Inauspicious

Hmm, it's never fun to write about frustrating stuff, but yesterday (12 Sep) was one of those days where a couple projects had special joys to treasure. Take the roofing job on Division St. One of the volunteers was installing some flashing in a difficult to reach spot and floop ... deep cut to the middle finger. She needed to get to the emergency room for five stitches.

Over at the park (John Henry Beck Park), there was the gravel delivery. "Astrid, I don't think this is the right gravel." It was the grey limestone, fine-cut. It looked like the kind of gravel we had in the backyard that turned into something like concrete. Definitely not the kind of gravel you want to allow water to drain away from your community garden plot.

Astrid called to check on the order. She relayed that the concrete company somehow keyed the order incorrectly and the gravel we got was too fine. They would bring different stuff and ... yes, they would take back the 14 tons of unsuitable gravel. Luckily, the folks hadn't spread too much of the gravel into the channels between the garden plots. It only took a couple hours to dig it all out.

To top it all off, John Harlow and Russell Freeman left camp. John left for good, Russell for just a couple weeks. Everyone was sad to see the beautiful John-Boy go. He was a constant, hard-working, heckling, fun-loving presence at camp. He and Niko rebuilt John Henry Beck Park. The send off was sombre. A group of friends gathered around and just moped together in the misery of losing a best friend. Only Russell was able to suggest, "Anyone want to shot-gun a Bud Water?"

It made for a sad mood at camp. John, I'm proud of the work you've done, the commitment you made to Biloxi and your comrades at Hands On. I hope to hear you on NPR (or at least about you on NPR) sometime soon! Good luck and we're happy that "This Machine Still Lives".

:: Chris ::