Sultry by ten

Sweet humid decay tinges the air
Along this coast where the sticky pine triumphs over the oak
And where the rim of Earth dissolves faster, simmering and hissing along the edges,
Like catfish frying.

Locusts in duet strum the only sound
As my feet indulge in a secret walk
Seduced to recall my own sun-baked southern childhood
By the sight of an iron red roadbed.

Hammering nails in strokes of four or five,
I recognized my father in myself;
An opaque man whose silence I begrudged.
When did I become proud to be like him?

Sweat drops trickle under my shirt
A surprise to one who rarely perspires.
My liquid body separated from the damp air
Only by the membrane of my clothes

So what a joyous and laughing release
When evening rains finally scoured the pavement,
Fulfilling the humid day’s unspoken promise
And we sighed deeply in contented fatigue.

“Its good you started early,” said Ms Johnson in housecoat
As she gazed down at us from her doorway,
Her unlined onyx face belying her grandbabies inside.
“When that sun get high,
Be sultry by ten.”

--Tim

Alan's point of view

Those on the trip know that Alan painted his reflections at the end of each day. This one shows our caravan as we traveled over the mountains. You can see more of his work here.

Afterwards: We're back!

After a final two days of driving, we're back at home again. The entries from here on up represent our reflections on the experience.

Note to those who were on the trip: If you'd like to share your own reflections here, click on Comments below and add your entry, or email it to trinitybuckingham@gmail.com and we'll enter it for you.

Also, if you have pictures to share, you can email them to to the same address. (If you have a lot of pictures, send an email asking for alternate instructions and we'll provide them.)

Day 6: Just can't quit

It's hard to leave things unfinished. We're struggling with that today. This was supposed to be our last day of work here in Alabama, but we weren't able to complete all of the projects we were working on, and some of the group will go back for a few hours tomorrow to wrap up what we can.

In another sense, though, we know that no matter how many projects we are able to complete here, our work still won't be finished when we leave.

At the end of this day, we had an unexpected treat. We went out shrimping with Robert, our coordinator, and his son. The birds followed us, hoping to share in our catch, and so did a group of dolphins. When the nets were pulled in, we gathered around to help sort out the shrimp, catfish, squid, and a wide variety of other sea creatures. Then Robert cooked the shrimp up for us--delicious! It was a small glimpse into a different world, though. For us it was a pleasure cruise, a chance to enjoy a cool breeze and watch dolphins frolic behind the boat, but we did come away with a sense that this would be a hard way to make a living, as many of the folks around here do. This time it was Robert who brought up Forrest Gump, reminding us of the scene where Forrest goes and shrimping and returns with only three shrimp to show for his efforts.

Our new friends from the Wellstone Nazarene Church in Ohio left as we were getting ready for our boat trip, taking with them a surprisingly large collection of rubber insects as well as the rubber snake they introduced us to when we arrived. The practical jokes they played on each other (and occasionally on us, as per the shower tour) never stopped this week. We didn't work on projects together but we did share living quarters and social time in the evening, and we listened in as they gathered for worship before they went to work in the morning. We realized that the words and phrases we use to express our faith may sometimes sound different, but the message we are trying to live is the same, and we developed a great deal of respect for them as we got to know them.

We are looking forward to a day of recreation tomorrow, once the work is done, and then it will be time to start the long trip back to Pennsylvania.

More to come!

Day 5: Our third day on the job

Today's entry in the blog comes from Lucy:

Work Day 3, Thursday

We are divided into two groups still, one group at the Rogers house and one rebuilding a shed in another location. Robert, our general contractor/ work supervisor has been mia this morning. We finally reached him on the phone and he will call back with additional work for some of us to do. This is unstructured to the point of annoyance from time to time, but we are trying to be flexible and patient, and the kids are having fun drawing sketches on pieces of wall board while we wait. We are reminding ourselves that our own sense of fulfillment is not what this is about, and indeed, I think people are feeling good despite the temporary slowdown.

I am realizing that my own sense of the effectiveness of this trip is clearly based on how others are responding to it as well as how I feel about it. I think people are feeling good about the adventure of it. I will be happy if each person ends up with memories of this trip as one which has impacted their perception of life in some way. We certainly know more than we did before about life in rural Alabama, about cats with bottle neck collars, and GPS units which don’t work on dirt roads, Styrofoam cups which seem to move by themselves across the kitchen floor (a giant bug trapped but not for long) and early morning life in a strip mall, which is where we have been living!

It is hot and humid!! We have not had the expected rain so far, but it has been tolerable at least. I am amazed at how good-humored everyone is, and impressed with the way our young people have gotten into this.

Afternoon…. At last Robert has called back and assigned us a new project – the Thompson house, where we must build two new eight-foot porches and install a kitchen sink and countertops, as well as shovel maggot-filled garbage into a large dumpster (yummy). We’ll get the lumber today and begin this job tomorrow with a small group finishing the painting and carpeting of the Rogers bedroom at the other house. We’re up and running again!

As for me, I am sticky and ready for a shower – the one nice one in the ladies’ room, not one of the port-a-potty showers in the back yard of our home this week. I will have to run in first if I want to find the good shower empty. Another good day done ...
--Lucy


Last night we drove out to Dauphin Island and held our evening worship on the beach, reflecting on the things we have found difficult. Tonight we drove out to Pascagoula for a seafood dinner and took a drive through a neighborhood that was devastated by Katrina. It was clear from the houses that still stand or are being rebuilt that this is not a poor neighborhood, but nearly two years after the hurricane quite a few people are still living in trailers next to the homes that are not yet habitable. Many houses are being rebuilt, but many, many others are simply blank places in the neighborhood, with perhaps a driveway or a foundation to mark where a family once lived.

Afterwards, we reflected on the unexpected joys we have experienced through the week, as we've grown closer through the work and the fun we've shared. We have one more day of work left.

More to come.

Day 4: Here we are ...

Today's entries in the blog come from two of the youth members on our trip:


One of the most amazing aspects of our mission trip has been the sense of community we all feel when we help each other to grow as individuals and as a group. We came together as casual acquaintances and by midweek, have become the closest of friends. It’s amazing how fast our friendships have been formed, and under such interesting conditions. Bonds were formed in the ninety-plus degree over tiling and painting and installing trailer doors.
--Jenn


There is a funny thing about being home; everything is pretty much the exact way that you predicted. It is only the second day here on the job; however, I feel as though I have already learned so much. As Christians we try to obey the Ten Commandments as an outline of principles that we hope to live by in a lives with Christ. Personally, I often beat up myself about simple thoughts that go through my mind, and can easily occupies my thoughts for several minutes, hours, or even days. A little tedious and pathetic, I suppose, but I cannot help but lose some personal respect with each judgmental idea. Here in Alabama, my mouth has appropriately remained shut but my thoughts have been many. The other day, as we picked up a few things in a near by convenience store, my attention turned to a young family whose children were not wearing any shoes on the filth covered floor. I suppose that the known, “No shirt, no shoes” policy does not always apply to other places outside of my daily life, or even other states; however, I could not help but find this to be somewhat appalling. Guilt overcame and so I came back and looked up prejudice verses in my bible. One annotation clearly stuck out at me: “Love means acting to meet the need” (Luke 10:27-37). This spoke to me perfectly and I have continued to read this over and over in my head. If one thing has changed in me even so early on in this week, it is that my first impressions of people and original thoughts about others have all been incorrect. Just because someone looses patience from time to time does not make them a bad person, if someone is uncomfortable speaking to a group of strangers, this does not make them cocky or rude, and if someone needs my help or cannot pick up their lives by themselves, it does not make them any different from me. I may not physically be at my home right now, but I am home in the comfort of being with others and feeling blessed and courageous in my faith in God. “Here I am Lord, is it I Lord, I have heard you calling in the storm, I will go Lord, if you need me, I will hold your people in my heart.”
--Joan

Day 3: We go to work

That's Robert on the left. He's our boss. He's in charge of a handful of volunteer work crews, including ours. It's his job to assign the projects we work on and make sure we have the tools and materials we need to accomplish them. He has at least two cell phones and he's a busy guy. Don't ask him anything about the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (fictionally located in Bayou La Batre in the movie Forrest Gump) unless you're prepared to endure a lot of teasing.

The guy on the right is Alan. He's the one in our group who assigns work crews to the projects Robert puts us on, and makes sure we really do have what we need to accomplish them. In addition, he has to make sure we know what we're doing, which is a big job in itself. Fortunately he (and the others among us who know what they're doing) has been generous and gracious about teaching when necessary.

The first thing Robert told us when he met our group last night was that the primary qualities we'd need to make our week successful were flexibility and patience. Today we had a chance to practice those skills, as we waited for tools and materials needed to finish the jobs we were working on. We had a relatively good first day, though. Among other things, we pulled out carpet and plaster board to fix a bedroom and bathroom that had been damaged by water, replaced two exterior doors, fixed some unanticipated plumbing leaks as well as a leaking roof, and worked on a shed. It was hot and humid, and we got some sunburn and some insect bites.

At the end of the day we had some time to share reflections, and everybody said they'd had a good day, enjoyed working together and getting to know each other and ourselves a little better, and appreciated the appreciation expressed by the woman who lives with her two children (one born under emergency circumstances during the hurricane) in the house where we did the most work.

More tomorrow.