Today was cold. And windy. But we started off with sausage biscuits and this weird purple fruit juice. It actually tasted ok. Probably since it was 3% juice and the rest of it sugar. Our team jetted out of there early so we could get working on the house. Things were going good. Everyone was busy demolishing something. The funniest part of the day for me was taking down the pantry door. The bottom hinge came out easily because of the soft, swollen wood. But the top hinge was stuck. I kept yanking on my hammer and nothing was happening. So I started pushing against the frame and ended up pulling myself off the ground hanging from the hammer. I must have looked ridiculous. But it still wasn't budging. I think it finally came off with the magic of a few crowbars but it was interesting while it lasted. Then, I was taking off the wood paneling in the kitchen and closet when K comes in. "Guys... do you have any...um...stuff?" She's holding her arm with this huge gash on the underside below the elbow. It was deep but not deep enough for stitches. The bad part is we didn't have any first aid supplies. Just water and baby wipes. So she and our team leader drove back to Light City for some bandages. That kind of stuff you don't want exposed to the black mold and dirt and everything else. While they were gone, the owner of the house stopped by. Eddie was so grateful. I am amazed by her strength and faith. I can't imagine walking into my old home to watch college students destroy everything I had worked so hard to keep nice and clean. I would have had a breakdown. But she didn't. She had this gracefulness and attitude that I only hope to have a fraction of one day. She told us that all three generations of her family have been affected by the hurricane and flooding. Her mother, who is 88, refuses to leave New Orleans so she stays. And fights with her flood insurance company to have them start paying for rebuilding. Our team got the chance to tell her how far we've gotten, what we hope to finish, and just provide a little hope and a few smiles. It felt really great to see the fact that we were making a difference. To at least one person. But back to work...the four of us left(wow, its starting to sound like we kick people off the island in Survivor or something) tore down the bedroom walls. Its really fun to punch through sheetrock too. It just gives me fits of laughter.But the rest of our team came back with yummy Subway sandwiches and more first aid supplies. Our conversation kind of revolved around nails and injuries. When K got cut, it was from a nail in one of the boards she threw into the debris pile. And M our team leader stepped on a nail the day before we got to New Orleans.
Tearing down walls and kicking through ceiling are probably the best parts of gutting, but clean up is the most time consuming. Getting the walls down goes fast but then takes us forever to get it all out of the house. After lunch, I started on a new project of taking down half a closet. It was going good until I got to the very end. I was pulling out one of the last pieces in the corner between the wall and ceiling when the ceiling caved in on me. It didn't really hurt that bad since I put my head down in time, and I didn't get dust or insulation in my eyes which was lucky. I was really dirty though and inhaled a bunch of dust even through the masks. Once I got some fresh air, I came back to pull up the bottom, and there was a gigantic cockroach underneath. It just grosses me out since I had been holding it a split second before. Not the cockroach, I was holding the floorboard part. Just the wood, no bugs. At least, not intentionally. But before the end of the day Eddie came back and just could not express her appreciation to us. "Ya'll have made my day, my week, my month."
We hurried back to shower and are leaving for the French Quarter at dinnertime. Yay! We're going exploring! And I'm the only one optomistic enough to believe we are going to finish the house tomorrow.
