Hammerin' In the Delta

I did the Morning Devotion this morning. I found what I thought was a perfect scriptural reference.

I

1 Unless the Lord build the house,
    they labor in vain who build.
Unless the Lord guard the city,
    in vain does the guard keep watch.
² It is vain for you to rise early
    and put off your rest at night,
To eat bread earned by hard toil—
    all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.

We have come down year after year and watched things change, for better or worse. My personal obsession has been to load the library with books and DVD’s. On several trips, I spent most of my time in the library, and used to talk to the librarian regularly to get an idea of what the community could use. Then the library closed. It has since been turned into the Tutwiler Police Station.

In light of my background as a criminal defense attorney, that would not have been my choice for a new use for the library.

We have seen other steps back in the years we have been down here. At one time, Tutwiler was a bigger community with a train station and a business district. Those days are long gone, though some remnants remain. A few years back, J.D.’s sister opened a restaurant in one of those buildings, which had originally been the Masonic Lodge. The restaurant stayed open for a year or two, and then closed. Last year the building disappeared entirely. Somebody wanted the bricks. They were worth more than the standing building.

For me, the most tragic incident was shortly after one of the new homeowners moved in. He was a single parent and his daughter and grandmother moved in as well. Then someone shot into his living room and killed his grandmother. There are only a couple thousand people in this town at most. There are a few streets. But apparently, there are street gangs.

But the Tutwiler Clinic moved into a brand new building last year. When we toured it, it still have a smell of sawdust and there were some construction remnants lying around. The clinic is run independently from the hospital that took it over. It can stay open with insurance payments and donations. The many years that Dr. Sr. Anne Brooks toiled providing medical care and the dedication of the sisters who followed her here had a result.

Yesterday I received an email form Marie, one of the earliest people to join our crew. She and her husband Jan made many contributions over the years. One year, she brought her sister Carolyn. Last year just as we were packing up to head home on Saturday, Dino one of our members got an email from Marie. Carolyn had passed away, and Marie wanted us to know how much her trip meant to her.

Hi Dino—Jan and I hope the Habitat group has a good trip this year. We remember our trips and wish we could be with you again.  You may remember that my sister Carolyn from Arizona came on one of the trips, 2016 I think.  She often said it was one of the best experiences she had – not only the work but the people she met from Sheil and the community.  Sadly Carolyn passed away early this month.   She had been in poor health for a while and is at peace.  Here are a few pictures from the trip. She was part of the fit and finish crew with Kathy and especially found a good friend in Bernadette,  a fellow nurse and also from Arizona.  The picture of us with Elvis was taken in Memphis.  Please share the pictures with anyone who might remember Carolyn from the trip.  We will be with you in our hearts. Marie

Carolyn, Marie, and Bernadette bonding. Carolyn and Bernadette have passed away, and Marie and Jan have moved to New York, but they are remembered and their contributions remain.

Here is part of what Carolyn wrote about her trip.

The houses get built in God’s own time, and we work away with guarantee of result. We have a good bunch of regulars who show up year after year. We have developed a close community over the years. We also have people who make one or two trips. We cannot know what seeds are planted in people’s hearts. It is definitely a work of faith. For me it is a source of faith as well.

Many of the homeowners have added details to their homes. On one of the houses we worked on years ago, the owner spent a little extra to buy a bright pink roof vent. When we left for the week, the vent stood out like a spotlight on the pale yellow siding. Most of us thought it was a little over the top. When the house was finished, she added other details. The porch railing was the same color, as were the front door, the large rocks marking the width of the driveway, and the flamingos on the lawn. The overall effect was cute and attractive. Since then, she has extended the kitchen to where the porch was, so there are fewer pink accents, but it still looks nice.

One of the houses we worked on in recent years has a custom painted mailbox. Where a number of homeowners have added garden sheds to their property to hold lawnmowers and the like, this one has added one large enough to serve as a garage.

The standard plans for the houses have a limited number or color options. One owner paid extra to get a red one.

Next door is Sarah’s house. The group that came in before us had done a sloppy job on parts of it. Her green front door was full of drips, and I did not like the look of the kitchen cabinets. Several of us spent a long time sanding down the front door and repainting it, and I took all the cabinets down to refinish them. Neither result was perfect, but they looked much, much better. Sarah has since planted a rose bush in her front yard.

It is gratifying to see the houses change as the owners customize them to their liking. Their pride in their homes is evident.

Meanwhile, our crew shows typical attention to detail.

Jim and Jon are finishing up the bathroom, Mike and Ed are working on the closets, Charlotte and Lorenzo are preparing the last couple pieces of trim for the closets, and Dave is sweeping up the results of all this activity.

Meanwhile, one of my favorite local establishments is still in business.

High Cotton Cafe and Art Studio is still here.

https://www.facebook.com/StephanieM.Kassem60

Stephanie and Jay run a nice place to eat lunch and a great place to buy t-shirts. They have been running art classes for the local kids for years. Stephanie is a talented artist, and the building looks great from the outside.

The inside looks better.

Here’s the ladies’s room. It looks a lot better than the mens’. Go figure.

There is more exciting news regarding High Cotton and its proprietors, but I can’t share it yet. Stay tuned.

Painting the porch purple

Homeowners or their family members put in hours on their own homes or someone else’s. The new homeowner got support from her daughter and granddaughter.