DAY FOUR

This is our final full day in Texas City/Galveston.  Tomorrow we will work half of the day, come back to our digs, shower, pack our stuff, drive to Gaido's for lunch, and set out for home.  Because we are all weary, I will simply mention a few important features of the week.  First, there has been a great cooperative spirit among Presbyterians---from California, Nebraska, Colorado, Alaska, Missouri, and Texas.  Secondly, we have made new friends both within our group and among others with whom we've lived this week.  Thirdly, we have all tapped into new abilities and learned them from one another.  Lastly, most of us have sensed a Spirit at work that is greater than just our combined spirits.

I'll call your attention to the pictures as there will be people in them that you don't recognize.  One of them (who appears in a couple work-site pictures) is Sandy Langston, the project manager for UMCOR in Galveston (that stands for United Methodist Committee on Recovery).  Others include our breakfast and dinner companions from the other Presbyterian groups.  Still others include some of the families whose homes were being worked on by those other groups (ours failed to show up, possibly because she is quite aged).  Our bathroom breaks took place at Crockett Place Methodist Church in Galveston, as there was neither power nor water in the home where we were working.  The sanctuary of the church featured La-Z-Boys across the front of the sanctuary, just below the chancel.  Brian opined that we needed chairs of that type at the very front of our sanctuary, as people would then be adequately prepared for the sermon.  Although I know a few of our folks who would like that idea, I figure that it might be the only way to get Presbyterians to come to the front rows.

Enjoy the pictures.  We have had a wonderful and special time.  We'll see you all at home!

Peace,
Tom

 

DAY THREE

Morning brought a big-time breakfast:  scrambled eggs and bacon with biscuits and all kinds of fruit and plenty of coffee.  It becomes both easier and more difficult to roll out of bed:  easy because most of us have slept relatively well and difficult because the chances of being sore have greatly increased.  In addition to everyone's work at our respective houses, every team has to take its turn in the kitchen washing dishes, cleaning tables, dumping the coffee, and sundry other things.  If anyone sees a full wastebasket, it is their responsibility to dump it; each team has to provide cleaners for the bathrooms every evening.  It is a cooperative venture.

We have regretted the fact that we have not met the owner of the property (something the other group has done in spades---and even gone fishing with the relatives of the family with and for whom they are working!)  In spite of this missing piece, we have always arrived around 8:30 and left around 4:30.  Today was no exception, as Jim W and Ron finished with the electrical work, sheetrock progressed to about 85% finished with Brian and Jim M spending nearly all day on it.  Taping and floating has begun, with Charlie H, Joan, Sharon, and Kelly leading the way.  C.A., Ron, and Jim W turned their attention to hanging "green" sheetrock on the wall of the kitchen sink and refrigerator.  Harold, Charlie  G, Carl, and I sheetrocked the ceiling of the bathroom which had bare rafters and no insulation.  We decided that the process of insulating the ceiling will be done from the attic tomorrow morning.  Of course, that's likely neither to be to code nor in accordance with the conventional wisdom, but it made sense to us.  Beth and Shiela worked to deliver a wonderful meal of boiled shrimp with Maria (the aforementioned ex-Mo Ranch dining room chief) serving as the uber superviser.

Life in the PDA Village is depicted in the pictures, including the sleeping arrangements.  Some of the latter are in a large old gymnasium; most of the latter are in new, air-conditioned, but extremely cramped trailers.  Everyone is getting along; everyone is pitching in; everyone is thoughtful.   It will go on until the end of the week; and if it were to stay that way beyond that time, the kingdom will have come.  Let the pictures tell the story...and so to bed.

DAY TWO

Morning came way too early, though nearly everyone slept well last night.  Pancakes and sausage for breakfast put most of us in good moods as we moved into work mode.  We have now gotten to be much more cordial with the other group that is here.  It's composed of Californians from Santa Barbara, Nebraskans from a little town near Sidney, a smattering of Kansans, and folks from Denver.  Their work is in the Texas City area, so our paths cross only at breakfast and dinner.  When breakfast is over, the cooks set out peanut butter, jelly, luncheon meat (turkey mainly), bags of chips, fruit, cookies, yogurt, and other delicacies.  Everyone packs a lunch, which are then placed in coolers that go with us to the work sites.  In addition, each group takes a liquid cooler as well to dispense water to individual water bottles at the sites.  Then we're off.


Today, our group made great headway on the sheetrock at the house (about 3/4 of which is done) and will complete the changes in the electric box and wiring sometime tomorrow morning (that time of day being the only time to crawl around in the attic).  Taping and floating won't begin in earnest until tomorrow, but C.A. served today as the harbinger of mud and spackle.  Our folks had enough tools for most of our tasks, so there was very little down time.  We fell into natural teams today:  Charlie G, Harold, and Jim were one sheetrocking team; Kelly, Joan, and Sharon a sheetrock measuring/cutting team; Charlie H and Brian as a sheetrock hanging team; Jim and Ron as the master electricians (with Charlie H and me as morning attic gofers); Carl and I were a measuring/cutting/hanging sheetrock team; C.A. was a one-woman screw-head spackler and sometime sheetrocker hanger.  We all pretty much did what we saw needed to be done.  Those of us returning from the work site in Harold's vehicle enjoyed a preprandial libation and appetizer at a local eatery.  The remainder of our group, Shiela and Beth, spent the whole day cooking---a variation on King Ranch chicken for dinner.  Wonderful.

We met for Bible study and discussion at 8:00 at which we shared concerns about the day and concerns for others, and were joined by a good-natured and somewhat bemused friend from the other group who had innocently come in to check his email.  It's been a good day, and the rhythm of the work, the meals, and our rest is has now taken over.  Once again, the pictures tell the story of the day!