Check out this photo to the right. I had it under Pic of the Day the past few days, but I couldn't get it to post at the right size (and I think I'm still having that problem over there). I had to post it here, though, so that you could see it better. It's a FEMA Trailer decorated for Christmas. I spotted it in one of the neighborhoods in St. Bernard after leaving a house the other day. Whoever lives there, props for making the best of a "not so great" situation, and staying in the spirit of things.I'm writing this post as I pack and do a few other things to get ready for my trip to Connecticut for the holiday. I'm finding more and more that I'm squeezing two and three things in at once. Not complaining, that just seems to be reality these days. I love to write, but I definitely don't have as much time for it. Starting and running St. Bernard Recovery Corp. dominates most of my time and energy (Erin, friends and family can probably attest to me being consumed by this in a borderline annoying way). It's interesting how earlier in the year I was so much more into writing, to the point where I was buying and reading books on non-fiction writing, how to write better, I bought and re-read some of my favorite books from college writing classes. I was really into it, believing that writing almost every day about my experiences here was my calling. But things have changed, and I've adjusted. I was busy a lot and working and volunteering, getting my hands in on lots of different things, especially when I was really engaged helping out at Camp Hope. I always found time to write, though. Now, not so much. I think my calling now is more about doing than writing. I'm good with that, as I think that is what is meant to be.
Here's another photo to check out. I took this this morning at a school that houses volunteers most weeks. An outfit called the Gathering, which is faith-based, takes in 20 to 30 volunteers who come in from out of state, houses them in this school and puts them to work at different houses. One of the Gathering's team leads, Aaron, calls me when he needs to find some extra work. I had a couple of houses for them to go to this week. I'd go to this school, which is completely gutted, to meet them as they eat breakfast and get ready to head out to the houses. Seeing scenes like this kind of remind of my Camp Hope days, which was also a 'gutted out' school. 28 months later (sounds like a movie title) and I still see things that make me think it's just a few weeks after Katrina hit.
Had a pretty big scare this morning, by the way. I'm flying Southwest up to Hartford tomorrow, a 6:30 a.m. flight. Southwest has that first come, first serve boarding process so it's imperative to check in online as soon as possible once your flight is 24 hours away. I set my alarm for 6:20 a.m. so that I could get up, turn my laptop on, and be ready to click "Check-In" right at 6:30 and get my 'A' Boarding pass. Well, I got up at 6:20 no problem, only after powering on my laptop, I laid back down on my bed, thinking I'd just rest there for a minute while it warmed up. Next thing I know, I'm waking up, in a fog, wiping my eyes, everything black, and it's 7:35 a.m.! "Jesus", I screamed, "just great!". Miraculously, I still got an A for both legs of my flight, even my first one at 6:30. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
