'Bama Update

The morning of our first day of on-site work was hot and cold. We were all excited to get some fresh air and physical activity after many long car rides and plates of rich Southern cookin’, however getting out of bed proved extremely difficult. The morning air was cool, thick and foggy, our blankets were cozy and our room was an icebox: the girls have become accustomed to keeping the bunker at a standard 75 degrees, so awaking to the thermostat set to 61 degrees (hilarious, Cole) was traumatizing. The body heat of eleven passengers made defrost a necessity: as we doodled hearts and names on the back windows, Alicia sporadically used her sleeve to wipe away the sweat of the windshield. When we arrived to our budding house in the woods we were reintroduced to the site in a much more hands-on way. Some began to sweep away water from the tarp that covered the floor, while others unpacked the trailer of tools, while a few worked together to dig a three foot hole for an electric pole to be set up.  The day began layered under sweatshirts and mist but by the end our bare arms and necks basked only under the heat of the Alabama sun. After a spicy Mexican lunch we split into two groups, one to work on-site and the other in the warehouse. The former built the safe room of the house: it is a foam-insulated, cement-sustained room that many Marion County Habitat houses have installed to protect the homeowners in the event of a tornado. In our travels through Alabama we have had a first-hand look at the extensive damage of the tornadoes that touched down here last spring. The other group who went to the warehouse was sent to take down rather than put up. After some changes in the blueprints of the home, the original framework would no longer fit on the new foundation. We successfully deconstructed most of the structure without too much trouble. Then in the midst of pulling nails out of two-by-fours, gravity caused a domino effect and the rest of the structure came toppling down. We are all blessed since no one was injured, and everyone laughed…some of us REALLY laughed. Around 5 we relocated to a nearby church to join an assembly line with Teressa and her family to fill bags with canned goods for families around the community that would not be able to provide their own Christmas dinner. Cans of chicken soup and green beans, sweet pears and tangy orange juice sat on seats all around the room, where people will come tomorrow to receive them. The parish expects to have over 200 families. As the day finished, the fiery sun sank and the night chilled under the blue light of the moon. When we returned back to camp, we were pleased that our lodge had returned to its suitable temperature and soon fell asleep with full stomachs, per usual.