interesting times

Gulfport, MS


the church wall is gone but the balcony is still there



all that's left of someone's beachfront home

Had some interesting times lately. Examples:

• Watched a rehearsal performance of the reunited Gulf Coast Symphony with a 70-year old man who lost his home in the storm
• Learned that the proportion of men named Bubba is much greater here than in other parts of the country
• Collected several dozen green beads around my neck at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Biloxi
• Hosted 150 Hillel students (a nation-wide Jewish college group) at our camp in Gulfport, complete with kosher food and celebrations in Hebrew for Purim (...look it up!)
• Went to Baton Rouge to meet with a one-legged good ol' boy minister and a butch dyke who offered to teach me to play golf
• Gave a speech to a church group about "God giveth, God taketh away", spirit of renewal, let the good times roll, etc.
• Hosted a BBQ at my trailer for the staff, featuring chicken sausages boiled in beer
• Put 1300 miles on my new truck in two weeks
• Became adept at taking 4-minute showers, as my hot water heater only holds 6 gallons of water
• Threw a 300-lb. white Islamic woman off our property after she insulted me (her exact words: "I don't have to speak to anyone not equal to my status, and you are not equal to my status" - my response: "Honey, as long as you're on MY property, you WILL show me respect.")
• Endured the false friendliness of a Louisiana pastor who was complaining to people behind my back about why the Presbyterians had to hire a Jew for the job (my boss's response: "She outclassed all the competition")
• Bought $40 worth of fresh and pickled straight-off-the-farm produce at a roadside stand from a leather-faced gentleman in a checked shirt named Dean (anyone know what to do with pickled eggs?)
• Introduced myself to Mr. Sam Walton and his bizarre breed of shoppers
• Saw a very bad movie with Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker, where all I could think about was why they don't chop off that mole on her chin
• Had to explain to a contractor why it was not OK to use our volunteers on his projects for personal profit

Work is keeping me pretty busy, most days and nights, but everything's moving along well. Managing 6 different sites in 2 states is challenging, plus I'm coordinating everything with our headquarters in Kentucky. We'll be expanding to at least 2 new camps soon, and my second trailer will be installed in Louisiana for when I work over there (ooh, posh! 2 homes!)... My main objective at the moment is making sure we have enough people in place to do adequate site assessments and proper construction supervision.

I'll be going to some conferences in April, May and June, and hopefully taking some extended weekend vacations away.