Photos: Mary on Scaffolding, group putting up scaffolding, Doug after putting in floor in closet, some rescued items, Doug and Mary working in hall, lunch break outside, Bill, Ben and Doug working on closet, the Purdy house.
We first visited the "purdy" house in 2007 although we had often remarked on how pretty and abandoned it looked. (Purdy is southern for pretty :)) Today because it was chilly and overcast we had the unique experience of all 12 of us working on the same site. We prepped walls for sheetrock--ripping out or hammering in protruding nails, removing debris, etc. We cleared things out of the two rooms that would get ceilings sheetrocked first--lots of work on scaffolding but not by me! I'll post some photos to go along with this. My mom is not doing well so I may have to head home but both of my sisters are with her so I am waiting until Monday at this point. We returned to the two houses, that are side by side, in Bay St. Louis and after showering we had a nice dinner. Afterward, as we always do, we shared remarks about our day--things that had moved or touched us, etc. We all feel a certain attachment to this house. The owner and his dog escaped through the back door's window onto the deck which then separated from the house and floated away! He moved to Texas to be with his son's family and never came back. When we arrived in '07 we were shocked to have to "mud and gut" a house as we thought that was long past. We had to haul everything out and it had been a beautiful home--lovely canopy beds, chandeliers, antique furniture, pictures, etc. We sorted things to save and things to toss...and we all really loved the house. Now, Tom, one of the first responders after Katrina, has bought the house. He has been coming here every six weeks since the storm, and has organized countless jobs for volunteers from around the country. One of our team said tonight that by working on this house for him it was almost like helping Pearlington thank him for all he has done for them. For several of us the house and our connection to it is sort of symbolic of our work here in Pearlington and the need to restore things to the way they were--even though the post office and school will never be rebuilt here. Tired and sore we sang songs including Christmas carols and headed off for our daily trip to Walmart to get supplies for tomorrow---I know I know about Walmart but there just isn't an alternative here :) Night!
No comments:
Post a Comment