As we approached the city of New Orleans, we quickly saw a polka dotting of blue tarps covering sides of homes and roof tops. The destruction of Katrina and the aftermath were soon all too visible. One thing that struck me was the normalcy that New Orleans residence long for each day. Continuing to drive down the road we saw a father and his son playing catch in their litter-filled yard. With a tarp on roof, the family continued to bond over America’s pastime, the wonderful sport of baseball. A little ways down the street, a man was mowing his lawn and tending to his yard, while the fence that was once a decoration in his yard now rested along side the wall of his garage. The pride of these residents has not appeared to be broken.

We arrived at our home base around seven o’clock last night. After a quick supper and some directions, we started to work in the church area. The Bishop of Louisiana is coming for church to preach on Sunday. We cleaned the church from top to bottom a couple time over. I helped moved the monster organ at least five times to get it into its final location. AMEN!

Roll to the right, roll to the left the shifting of the air mattresses on wooden bunk beds made an eerie sound in the large dark sleeping room. An occasional snore from the back corner of the room was either a Louisiana black bear or Sammy’s dad. I was too scared to find out which one it was. I pulled the covers over my head and soon it was morning.

The sun is out and a beautiful morning awaits us. The Bishop is going to be arriving soon. The church looks pretty good considering mold stained carpet and plaster cracking from the walls.

Here’s a riddle for you: What kind of flowers would you plant on Sunday?
The answer of course is: “Sunflowers!”

When the afternoon rolls around, some people will be gutting a house while others will be helping a man plant sunflowers in his yard. Gutting a house means tearing the sheet rock off of the walls and exposing the support studs behind. The sheet rock needs to be ripped off because of mold that has spread behind it. Planting sunflowers is an environment project. Not only will the sunflowers add some beauty to the plain landscape but also absorb lead from the ground. The hurricane has damage a lot of the soils in people’s yards. The sunflowers are sure to help cure some of the problem.

Well it’s time to take a shower and get ready for another busy day in New Orleans. Rub-a-dub-dub, by the end of the week I’ll be ready to chill out in my bathtub!

Jamie