2239 Black Canyon RD., Day 5

A view of space #48
Prayer for the job
The master bedroom
Lowering the roof.
Krista, Matthew, Rick, Edwina and Max at the CIA food tent

We started today with a great breakfast made by Sheila Smith. Biscuits and gravy were a great way to start the day.

Next we headed to our worksite on Black Canyon RD. We did the same type of work, shoveling debris, emptying wheelbarrows on to the pile and cutting I-Beams. The work takes its toll after a few days. We are in an isolated spot surrounded by homes where life continues as it was before the firestorm. On one side of the street, the lawn company is doing its mow, blow and go, while we are doing relief work for their across the street neighbor. People are jogging in the neighborhood and walking their dogs around the circle of burned out homes.

The attitudes of some of these people is phenomenal. Irene Neal requested our help because she thought another group had forgotten her. While I was talking to her she told me she could not wait for what God had in store for her next. She said she had faced many trials in her long life and everytime God had prospered her after the trial was over. Strong words from someone whose house of 38 years is all gone. Later in the day I passed by and saw her grinning and asked what had happened. She showed me her 150 piece set of china that had survived the firestorm. She gave God the glory.

Another family has agreed to let us clean their property. These folks were still in shock about the loss, but ready to move forward. The husband reached under his car and pulled a large piece of aluminum(melted). It was the aluminum block from the motor of his car. He thought it looked cool and plans to hang it on his new house wall. He asked me if I knew anyone who had a motor block on their wall.

Tomorrow we have some more homes to work, pray that we can bring God's light to this community.

Mid week blues

I dropped Yvonne off at the San Diego Int'l Airport this morning around 9:15 a.m. She was returning to Modesto to be with our girls. (Maya and Ani were ready for Mommy to come home...they were getting tired of not sleeping in their own beds. Mid week blues.)

Got to the work site around 11 a.m. and found the cutting crew getting finished up at lot 17 with the help of a bulldozer and dump truck. The rest of the crew was at Lot 5, the home of Victoria, a Hispanic lady who had lost everything and who had no homeowner's insurance. I saw her yesterday as we were leaving the mobile home park and I jumped out of my truck to talk to her. Peter, a young man who was with her was going to help her remove the debris from her burned down home (by himself!). I explained to them what we do and how much we charge. We would clear the debris and do it for the nominal charge of nothing. Free, nada, nunca. She said "Really?" because free sounded suspicious to her. Once I finally convinced her that we would do the work at no charge, she looked at Peter and asked him "What do you think?" Peter thought about it for about 0.1 seconds and said with a big Cheshire cat grin, "Yeah, I think that's a good offer." Smart young man.

Lot 5 is about 83.4% complete, give or take, after just one half day of working on it with our crew, bolstered by the addition of Rick Kelley and Krista Gray. One was additional muscle & one was additional brains...I'll let you figure out who was which. Rick and I took apart the incredibly large aviary cage and the metal shed that was blown off its foundation and thrown over the chain link fence into the small ravine behind the lot, Oleta sifted ash for valuables, Max and the guys (Paul & Art) worked the metal cutting chop saw, and the rest of the crew shoveled, lifted, and wheelbarrowed debris, metal and otherwise, close to the front of the property to be picked up. During one of the breaks, I found a bike and rode it around the block.

Toward the end of the day, the injuries started to mount. Tina scraped her leg and reinjured her back, making it difficult for her to move. Max's arms were getting torn up by touching sharp metal. (I asked Max to stop working around 3 p.m. to rest his body. 10 minutes after sitting down, he was back shoveling ashes and debris. Go figure. The oldest guy here happens to be one of the toughest.) Krista's back stiffened up and required prescription medicine to help unstiffen. Art often asked, "So how much Ibuprofen can I take?" We were going through Ibuprofen like candy. The aches and pains were definitely taking its toll on our crew. Must be our collective advancing age.

The last hour or so of the work day dragged on and on. The dust from the ashes was more than usual. Everyone's patience was a little shorter than usual. We were getting kind of punchy with each other. Low energy coupled with extreme fatigue and body aches makes for a testy crew. Just in time, 4:20 p.m came around and it was quitting time. Loaded up the trucks and headed for the showers. Nothing helps the mid week blues like a hot shower.

Everyone's been sleeping like bricks. Well deserved sleep, I'd say.

What