day 21: wednesday, january 25
Today got off to a rolling start . . . literally. Because Justin had nails in two of his truck tires and one of the trailer tires, we had to follow him to Firestone in the bus so that he could leave his truck there for awhile. We decided to go first thing in the morning, so we just started rolling with everyone but Shawny, Justin, and Leo asleep in their bunks. Except for David, everyone just rolled around a bit, then went right back to sleep. David got up and helped to navigate, which has been his job since Shawny lost her voice way back in the first week. Most people stayed asleep all the way until we returned home. A few people got up and started working on their projects as we rolled.
Once home, everyone threw in and cooked up anything they wanted, as we needed to get rid of our food. We had some pancakes, some quesadillas, some potatoes, some granola bars, and whatever else occurred to us. Once we finished, we gathered up all of the other food and packed it up to take to the Hippie Camp. Everyone worked to organize all of our gear and our food. We picked an assortment of goods to put on display when we return to campus. (Mallory will be the lead designer of whatever display we propose.) The Verrips brothers focused on organizing all of their tools, and packing the trailer.
At noon, we called a halt to everything, and gathered in a circle to talk to each other about our experiences here. Courtney and Casey led us in a series of affirmations, where each person received two "exaggerated compliments" from different members of our team. We got to praise and acknowledge each other's special qualities, and we got to recognize the different skills and relationships that developed over our time together. Many moving descriptions perfectly captured the finest points that each of us has exhibited throughout this trip.
In the middle of it all, a van pulled up to our lot, and Brianna's artist cousin, Alex, who lives in New Orleans, delivered an incredible present from the whole class to Shawny. Alex has done a series of pieces on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and beyond. This piece represents much of our experience of the city during this month. It shows the stretch of road that we drove over and over again as we moved between the Ninth Ward and Algiers Point; it highlights the blue roofs that we have come to know and love; it shows a sense of darkness and despair pervading the city, but a bright horizon just coming within reach. It matches Shawny's office perfectly. With the exception of the times when her voice went out, we have not seen her so speechless before.
We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning, packing, and throwing things away. Our great plan to generate almost no garbage failed miserably. We had tons.
Our neighbor came by in the afternoon to wish us well. We learned that her name is Kathy Clark. We asked why she goes to work so early in the mornings (which is why we had never met her before), and she told us that she works for State Farm Insurance. Her work days are understandably long at the moment. She wished us well, told us that we only really kept her up a couple of times (oops), and offered any help that we might need once we leave or if we choose to return.
Eddie Conrad came by too, to claim all of the salvaged goods that we had gotten out of his house in Bay St. Louis. We gave him a gift that he loved: a pink lusterware vase that says "Forget Me Not." Surprisingly, this tough riverboat captain has a soft spot for pink lusterware. We suspect that he will not forget us soon, if only because of the trampled places in his warehouse lot.
In the evening, we went back to Parkway Partners to have a farewell dinner. They got us Crawfish Etouffe, which we loved. They also got us bracelets that are fundraisers for Katrina Relief that say: "Relief, Rebuild, Renew." We all pounced on them and will wear them proudly. We said goodbye there to Jean Fahr, Joan Doyle, and Jean's sister Rene, who joined us on a couple of adventures, including the boat recovery day.
From there we made a quick stop at the French Quarter to get last-minute souvenirs (some of which are no doubt going to people reading these words!). Then we headed back out to Macon's house on the river beach, where we held our fantastic bonfire for Justin's birthday. We stoked up the bonfire and got it ready for our main task of the night: burning the moldy clothes that we just couldn't bear to carry back to California. We expected it to be a rather raucous celebration, but it turned out to be sort of sad and somber. We all stared into the fire or out into the water, and talked about how sad we were to be leaving.
The good news of the night was that Macon had gotten back the soil tests already from the garden down by Xavier. Except for excessive levels of salt, the garden passed with flying colors. Thus, Macon and Mario's belief that safe farming is right around the corner turns out to be correct.
We slowly and meticulously burned jeans, socks, gloves, filter masks, and every other thing that we found too disgusting to pack. Dave found a ten-foot pole and dangled items over the fire so that we could enjoy the burning even more. While there, we had one brief scare: the concrete block on which Fernando was sitting toppled over, almost dumping him face-first into the fire. Once he came out okay, we all laughed it off, saying, "After all of this, we CAN'T have our only injury be a marshmallow-roasting accident!"
As the last of the clothes burned away, we decided it was time to go. The first team must awaken at 5:00 a.m. for packing, while everyone else arises at 6:00. There is still a lot of work to do to bring our NOLA homestead to a close. It's hard to believe that we will be back in California on Thursday evening.
By the way, parents and others, we think we will have three major problems upon returning home: 1) we will forget to flush the toilet, 2) we will need new socks, and 3) we will stare off every once in awhile and remember our days in NOLA, sometimes smiling, sometimes crying. Please understand and help us, no matter which of these tendencies emerge...
We'll write three more times, we think: one about our trip away from our NOLA home, one about our return home to our California homes, and one after our presentations on February 8th. Thanks for staying with us.
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