable. Startling, scary, educating and eye opening. Look, and then tell everyone you know...

You'll see pics of a cross, some church pews, the new levees that have been built, the hardest hit houses, cars on houses, writing on houses and numerous other things. The first pic of the bridge, it's the one that people weren't allowed to cross from St. Bernard's Parish and the Ninth Wards in order to get to safety and higher land.

Watering the flower gardens…
June 13th, 2006

My day started and ended the same today, watering the flower gardens. We have daily responsibilities within the house, duties if you will. We have to sign up for them each day, and it’s vital to the house that they be done. Being that there is constant construction on the house, it gets dirty every single day. I am currently without my plants, and for those of you who know me at all, know that the plants that I have are very important to me. I have never really had plants, nor did my mom when I was growing up, but have all of a sudden grown a green thumb. I have been missing them since I have been down here. Amongst everything else that I miss… It has definitely taken me a while to adjust, and I’m not sure that I have yet. It’s a work in progress as I like to think. I was driving last night and was thinking how much I miss Knoxvegas. And for some that might be an obvious observation, but for someone who misses home often, and when I usually refer to home I speak of Michigan, I miss Knoxvegas. Yup, there ya’ have it, I said it out loud. I have settled there, I have found a home there. Not an actual place, but a feeling of home when I’m spending time with those that I love the most. I had been searching for that feeling for a while, and to be honest hadn’t realized it was there until I arrived here. There have been times when I have been in Knoxville and felt home sick. For the feeling, not for a specific place. And being down here, there has been a great realization that home is more of a feeling than a real place. Home is the knowledge of habit, of the everyday things we do when we are at ‘home’. Home is knowing, it’s comfort, it’s the familiar. I imagine my home being a safe place, surround by those that I love, and those that love me the most. A place where my fears are displayed on the table, and are safe there, a place where I can completely be who I am with no hesitation or regret, a place where I can breathe a sigh of relief and feel at peace.
As I venture out into a world that is hard to do justice with a few words, I’m constantly searching for the feelings of home. For the habits, for the knowing, for the comfort. It’s hard where there are new people in here each week trying to work towards a rebuilt city to have the habit, the knowing or the comfort. I have found myself reaching for the familiar. That familiarity has come to me in watering the flower gardens. It definitely takes longer down here than it does at home. But there is some sort of comfort of nurturing something that flourishes with just a bit of attention, just a few minutes of my time. It’s become a time of reflection, processing the day, and debriefing.
It’s odd that watering the flower gardens has helped cure my homesickness, but I would safely say that as humans we look around us for things that are familiar, and in those things we find comfort and in comfort comes a few feelings of home.
I’m looking forward to watering the flower gardens in the morning, it’s a great start to the day, it’s a great way to help a neighborhood look more attractive, and it gives me a feeling that I have been lacking and aching for each day since I have arrived.

Pictures, Plates, Condoms & Pot
June 6, 2006

We almost finished gutting a house today. All that is left is the trim at the top near the ceiling, many pieces of drywall to be picked up and large appliances removed. This is the house that they started on Saturday, and we haven’t finished even at this point. Phew. As the people that gut the house, we are responsible for salvaging any items that we can that weren’t too badly damaged from the storm, or the toxic flood water. This is the first house that I have been a part of since arriving on Saturday night. I didn’t see the house in tact, but saw all of the furniture in the front yard-if it can be called that and all of the debris that had been taken out of the house thus far. While we were gutting yesterday, we came upon some very interesting artifacts. Already recovered from the house were wine glasses, some pictures-of the wedding sort, and others (that will come in a minute…). As the gutting continued a few other things were discovered. I found an old set of dishes in one of the closets, they were white ceramic with gold trim, I also found at least 3 condoms in wrappers and one that had maybe been used and thrown aside in the end. Also recovered the previous day was a black vase in which we found an abundance of pot, pictures showing the occupants of the house fondling one another and other people, and some notes that had been written-someone’s idea of a rap.
Now it may appear that I’m boistering (is that a word?) about all of this, but I’m not. It leads me to many thoughts.
In each of our lives there are things that we hide from the ones that we love the most, and things that we hide from family and even a life that we try to portray to a general population of our co-workers, our dinner-dates, and in our common conversations.
When the residents of this house were doing all of these things, expressing themselves in a manner they felt comfortable with, do you think they ever thought that complete strangers would be sifting through the wreckage trying to save pieces of their lives that are almost unrecognizable?
I know that for me it was a sobering experience. What do I have in my life that I try to hide from people? Is there anything that I own, figuratively or literally, that I hide from those that are close to me? Or only let a select few see?
We will be able to give these residents back ALL of the things that we found. It’s fortunate that we all have our ‘dirty little secrets’ that we try and hide from the world, or it might be a bit awkward to return the pictures, plates, condoms and pot.

Just a few pics from the first day in the field...
You'll find a picture of our dining table (outside under the tree), me dressed and ready to head inside to finish gutting, our drink of choice here-Floodweiser (made by Anheiser-it's water...), our dryer (the line outside), a pic of the house I'm staying in, and some other random ones. In the neighborhood that we were working is where we found the writing that talked of the dead dog. It's a harsh world down here, and only begun to show it's true grit.

Seashells
June 4, 2006

Waking up this morning was a bit more welcome than I had originally thought it would be. As I laid my head down last night, my last thoughts included questions about making the right decision to come down here and work all summer, about sleeping in a house that is itself in the midst of being gutted and how just one step outside of my door the temperature feels like it’s about 125. Phew. Recognizing that I had been in my car for 9 hours, sweating; then to a meeting with another grassroots non-profit and on to the grocery store for food for the week- my state of mind last night was pretty weak and questioning most things around me.
I slept well last night; better than I had anticipated. I was hoping for restful sleep. I actually prayed for it before I drifted off to dream. And it’s exactly what I got. There wasn’t much commotion in the house when I woke up, and being that it was my first day, I wasn’t about to create any.
I have learned this many times about myself, the simple fact that if I’m not working on something, that I feel pretty worthless. I tried to relax this morning, as Sundays are our only days off and apparently the week gets a bit crazy, but it was hard for me to do that.
I got some assignments, if you will, from the current volunteer coordinator, cleaning up around the house outside-raking, sweeping and organizing a few things. As I was raking beside the house I came across a seashell. A seashell. The house that I’m staying in is right off of Canal St. (Yes for all of you Bourbon Street fans, its close) but the beach isn’t close. There are some marsh lands south of N’awlins, but a beach, not for at least an hour or so.
The thoughts of how homesick I feel, and questioning my decisions about being down here stopped. (Even if only for a brief minute or two) I had to really stop for a minute. I’m holding a seashell, that’s from an ocean, that’s at least an hours drive away from where I’m staying.
There are so many things out of sorts down here right now, even things as small and simplistic as seashells.
The thoughts of homesickness and questions dissipated for a bit, but the feelings haven’t subsided as of yet. I’m hoping for that when I wake up at 4:30 in the morning to be on site by 5:30 and finishing my day around 2. Not sure if I’m ready for that either.
What is it that I’m ready for? What am I looking for? Maybe I’ll find it tomorrow in the house that we are gutting. Maybe I’ll find it with the people that I’m currently calling my roommates. Or maybe I’ll find it how I found the seashell, in a place that it totally doesn’t belong, surrounded by things foreign to it, just waiting to be discovered.