Oh, the Humidity
Report from Mary
Tuesday 25 April 2006, 8:13 pm
Bay St Louis, Tuesday, April 25
It's Tuesday afternoon now. Out 'work' days are long when it's hot & humid... have to really take things at a much
slower pace in order to have any stamina.
The other day's rain was the first rain they had had in a long time and they are way behind on their water levels.
When it's raining it feels soOOooo good, but if the sun comes back out then it gets like a really hot steamy sauna.
I think I'll keep my CA residence, thank you.
Yesterday I worked the entire day in the the distribution center's tent while it was closed to the public.
I was pulling all the winter clothing and bagging it up to be sent elsewhere.
Today Mark & I went to a couple's home to help in the yard with clearing... bamboo. The owner took the rest of
the day off and pulled out his chain saw... so he cut what wasn't already broken away and we pulled all of it
into a huge heap. We were ALMOST finished with the last of it when lightning was getting close so we had to stop.
We went to Rite Aid to get me a new toothbrush (lost mine) and a Hershey bar... and it's been POURING and
Thundering & Lightening like crazy since... camp is pretty flooded. I'll have to put on my hiking boots during
the night to get to the bathrooms (where my flip flops or birkenstocks have been just fine for that middle of
the night hike). Oh well. I do wish the thunder & lightening would stop... can't use an umbrella... so get
really wet... seems like I look like a drowned rat whether it's raining or it's super humid & hot.
We had to drive our truck out to the home we were working on today (because we were the only ones going there
and we're not insured as drivers of City Team vehicles)... Mark's keyring fell off his pants while we were working
out there... looking at the area we had been working you would expect we would never be able to find it...
but we DID. I have my spare set of keys in my bag at camp, but not with us at the time, but NO keys to the
truck bed's cover). Wheh!
The home on the property we were working on was over 130 years old. They showed us pictures of the outside
before K. It was beautiful. Actually, this particular home suffered very very little damage to the house
and NO water entered. It is on a 'high' spot... you could see the waterline on the concrete thingys under
the house... about 18" of water... and the bamboo on the gulf-side of the house caught & held incoming debris
so that only water ran by. The house on the end of the street was about 180 years old... the entire gulf side
of the yard & street were washed away and that side of the house has collapsed. It has to be demolished.
They showed us photos of that house pre-K (katrina) from a coffee-table style book.
The biggest challenge for us has been the heat & humidity. I'm so used to working 'nose to the grind stone'
pace, but you can't do that here. We're so tired by the end of each day that we're sleeping really well,
despite the heat & humidity. Late this afternoon there was quite a rain storm complete with thunder and
lightning, unlike what we're used to at home.
