Thursday, January 1, 2009

Last Night in Pearlington

Yesterday's post I said it was day#4. I lied. It was day #5. And today is Day#6. Who knew? Not me apparently. Oh well. I've got bigger fish to fry. I'm picking up some really snazzy sayings like that since being here in Mississippi. Love it.

Today was the hardest physical labor day for me. I lopped trees and bushes and vines with the loppers. I like that word too. Then cleared away the brush and put it into a fire. FUN! But the really fun part was finding the treasures underneath all of the above. Kitchen plates and bowls. Butter dishes. Silver spoons. Vases. People's lives really. Wow. I found 2X4's in the trees above my head. Hmmm...it was good to work hard and sweat and feel the burn in my muscles.

The people here in Pearlington (though I assume this might actually be a southern thing, and not just Pearlington)... the people are so nice. Not just the people whose houses we are working at, but the clerks at the stores, the barista at Starbucks, the neighbors, the random people who wave and smile as you are walking around. In California people seem to be bothered by EVERY LITTLE THING. But the people here in Pearlington have lost EVERYTHING and are still the most genuine, caring, authentic people I think I've ever met. I don't hear them complain. I hear them tell their stories of the hurricane and know that this is part of their process of healing. But there's not a mean bone in their bodies.

This is the kind of town I could live in. Really. I could skip over the hurricane part, but the rest of it, I'd take in a heart beat. How blessed I've been to be here and work and pray and love and cry and stop and say thank you.

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