So Much To Do...

This is D'Iberville Cold Storage. Guess what was in this building on August 29, 2006...

one million pounds of frozen shrimp.

Guess what was in this nearby house on August 30, 2005...


one million pounds of formerly frozen shrimp.

Likewise in their neighborhood. There were three houses that were "scraped" from this photo. It was the same, no matter which direction I turned.

The first thought that one has as one drives through town is,
"Boy, they are sure letting this area get run down."

Then you notice that the litter is in the trees, as well.

...big litter.

I met my replacement today and I am rapidly coming to the realization that all I had hoped to accomplish will not be finished. Someone else will pick up where I leave off. Then another will follow her to carry on the work she begins. And so it is throughout D'Iberville and all along the Gulf Coast. We will not find completeness or closure in the work that we each do down here.

I suppose if we are honest about it, some of the motivation to come to the Gulf is just self-aggrandizement or a search for adventure. But, you know, it's not about us visitors finding closure or satisfaction in our work here. We volunteers are, as another volunteer phrased it, just little peices of plaster in the cast that is allowing this broken region to heal itself. Every volunteer who hammers a nail, cooks a meal, works in the office or minds the Village can rest in the assurance that they have contributed to the recovery of the city and and to the healing of the lives we touch.

iXs,
the Rev