Many of the homeowners have added details to personalize 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.
Computers are being mean to me today. I had all my notes typed up for what I want to say tomorrow. I also started putting together a description of today’s activities. My computer ate all of it.
But we carry on. Kristin concluded Morning Devotion this morning with the Sucipe, a prayer familiar to anyone who has ever attended a Jesuit University,
Lots of different groups come down to work on houses, and naturally they vary in talent and intent. One in particular caused us to roll our eyes on a few occasions, but they do not seem to have been around in recent years.
Our group is one of the better ones. We are far from perfect. In the houses we have worked on since I joined the crew, we have left tools buried in walls that were dropped and could not be retrieved, had to red0 a roof or two, misaligned tiles, sustained lots of creative physical injuries, and plenty of others. We have also accomplished a great deal in the past years.
It helps that most of our group have been homeowners, so they have some idea of what houses need and problems that need fixing. We are also a talented bunch. We have brought down contractors, engineers, and electricians. And of course we have benefitted from years of experience. We have made enough mistakes to learn better. But most importantly, we care about what we are doing.
This current house looks better than most. In the kitchen, J.D. is taking care to fill the gap left between two cabinets.
I personally am particular about staining and finishing. I have refinished enough pieces of furniture to figure out how to do it reasonably well, and I hate drip marks and mistakes (except on louvered doors. Louvered doors are a pain. They are just hopeless,)
This particular house has solid wood doors, as opposed to the hollow ones that most of the houses have. I do not know if that is the reason, but the doors look noticeably better.
This is Year 22 for our group! We have one rookie this year and the rest of us are veterans of various tenures. I do not think anybody has made every trip, though Andy, Charlotte and Kristin are pretty close.
Most groups leave some memento of their visit on the walls, ceiling, or wherever it they can find to put it. Over the years, the place has started to fill up and competition for space can get kind of fierce. Having been here more times than most (or possibly anybody) we have commanded our share of space.
One year we helpfully consolidated some of the contributions from the group from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in order to create a more esthetically pleasing display – And because we wanted the space.
The young people from Urbana High School have put together an impressive run in recent years, and in the process commandeered much of the ceiling.
Appropriately we started the week making some repairs to things people have tacked to the ceiling, so as not to get hit in the face with them.
This might require some further work as the week progresses.
Mike started us off this morning with a passage from Philippians inviting us to be humble servants as we work this week.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. Philippians 2:3
I think we can honestly say that we try however imperfectly to work for the greater glory of God. Still most of us show up every year because of the rewards: the people we meet, the fun we have, fellowship we share. The relationships we have built with one another. Something brings us back year after year. That reflects the greater glory of God.
J.D. Smith has been the contractor and supervisor on these jobs pretty much since the beginning of the Habitat chapter. Nothing really gets started until he shows up.
In the meantime, his nephew Lorenzo arrived. Lorenzo has been part of our crew even before I was. We have watched him grow up. While we waited for J.D., Lorenzo was happy to show off his new ride.
Then J.D. showed up and we were able to get started.
We are currently finishing up House #50 for West Tallahatchie Habitat Chapter. We helped finish up House #49 last year. It took some time. We were the first group to come down after Covid and we worked on it then. Here is what it looks like today.
The houses to date were built on one large piece of land that had been donated to WTHFH and the dorm is built there as well, so to this point, all of the houses have been easy walking distance from the dorm. This is convenient for people who need a bathroom break, a dose of air conditioning, or a nap, or who sit back at headquarters typing a blog while the rest of the crew is working in 90 degree heat. But I did take time to at least get a few pictures of our team at work.
Last year, this kitchen served as a dumping ground for materials to be used, leftover boxes, and all manner of stuff. Here is what it looks like as it nears completion.Here is Dave finishing a closet.
Sunday
We made our traditional stop at Neimerg’s in Effingham, IL where the food is pretty good, the waitstaff is friendly, and the pies are excellent, and it is a good location to rendezvous on the way down, and then made a stop at the phenomenon that is Boomland!
Really, Boomland is better experienced than described. Stretching across what would be about a city block in Chicago, it boasts fireworks section large enough to supply a small war. Ah, but that is not all! It offers a huge variety of food, clothing, and an endless supply of items to enhance your dwelling place.
Here Andy examines a sampler package of some of the huge variety of hot sauce on display, with all manner of names promising pain, death and destruction.
I do not understand the appeal of a condiment that threatens to kill you, but apparently there is a market for that sort of thing.
The inventory offered at Boomland is such as to appeal to those who drive trucks, ride motorcycles, and serve in the military. Those can be large and diverse groups of course, but that should provide an adequate description. It tends to the religious and patriotic, categories that of course are not mutually exclusive. Precisely who or what is being worshipped is subject to interpretation.
I would never describe Boomland as underwhelming, but its merchandise this year is somewhat sparse in comparison to other years. Since Covid, the selection has decreased a bit. If you have your heart set on a jet black gargoyle wielding a broadsword, you would be disappointed this year.
I personally tend to gravitate to the food section, looking for the discontinued and expired items. The cherry salsa and pickled black-eyed peas I bought were yummy, and I was disappointed not to be able to buy more bottles of Ass-Kickin’ Ketchup.
I was tempted with one item, but decided to give it a pass. While I agree with the sentiment, I am not sure we are all missing the same thing.
We reached Clarksdale, MS at about 7:00 and headed for dinner at the Mexican place we always do, and here is this year’s crew.
So here is this year’s crew, minus Kristin who has not arrived yet as she is attending a college graduation and your correspondent, who is behind the camera, where I look my best. My jacket is in the foreground, however. And we have two of our friends from the restaurant, though they will not be building any houses this week.
This represents a pretty typical weekend in Clarksdale, MS, which can rightly claim to be the home of the blues. Then again, so can a dozen other towns in the Mississippi Delta, including Tutwiler, where W.C. Handy supposedly discovered the blues while sitting in a railroad station listening to a drifter playing his guitar.
Then it was off to grocery shopping!
Clarksdale has one grocery store, namely Walmart. It used to have another one, but it closed. Rumor has it that it has a newer one so that locals can buy fresh produce and perhaps sell some of their own, but we have not found it yet.
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