Tornado Entry: 12

Phil and Kyle overslept and missed out on breakfast. They slept through my call to them. They told me they were up too late the night before. Sweet youth!!

I had a good sized crew but they were there for just half a day. We kicked out our first assignment pretty easily and headed to the second job. This huge tree looked familiar. Then I realized we worked next door to this house last Tuesday when it was rainy and cold. A week later it was record heat.

This picture shows my crew minus Jimmy who was working on his chain saw when we arrived at the jobsite at 10:30 a.m. A 1988 Mercedes is buried under those logs.

For impact, here is nearly the same perspective at 4:30 p.m.

This area was so small to work in any more people would have been too much. My afternoon crew was the perfect size for the work to be done.

After doing this for over a week now things are getting to be routine. I need to put my old Coleman ice chest in the back of the truck for ice & water. The one I’ve been using is too small. We really went through the ice water yesterday.

Jimmie my chainsaw operator was the main man of the day. What a worker. Clay the young man in the hat is a worker too. There were a few instances where the saw blade got locked up and needed to be cut out with our pruning saws. Clay (the young man in the hat in both pictures) and I jumped in with our little saws. Clay is a good worker and has given me good input and ideas. I always tell my crews to tell me if they know a better way to do something. I always get a chuckle when I explain how I got the “team leader” job!

Unloading supplies at the church I was approached by a man for a ride for he and his friend, as they had just missed their bus. I gave them a lift after turning in my paperwork which took me across town.

One of the “Family Hate Groups” wants a boycott of Home Depot because they treat gays and lesbians decently. Homo-depot was on the way home so I used that boycott as an excuse to shop there! I splurged and got me a 22oz framing hammer with a rough head. I used one the other day and fell in love with it!

I swung by the tarping job we did yesterday. My good rake got left behind. It was there in plain sight. Phil the home owner left it out for me. He was on site; we had a good visit. I do hope they do not condemn his house.

I was so beat after hauling and piling wood. I was in bed asleep at 8:15.

Samaritan’s Purse is an offshoot of Billy Graham Ministries, headed by his son Franklin. Now that the initial “control the blood” work has been has been done, they are emphasizing the team leaders going out and preaching the gospel. This has me VERY uncomfortable. A person I respect so much wisely noted to me that “Christ taught by example,” so I simply use that line now when I talk with the tornado victims we are working with. I always have someone in my crews who can lead prayers when needed, so I delegate that job to them.

I’m formulating my entry dealing with this dilemma for an entry when I can get my feelings together and coherent