Our first tasks at the church were to paint the Reverend's office and clear out every single thing out of the sanctuary because they are having the floors tiled on Tuesday. We immediately split up into groups and went to work.
Six of the girls spent the entire time painting two coats of paint in the office. It looked great. It was hard work, there were minimal supplies, they braved the fumes and did work to be proud of.
Before
During
Finished Product
While those girls were painting machines the rest of us had the task of moving everything, every chair, the heavy furniture, the pulpit, odds and ends, etc...
After the sanctuary move-out, we ventured to the lot behind the building to clear out the extremely tall weeds that had grown over the concrete. The church doesn't even own this property, it's just part of the initiative to clean up all areas to make it look a bit neater and so that it can potentially be used in another way.
Oh yeah...and we did this job with swing blades and machetes. Yes, you heard right, they gave those to us to use.
Ellis and Bess got in a rhythm with the blades and showed us all up. Nickie nearly lost a few appendages, but would not give up her machete.
This work was not easy and not particularly enjoyable, yet it was brought up by several different folks during circle time that this was their favorite part because it seemed so daunting, but the immediate results were simply fascinating and successful.
Our fourth and final project was to clean out their make-shift garden, pull out the weeds, till the soil and finish with new topsoil. Several of the "paint girls" came out in shifts between the first and second coats and helped with both the "swingblade" and plant project. Patti headed up the plant revitalization, she did a great job and sure loved getting her hands dirty!
Before
During
After
This planting project opened our eyes to see that it doesn't take a couple acres of land to have a garden. This church created this small space in order to bring life through healthy foods and herbs to their community.
By late afternoon, we were tired, really tired. But it was worth it, so worth it.
We were proud of the work we'd done. We not only saw the progress first hand and in just a few short hours, but had the privileged to be a part of the church and a part of their community. So that when we think back on this experience we'll remember and know the faces and appreciative smiles of the people who benefited today and will decades from now.
*following our work we were given an unforgettable and one of a kind hour long tour of the lower 9th ward. a new post coming tomorrow....
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“Oh yeah (it feels great),” Red’s handler, Mike Nelson, said. “We got lucky. We saw the coon in the den.”
The road to Nelson’s “lucky” spot was anything but a cakewalk. he was one of those men, facing the stand of woods, steam rising from his breath and elevating into the crisp air, waiting on word from the three Redbones and one Treeing Walker that were freed on the final cast. As a crescent moon hung above, it was another Redbone, Bing’s Tess, that sounded the first alarm that a coon was in sight. Quickly, the other dogs chimed in and the men broke silence and began to move forward.
That push ahead turned into a three-quarter mile trek through the night. the group crossed two ditches, sliding down the steep banks and splintering the iced-over surface, then scaling the opposite bank, many turning around to offer a hand to the next man. Sam Drain, the group’s guide, led the way through the woods, machete in his right hand clearing out limbs and brush ahead with swift swipes that produced a subtle “thwack,” adding to the soundtrack of the night.
They found the dogs split-treed. Bellars Get ahead Red and Mantana Red Ranger on one tree. Hall’s Kentucky Bruiser, the Treeing Walker in the bunch, and Bing’s Tess on the other. it was Nelson who spotted the coon peaking out a hole in the tree the two Redbones were barking up.
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