Katrina, there and back again; a Rat's Tale...
Book 1, Chapt. 1
Alpha and Omega...
Alpha...
Somebody once said never begin a chapter, much less a book, in the middle, so it must be time to post the beginning and the end of the beginning, and then fill in the blanks.
My story is no different than scores of others; the only difference is that I had a camera and a place to post mine, courtesy of Sioux.
We all had feelings that we had to help out,and we all had support systems which allowed us to go. Towns, friends,and employers all assisted us in our adventures. It's a story I heard repeated at least 25 times at Camp Covington, and we are all grateful for the support.
In my case, I was watching news on the Tuesday after Katrina, and couldn't stand it anymore; I needed to help out. It took a few days to find a group to plug into, but, Monday morning, a week after the flooding, I found an e-mail waiting for me when I got home from work. Kat said my buddy and former boss, Dane, was headed east with a convoy from the MEC, the Mendocino Environmental Center, to relieve the Veterans for Peace, Chapt. 116, Mendo Co. Remember these guys; they will show up again.
If there is starting point for my tale, beyond my TV, computer, phone, and that point where the tail leaves the spine, it was here...
pbase.com
Monday afternoon, 9/5, I made a few phone calls to get the ball rolling, and headed to town, where I set a table up at Geiger's General Store. In a period of less than 6 hours Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, my little town gave me about $800 in traveling money, $500 for relief efforts, and enuf supplies to totally fill up my truck; it was so jammed I had to resort to all sorts of devious stowage techniques to be able to see out of my side view mirrors; the rear view was a lost cause.
There are lots of folks whom I've thanked in previous postings, so I'm gonna spare you their names. There is one person, tho, who needs to be thanked again. None of this would have been possible without Dane's wife, Elise, who had to play the role of single parent for a few weeks. Thanks, Elise, and thanks, kids.
I do want to say, tho, that this entire episode reinforces my belief that there is no better town, nor county, in the entire world that is better than here. BTW. the little coffee stand at the right is where I get my mochas :>)
Mendo opened its heart to these folks. The hospital filled Dane's car, and that of Lynne, a PA (phys. ass't) with medical supplies. Thanksgiving Coffee was supposed to be sending a coffee set-up for camp. Hadn't arrived by the time we left, and I haven't checked back to see if it got there. The MEC had 50 chainsaws headed out, I think donated by one of the churches. I'm sure I missed a lot, hut we were hearing stories about, literally, tons of supplies headed out, from all over. In addition, 3 or 4 nurses from Howard Hospital flew to Houston, using donated tickets. Kat said they came home with a resident in exile; believe they had found a job for him, too.
My support system extended to my net family. Dusty and Kath took us to dinner in Albuquerque, gave us a place to stay, fed us breakfast, let us wash our clothes, and raised $100 bucks for travel expenses. Sioux and Bill were my links to the world, when I could contact them. It's good to have friends.
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